The Minnesota Timberwolves haven’t made many moves this offseason, but that doesn’t mean they have been completely silent, and it doesn’t mean that their few new additions won’t make some noise.
Even though the moves made by the team made weren’t exactly earth-shattering, they should end up helping the Wolves in short order.
On the offensive side of the ball, Taurean Prince should help the team a lot. The Timberwolves struggled beyond the arc last season, shooting just 34.9 percent as a team, which was No. 25 in the league. Prince shot a career-best 41 percent from 3-point range last season.
A few weeks ago, our own Ben Beecken detailed the best thing about swapping out Ricky Rubio for Prince.
"After shooting a career-best 36.1 percent from outside the arc for the Phoenix Suns in 2019-20, Rubio slipped to just 30.8 percent last season, his worst mark in four years.Prince, on the other hand, shot 40 percent from deep last year, albeit in just 41 games between Brooklyn and Cleveland. In 2018-19, he shot 39 percent on 3-point attempts with Atlanta."
Even though Rubio was a great leader and helped mentor some of the younger guys — namely, Anthony Edwards — he wasn’t the best 3-point shooter, and getting rid of him helps in that department.
Prince won’t exactly be a high-usage player for the Wolves, but it should be nice to have another 3-point threat off the bench.
On the defensive side of the ball, the other significant addition by the Wolves will undoubtedly make his mark.
Not only are Patrick Beverley’s individual defensive stats impressive when it comes to steals and blocks, but he has also been named a member of the All-Defensive First Team once and the All-Defensive Second Team twice.
Beverley’s aggressiveness on defense is what makes him a valuable player. While his aggressiveness and the edge that he plays with can get him in trouble sometimes, his energy can absolutely help this team win games.
And yes, while Beverley’s main impact will be on the defensive side of the ball, he still can shoot a decent clip from three. Beverley shot 39.7 percent from three last season and has been known to get his teams crucial buckets from time to time.
There is still a possibility that one or both of the newcomers could get thrown into a deal for a player like Ben Simmons later this year. But for the time being, we can recognize both Prince and Beverley are great additions to a young team.
Both players will bring veteran leadership and offer upgrades to the Wolves’ outside shooting, and Beverley in particular will immediately improve the team’s defense.