After a 30-point loss in an elimination game against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, it feels like massive changes are awaiting the Minnesota Timberwolves in the offseason. Nobody can question that the Wolves are one of the better teams in the league, but at the same time, it’s fairly evident that they don’t have enough to bring the franchise its first title.
Now after two seasons completed in the NBA, it still isn’t quite evident if the Timberwolves have a long-term future in store with Terrence Shannon Jr.
Shannon is under contract next season, and he would probably have his $5 million fourth-year option picked up for 2027-28. However, the question is: do the Wolves want to continue their partnership with Shannon, or will they look to deal him as they did with another 2024 first-round pick, Rob Dillingham?
Shannon Jr. has never had the full trust of Finch
Shannon did what he could in Friday’s Game 6 loss to the Spurs, particularly on the offensive end. The 25-year-old scored 21 points, 11 of which came in the second quarter. Despite averaging nearly a point per minute, the team was still outscored by 21 points with him on the floor.
While he ended with his best offensive performance of the series, the first five outings didn’t go as well for Shannon. He started the first two, but the 27th overall pick in 2024 owned ugly shooting percentage splits over that time of 29.2/17.6/85.7. Shannon totaled 39 points in the last two games of the opening round, but that was against a Denver Nuggets team that possesses next to no rim protection.
It seems as if Chris Finch has never had total faith in Shannon during his two years with the club.
There was the infamous quote from Finch on Shannon’s defense a few weeks ago, where the head coach stated, ‘The only way I can clean him up is to sit him on the bench.’ He never turned to TSJ in last year’s playoffs until Minnesota was down 2-0 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.
Shannon missed a lot of time this season after sustaining a left foot abductor hallucis strain on Christmas Day. That injury caused him to miss nearly two months of the regular season. Even when available, he often found himself outside (or barely in) the rotation.
Also, keep in mind that Shannon isn’t your typical soon-to-be third-year player in today’s NBA. He played collegiately for five years, and he’s turning 26 years old on July 30. He is older than both Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.
Coming into the league as an older rookie, how much more growth does Shannon have to offer in his game?
With the way that Minnesota was disposed of in this year’s playoffs (lost the last two games by a combined 59 points), most expect there to be changes.
Very few are guaranteed to be on the team next season, and Shannon won't be on that short list. Dillingham helped get Ayo Dosunmu to the Wolves, and perhaps TSJ can be used in a deal for a useful piece as well.
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