Timberwolves are sending loud message Terrance Shannon Jr. can't ignore

Friday was a feel-good victory for the Timberwolves. That happens when you defeat the defending champion Thunder, handing them their only third loss on the season.

The impressive win also marked the return of Anthony Edwards after the superstar missed 3 games with a foot injury. It also marked the continuation of Terrence Shannon Jr. receiving limited minutes in a year where he was expected to do major things with the Wolves.

Limited playing time in the month of December

Apparently, the head coaching change from Chris Finch to Micah Nori didn’t help the 25-year-old Shannon Jr. see more floor time. Finch was ejected after receiving two technicals, not even midway through the first quarter against OKC. With Nori taking over the reins, Shannon Jr. finished Friday’s outing with just 5:12 of game time.

It’s hard to accomplish a lot while playing so little, and that was the case for Shannon Jr. The only stats he put up were two points, which came via the foul line. With Minnesota down two entering the final 12 minutes, the second-year wing remained glued to the bench the whole period.

While Rob Dillingham is often talked about as a disappointing player in his second season, Shannon Jr. is right there with him. He barely played Friday, even with two key reserves out (Mike Conley and Jaylen Clark). In eight December contests, Shannon Jr. is averaging just 10.6 minutes. Remove the outing where he played 30 minutes against the Warriors, and his December minutes average drops to 7.9.

Timberwolves could be at full strength for Sunday's game

The Timberwolves haven’t had all their rotation players available for the past few games. As mentioned, Conley and Clark were absent from the lineup on Friday. The previous three games saw both Conley and Edwards out with injury.

Could Minnesota have everyone available for Sunday’s game against the Bucks? The injury report provided by the team on Saturday didn’t name Clark and has Conley listed as questionable. Could Shannon Jr. receive a DNP - CD if everyone is good to go? 

While I don’t think plus/minus is a perfect stat on a game-to-game basis, I do think it tells you something over a longer stretch. Easily dead last on the team is TSJ, with a minus-88 (next lowest is Dillingham at minus-28). In his 19 appearances, the Timberwolves have been outscored in 15 of them with him on the court. 

A 40% field goal accuracy on the year, the same amount of turnovers as assists, this season has seen the good vibes from Shannon Jr.’s three-game stretch in the Western Conference finals dissipate.

What else might dissipate is his playing time if things don’t change quick.