2 Timberwolves who earned untouchable status, 2 who haven’t

Not untouchable: Jaylen Nowell

Unfortunately, Jaylen Nowell’s tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves can best be described as an enigma. While his role is that of a bench scorer, he has been a very streaky scorer over the course of his career, and that is not something that improved in 2022-23.

Nowell is a player whose usefulness can be severely diminished if he is not hitting open shots. While he had his moments of catching fire this past season, there were far too many times where he was ineffective and playing himself off the floor.

In a league where three-point shooting is paramount, Jaylen took a huge step back in that department last year. He shot just 29% from beyond the arc, his worst percentage since his rookie year when he attempted just 26 threes for the season.

With his continued enigmatic play, Nowell ensured it is not a certainty he remains with this team in the long term. After he exercised his team option with the Wolves last offseason, Nowell will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Jaylen Nowell’s contract was paying him just under $2 million annually in 2022-23, so it is not like Minnesota will have to break the bank to sign him to a new contract if they choose to do so. But the Timberwolves choosing to simply waive Nowell and spend that money elsewhere is not out of the question either.