Timberwolves are learning a Bones Hyland lesson they should've known all along

Now in his fifth season, Bones Hyland has already played for three different teams. A fourth, the Atlanta Hawks, subsequently waived him after acquiring him. Both the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers began to sour on him and traded him away. He needed to sign a two-way deal late last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves just to remain in the league.

Minnesota did bring the 25-year-old back this season, and Hyland has played more of a role than most people expected. Of late, the Timberwolves are learning what both the Nuggets and Clippers also found out. Hyland can score, but expecting there to be any type of consistency in his play isn’t reasonable, because it’s never happened before.

Bones Hyland hasn't built momentum off his season-high scoring output

It was a little less than two weeks ago, on January 13, when the Timberwolves easily took care of business against the Milwaukee Bucks. In the blowout win, Hyland dropped 23 points in just 21 minutes. That marked the first time all season that a player off the bench other than Naz Reid scored at least 20 points in an outing (Reid has done so nine times).

Since that performance, Minnesota has played four more games (which have all been losses). In those four contests, Hyland has scored a combined 12 points, with seven of them coming in one game. Chris Finch barely left him out there for more than four minutes of playing time against the Utah Jazz on January 20.

Since the beginning of December, Hyland has now appeared in 22 straight games. The 6-foot-2 guard has scored in double figures nine times over that stretch. He nearly has the same number of games (eight) in which he has scored four points or less.

With all that being said, right now, Hyland is still the second-most reliable reserve scorer on the team. Reid, of course, heads the list, but any scoring from Mike Conley or Jaylen Clark is a bonus for Minnesota. It further shows why bolstering the bench is such a need as the February 5 trade deadline rapidly approaches.

His inconsistency part of the reason the TImberwolves need to improve their bench

There’s a reason that the Timberwolves have been linked to a bunch of players who could potentially be acquired via trade. Looking at Minnesota, once the playoffs hit, who could Finch turn to off the bench, other than Reid, to give him reliable minutes when the pressure cooker rises?

In the first two postseason runs of his career, Hyland scored, but in an inefficient manner. In the 2024 playoffs with the Clippers, he was outside of the rotation.

For now, Finch will continue to insert Hyland into games. The minutes will fluctuate, as they have been. One or two additions by the trade deadline could possibly leave Hyland sidelined for entire games.