Phillip Wheeler will play for Minnesota Timberwolves in summer league

The Minnesota Timberwolves continued to pursue free agent prospects to populate their team’s summer league roster, and remain focused on the front court with the second player we will discuss. Phillip Wheeler, a player for Puerto Rico’s Piratas Quebradillas, has joined the Minnesota Timberwolves squad.

Wheeler is a tall but slender NBA hopeful, standing 6-foot-9 but weighing 211-pounds. While just 20 years old, he has a remarkable amount of basketball experience, playing for five different teams over the past three seasons. He does a fair job of scoring and has an ever-increasing arsenal of shots that now includes hitting three-pointers at a modest 34.5 percent clip.

Because he remains so active in various basketball leagues, he is a rapidly improving young man who has bolstered his rebounding from as little as 1.5 RPG (on 5.0 MPG) to 5.7 RPG (on 29 MPG). He is a bit streakish, putting up 67 points over the course of two games, but coming in with just 20 points over the next two contests.

The young man is a veteran of the NBA G-league, having played for both the Mexico City Capitanes (non-affiliated) and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (affiliated with Houston Rockets).  He is a passionate player who will commit to long hours in the gym to deliver whatever the coaching staff asks of him. The question is: Will he show enough with the Timberwolves summer league for coaches to ask him to deliver?

Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League Roster (so far):

PF Theo John – Duke
PF Phillip Wheeler – Piratas Quebradillas