Late in last season’s playoffs, Terrence Shannon Jr. became a more well-known figure to NBA fans. While the 25-year-old wasn’t inserted into the playoff rotation until Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, he averaged nearly a point per minute in the Timberwolves’ last three outings.
Coming off a rookie season where he received uneven playing time, many expected Shannon Jr. to be the main beneficiary of Nickeil Alexander-Walker leaving for the Hawks. A former NBA sharpshooter and longtime announcer, Tim Legler, seems to be a fan.
Terrence Shannon Jr. needs to be aggressive on the offensive end
Bill Simmons had Legler as a guest on the most recent episode of his podcast. They talked about numerous NBA topics, including the Timberwolves.
"I think Terrence Shannon Jr. is one of those guys that you play him 15 minutes, he’s damn near going to get you double figures most nights because he’s so aggressive and confident with his offense. Maybe that can offset whatever they’re not getting out of (Rob) Dillingham, Legler said."
With Anthony Edwards likely sidelined for a few more games with a hamstring strain, Shannon Jr. should see even more action until his return. Minnesota’s first game without its superstar saw the 6-foot-6 guard/forward play 25 minutes. You’d almost like to see him get more than 8 shot attempts when seeing that amount of time, as he finished with 9 points.
Much like his rookie year, the early stages of this season have seen inconsistencies in playing time for Shannon Jr. He played 25 minutes in the season opener but just 23 combined in the next two.
TSJ drew a lot of fouls playing for Illinois
In Monday’s loss to the Nuggets, Shannon Jr. attempted his first 3 free throws on the young year. In those aforementioned 3 playoff games to end last season, he attempted 4 apiece.
With more playing time, that’s a skill that Shannon Jr. should take advantage of: his ability to draw fouls. Other than that small three-game sample size, we haven’t seen much of it at the NBA level.
College is where that skill was often displayed, particularly during his 2 years at Illinois. Shannon Jr. combined to attempt 486 free throws in 63 games for them (7.7 per contest). Doing so in the NBA can help Shannon Jr. score easy points while putting the Timberwolves more frequently in the bonus.