Terrence Shannon Jr. may be back for the Minnesota Timberwolves after the All-Star break. The second-year player has missed 25 consecutive games for them with a left foot abductor hallucis strain that he suffered on Christmas Day.
TSJ recently made his on-court return in the G League for the Iowa Wolves on Tuesday. While the 25-year-old needed to shake off rust in that outing, Iowa’s game on Wednesday was an unstoppable performance by him.
Shannon Jr. dominates in G League performance, just like he should
While the Wolves lost 135-120 to the Austin Spurs on Wednesday, Shannon Jr. scored at will. Playing just 21 minutes, the 6-foot-6 guard/forward finished the night with a whopping 36 points.
It was an efficient outing as well for the 27th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. TSJ shot 10-15 from the field, 2-6 from beyond the arc, and 9-9 from the foul line. Yes, Iowa lost, but the team was a +6 with him on the floor.
That type of performance is exactly what Shannon Jr. should be doing against G League competition. Dominating and clearly looked like the best player on the court. In his G League game on Tuesday against the same Austin team, he went just 4-11 from the field with 4 turnovers in 20 minutes. As I wrote after that contest, though, it was his first game action in 6.5 weeks, and hopefully he can turn it around if he were to play on Wednesday. He did, and he showed out for Iowa.
Wednesday was also the Timberwolves’ last game before the All-Star break. Minnesota does not play again until next Friday. It’s probably safe to say that Shannon Jr. will be available for the Timberwolves in that contest for the first time in nearly two months.
Now, will TSJ re-enter the rotation? It has been a disappointing second year for Shannon Jr. with Minnesota prior to getting hurt. The team now has Ayo Dosunmu to be that scoring guard off the bench that they were hoping Shannon Jr. would be.Â
Jaylen Clark has only played 17 total minutes over the Timberwolves' last three games, so his spot in the rotation may be on thin ice if Chris Finch decides to insert Shannon Jr. into his slot.
In his 22 games with the Timberwolves this season, Shannon Jr. is only averaging 4.5 points while shooting 39.5% from the field.