Minnesota Timberwolves: Who to watch on Las Vegas Summer League roster

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced their roster for Las Vegas Summer League, and there are plenty of reasons to excited about watching the Summer Wolves play next week.

From a pair of Wolves players from 2020-21 to recent two-way signees and intriguing talents from outside the organization, it should be a ton of fun.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Who to watch on Las Vegas Summer League roster

A quick overview of the Wolves’ Summer League entry reveals eight players who have NBA experience, including three who are on the Wolves’ actual roster: Jaylen Nowell, Jaden McDaniels, and recent two-way contract signee Nathan Knight.

The head coach will be Joseph Blair, the Timberwolves’ new defensive coordinator who received a promotion from his assistant coach role last season.

The Headliners: Jaden McDaniels and Jaylen Nowell

The headliners of the roster are current Wolves Jaylen Nowell and Jaden McDaniels.

The former, of course, was the PAC-12 Player of the Year and the Wolves’ 2019 second-round pick. He came into his own last season with a strong stretch of play for several weeks until he suffered a leg injury that derailed the end of his season.

McDaniels was one of three Wolves first-round selections in the 2020 draft. He found himself as a starter midway through the season and showed the ability to be a top-flight defender at the NBA level, but his offensive game was limited to mostly spot-up 3-point shooting. The Wolves want him to go to Las Vegas to expand his game, and he’ll have every opportunity to do just that.

The Intriguing New Wolves: Wright and Knight

Immediately following last week’s NBA Draft, the Wolves signed Champlin, MN native and four-year member of the Colorado Buffaloes McKinley Wright to a two-way contract.

As we wrote about previously, Wright is a tough, hard-nosed, defense-first guard who could help the Wolves’ defensive effort on the perimeter from Day One. He’s only six feet tall and struggled from outside the arc in college, but the rest of his shooting numbers suggest that there is still some untapped scoring potential.

Nathan Knight was on a two-way deal with the Atlanta Hawks in 2020-21 and appeared in 33 games with the big club. Earlier this week, he signed a two-way deal with the Wolves.

He’s a bouncy, athletic 4 with some shooting ability from the outside, but will make his biggest impact in the pick-and-roll game on both ends of the floor.

Each of these players will have their shot at the NBA level on their two-way deals, and this will be their first chance to make a strong, in-game impression on the Wolves coaching staff.

The Next Tier: Isaiah Miller, Marcus Derrickson, Jared Brownridge

Isaiah Miller signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Wolves recently, meaning that he’ll receive a signing bonus if he remains with the G League’s Iowa Wolves instead of leaving for an overseas opportunity or a chance with another organization.

Miller was a four-year player at UNC-Greensboro, winning the Southern Conference’s Player of the Year award twice and the Defensive Player of the Year award a whopping three times during his collegiate career.

His offensive game was largely predicated on getting past his defender and scoring at the rim and with a variety of floater, and he’ll need to develop more of a jumper if he’s going to stick at the NBA level.

Marcus Derrickson was a two-way player for the Golden State Warriors in 2019, appearing in 11 games with the big club while putting up strong numbers in the G League. He was with the Atlanta Hawks’ G League team in 2020 and was solid there, too.

He’s a stretch-4 who has shot the ball well from deep everywhere he’s been, including hitting on 39.7 percent of his 3-point attempts in three years at Georgetown.

Jared Brownridge was a four-year starter at Santa Clara and has been in the G League for the past four seasons. He’s an undersized scoring guard with fantastic touch and a track record of scoring everywhere he’s been.

Brownridge stands just 6-foot-1 but has a 6-foot-8 wingspan and should be able to be disruptive on the perimeter, giving him a chance to stick if he can continue to score efficiently.

Minnesota Timberwolves Las Vegas Summer League schedule

The Timberwolves kick-off their portion of summer league on Monday, Aug. 9 with a 6 p.m. CT tip against the San Antonio Spurs.

They’ll play four games throughout next week as part of the preliminary round before they play in one or two additional games during the following week.

Be sure to keep an eye on the Wolves’ rostered players, as well as some of the more intriguing non-roster invitees as well as the Timberwolves look to fill out their training camp roster for the fall.