Timberwolves Transformer: Jordan McLaughlin is more than meets the eye

More minutes for McLaughlin

So what? After all, McLaughlin’s minutes have slowly but steadily declined each season since bursting into the NBA scene in 2019.  Can a player who averaged less than 15 minutes per game in 2021-22 be a difference-maker this season? I think yes, and here’s why.

As soon as the traded combination guard Patrick Beverley to the Utah Jazz, the effect was promoting Jordan McLaughlin to a more significant role on the Timberwolves roster this season. That means more minutes, and that means a significantly greater role for the team.

McLaughlin went undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft but has been steadily improving for the team ever since. Better yet, he is versatile enough to play solid offense and defense. In his five games of postseason play, this guy shot better than 70 percent from the floor, 57.1 percent from the perimeter, and scored 6.2 PPG, while adding 2.4 RPG, 3.4 APG, and 1.0 SPG.

Not too shabby on just 16.6 minutes per game.

Preseason Performances

So how did McLaughlin perform in preseason games his year?

Game          Mins  Pts  FG%  3pt%   FT%   Reb  Ast    Stls Blks

Game 1       14      4      67%     –        –         1       5         4     –
Game 2       15      4      50%     0%     –         0       6         2     –
Game 3       17      5      40%    25%   –         1        6         0    1
Game 4        DNP
Game 5        DNP

In 3 preseason games, McLaughlin averaged 15.3 MPG, 4.3 PPG, a whopping 5.7 APG, and 2 APG. That’s pretty good for 22+ minutes per game. But on 15.3 MPG, that’s outstanding.

So why bench him for the final two games? Head coach Chris Finch had seen enough. Clearly, McLaughlin was ready to do for the season, and he surpassed whatever threshold was set for him to make the roster. After those two boxes were checked off, he had nothing left to prove for the team so it made sense to bench him and allow other players to get the preseason work.