Johnny Juzang is sending the Timberwolves a message they shouldn't ignore

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ bench woes outside of Naz Reid have been an issue all season. There isn’t a second guy that can be counted on nightly as there was last season (and there were really three with Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Donte DiVincenzo).

Chris Finch has been playing the same four guys off the bench of late (since Terrence Shannon Jr. injured his foot on Christmas Day) in Reid, Bones Hyland, Mike Conley, and Jaylen Clark. The deep bench pieces get to see action in garbage time minutes (where, of course, any production should be taken with a grain of salt), but Johnny Juzang is showing Finch that perhaps he should bereceiving meaningful minutes to help out with the bench problem.

Juzang has 16 total points in his last two appearances

The Timberwolves have been involved in three blowouts in their last four outings. They beat the Chicago Bulls by 35 on December 29, lost to the Hawks by 24 on New Year’s Eve, and most recently defeated the Washington Wizards by 26 on Sunday.

That has allowed the Minnesota reserves that don’t normally see action to get playing time at the end of the game. One thing that stands out from that garbage time is the 24-year-old Juzang and his ability to score, particularly in his last two appearances.

In 8:35 of game action on Sunday, Juzang made 3 of 5 shots, scoring six points. In the loss to the Hawks, the fourth-year wing finished with 10 points with two made 3-pointers in 7:52. 

I’m aware that you can’t read too much into garbage time play. Still, unless the Timberwolves make a deal to bolster the bench by the February 5 trade deadline, something has to change. It’s not like Juzang has zero experience at the NBA level and hasn’t proven he can score.

Before this year, Juzang’s NBA experience all came with the Utah Jazz. In 2024-25, Juzang averaged 8.9 points in 19.8 minutes. The previous season, he scored 7.2 per outing while playing 18.6 minutes (just 20 appearances). In the two years, Juzang combined to connect on 38.4 percent of his tries from beyond the arc.

In his first preseason with the Wolves, Juzang also showcased his ability to put the ball in the hoop. He averaged 13.8 points in 17.6 minutes in five preseason appearances.

Bench has been a problem all season

Due to garbage time, the bench has seen more action for the Timberwolves, and they’ve slowly moved up to 21st in bench scoring (33.2 points). They also place 29th out of 30 teams with 42.8 percent field goal shooting from their reserves.

There’s nothing wrong with going with a 10-man rotation. Finch could even keep the nine-man if he wishes, give Juzang some burn, and perhaps take Conley out of the rotation. That’s something Finch has never done, though, even with Conley now being 38 years old and mostly struggling to create offense.

Juzang may not work out for the rotation. Maybe he would go back to being out of it once Shannon Jr. returns (although he has been in the midst of a disappointing second season). What’s the harm in giving him a chance?