Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?

III: Troy Brown Jr.

There may not be excessive hopes for newly arrived forward Troy Brown Jr., but he could develop into a very pleasant surprise for Timberwolves fans. Not many fans who cheer for the Minnesota Timberwolves know much more about Brown than the fact that he was not good enough to be brought back by the Los Angeles Lakers. Ah, but don’t judge this book by its cover, as I will explain why.

Troy Brown Jr. is a 6-foot-7 215-pound NBA forward who is entering his sixth NBA season. In the past five seasons, he has played a number of roles for the Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, and the Los Angeles Lakers. While the best season of his career occurred in 2019-20 while playing for the Washington Wizard, his best performance could very likely be this year for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here is why that could happen:

TB fills all of the Timberwolves bench needs

The shortcomings of the Timberwolves bench last season are pretty expansive, but three areas that truly stood out as huge deficits were the lack of perimeter defense, the inconsistency of perimeter scoring, and a lack of rebounding.

When the Los Angeles Lakers signed former Timberwolves forward Taurean Prince, they may have done the Minnesota Timberwolves an unexpected favor. Just like that trade that sent D’Angelo Russell to the Lakers, the unexpected loss of Prince allowed the Timberwolves front office to raise the bar for the power forward position just a wee bit higher.  You see, Prince was a solid perimeter shooter off the bench. But he was never going to grab rebounds, and he was far more valuable at scoring points than shutting down opponents.

Value added acquisition

But Troy Brown Jr. adds value to areas where the Timberwolves bench needs help. He has a very accurate perimeter shot, hitting at a 38.1 percent clip from three-point range last season. But he is a significant upgrade at rebounding, pulling down 4.05 rebounds per game. And then there is his defense:

Brown is not at Jaden McDaniels level of defense just yet. But when McDaniels is resting or chooses to punch a stone wall out of frustration, it’s great knowing that the Timberwolves bench can offer defensive pressure to shut down opposing teams’ rallies.

And a few extra rebounds per game can’t hurt either.