How does Kyle Anderson fit in with the Minnesota Timberwolves?

Point Guard In College

He’s a career 33.4 percent three-point shooter. Slo Mo has not been the most reliable threat from deep. But with his subtle hesitations and craftiness, he STILL gets defenders to jump on his pump-fakes on the perimeter. Once the defender leaves their feet, he’s trying to get to the mid-range area or attempting to exploit poor defense with his passing chops.

Anderson is a more than competent passer with either hand. He has off-hand skip passes in his arsenal, he can use his six-foot-nine frame to pass over smaller defenders, and he is a good alley-oop passer (Gobert should be ecstatic!). Anderson is a bigger playmaker who coaches can trust to run their offense during spurts of the game.

During the 2021-22 season, Anderson ranked second on the Memphis Grizzles with a 16.2 AST% (the percentage of teammates’ made shots he assisted on). Amongst qualifying forwards, that mark ranked in the 86th percentile. With his addition to the roster, the Timberwolves should theoretically always have a pass-first playmaker out there with D’Angelo Russell, Jordan McLaughlin, and himself. Russell is a blend of score-first and pass-first, but he played the point guard position well overall last season.

Being the same height as NBA legend Magic Johnson with obvious point guard skills (vision and feel), Anderson is another player that can dribble, pass, and shoot (from the mid-range). He’s another player that can grab rebounds and go. He won’t push the pace, but he can get super-scorers Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns the ball in their spots. Defensively, he competes. At an athletic disadvantage compared to most of the league, Anderson is a competent defender with quick hands and a defensive IQ.