Minnesota Timberwolves two year draft analysis and comparison

2022 NBA Draft: 50th overall pick – Euroleague G Matteo Spagnolo

While he is contracted to play in the Euroleague through the end of the 2023-24 season, Italian point guard Matteo Spagnolo is certainly in the future plans of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Pros

There is no disagreement that the Minnesota Timberwolves will need an accomplished successor to veteran point guard Mike Conley Jr. And right now, Matteo Spagnolo appears to be the most likely candidate. He is a 20-year-old point guard who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 196 pounds and has been playing competitive basketball for the past five seasons.

Not only has Spagnolo improved his game each season, but he has done so against ever more challenging competition. It’s that steady improvement of his own performance against ever-increasingly competitive teams that has him on track to claim a role on the Minnesota Timberwolves roster in the 2024-25 NBA season.

Cons

Matteo Spagnolo is very young, which makes projecting his NBA career awfully difficult. At just 20 years of age, he is projected to join the Timberwolves roster at the tender age of 21. Will he be mature enough to handle starting over in the USA?  While you ponder that thought, Spagnolo is not ‘there,’ yet. Despite his ability to improve each season, his perimeter shot is still a work in progress.  And while he is rapidly improving at his assists, he will need to put in extra effort this season to develop the ability to locate and pass to open teammates in the NBA.

Best Roles

Ideally, the Timberwolves front office would love to ease Spagnolo into whatever role he will come to eventually fill on the Timberwolves roster. That could mean extending Mike Conley Jr. one more season, or simply going with a temporary bridge, like promoting guard Shake Milton into a PG role until Spagnolo can assume the role on a full-time basis.