Terrence Shannon Jr. enters his third season in a curious spot. Year two was a rocky one for Shannon, as he dealt with a foot injury that limited him to just 43 games. And when Shannon was on the court, his production was underwhelming. Specifically, he averaged 12.5 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists, while playing lackluster defense.
This was simply not what the Minnesota Timberwolves wanted to see from their primary Nickeil Alexander-Walker replacement.
Thankfully, Shannon showcased his potential in the playoffs. He averaged 22.6 minutes and 11.8 points, including a 24-point outburst against the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of the first-round. After this game, Chris Finch admitted that Shannon is better with the ball in his hands.
The Timberwolves figured out how to best utilize a talented young player, and he'll have a breakout season; sounds great, right? Now with LaMelo Ball in the fold, though, it's worth wondering: How do you get Shannon ample usage? The easy answer would be to let him run the second unit. However, the reality is that there are a lot of mouths to feed and Shannon will have to prove that he's too good to be ignored.
Of course, there's Anthony Edwards and Ball, but the Timberwolves also want to empower Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu. If the Timberwolves want a low-usage starter, Ayo could be the man running the second unit, which could take away opportunities from Shannon.
The bigger picture, though, is that for Shannon to see an uptick in minutes, he'll have to prove that he can truly thrive in an on-ball role or adapt to a complementary role. Otherwise, the Timberwolves may favor low-usage wings like Jaylen Clark and Josh Green.
Shannon needs to prove he can truly thrive in a heavy-usage role
I never want to box young players into a role, but at this point Shannon is best utilized as a sparkplug bench scorer. At the surface level, this is a void the Timberwolves have without Reid. The problem is that, as noted, he's always going to be playing with a more established creator, oftentimes multiple better creators.
Even last season, despite Finch's comments, Shannon statistically had solid on-ball usage, ranking in the 62nd percentile for on-ball percentage per Databallr. Simply put, I don't see how you justify giving him more on-ball reps unless he's undeniably an elite microwave scorer.
We've seen this high-end scoring in flashes, and Shannon is certainly a blur going downhill and an effective transition player. Likewise, I don't doubt that Shannon can average double-digit points for a season.
But can he be efficient in this role? That's unclear. Look, playoff efficiency isn't the end-all, be-all, but Shannon's 44.7 effective field goal percentage is alarming for his ability to scale up. And if he can't back up high usage with efficiency, it wouldn't make sense to empower him on the ball since he'd be taking away from better players.
Shannon also isn't a positive playmaker, and he is extremely left-hand reliant. Two things that don't bode well for more usage.
With that being said, there is evidence to suggest that Shannon is a high-end sparkplug scorer. Most notably, he ranked in the 96th percentile for isolation scoring per NBA.com and the 88th percentile for one-on-one shot making per Basketball Index. This is evidence that he could be a high-end sixth man after all.
The Timberwolves face the uncomfortable dilemma of who Shannon would take on-ball duties away from. Now, the Wolves' getting out in transition more could help ease some concerns. Generally speaking, though, Shannon's on-ball usage will force some tricky decisions one way or another.
Shannon could improve off the ball
The other possibility is that Shannon simply improves off the ball. This would make his fit alongside the Wolves' stars far more seamless, and perhaps he could take on a de facto power forward role in the starting lineup.
After ranking in the 19th percentile for points per spot-up possession last season, he has a long way to go. Plus, Shannon has always been a dominant guy dating back to his college days. Shannon's off-ball activity and connective playmaking are two other skills that could sharpen up.
The possibility of a third-year player changing his game shouldn't be ruled out entirely, though.
All of this is to say, there's a path for Shannon to be a sparkplug scorer or complementary wing, even with the Timberwolves' established talent. Still, he'll need to prove that he can thrive with more usage or develop his complementary skill set.
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