Minnesota Timberwolves: Josh Okogie in a pivotal year

The Minnesota Timberwolves made an interesting selection when they decided to pick Josh Okogie with the 20th overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Josh Okogie is in a pivotal season.

Okogie, a defense-first wing/forward combo, has had a mixed bag of a career so far, about to enter his fourth season on a one-year contract. From a statistical standpoint, Okogie has not changed much. Over the course of his three NBA seasons, he is averaging seven points three rebounds, and one assist per game with high-level perimeter defense.

Okogie, still only 23-years old in September, is still a young NBA player, and his defense alone makes him playable – although that value is worth slightly less given the additions of both Patrick Beverley and Taurean Prince – both of whom are at least capable defenders.

Josh Okogie has a chance to solidify himself as a high-level rotation player this coming season, but if he fails to do so, that could mean that the Timberwolves choose to move on from him – whether it be at the trade deadline or by letting Okogie walk in free agency in 2022.

The way which Okogie has to improve would be offensively. Often times, his shot selection was very poor – as he simply cannot deliver the goods from beyond the 3-point line. If Okogie can become even a 30-percent shooter from deep, it dramatically increases his odds of becoming a solid rotational piece.

The Timberwolves have about eight players that will almost certainly see 10-plus minutes a night: Towns, Russell, Beasley, Edwards, McDaniels, Beverley, Reid, and Prince. Everything else is up in the air, and a crowd of Okogie, Nowell, Bolmaro (?), and Layman will be fighting for anything leftover.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are going to need their lower-level rotational players to take a step forward in their game(s) if they want to improve enough to fight for a play-in tournament spot – and Okogie could be the one to do it.