Timberwolves should give forgotten player a chance amid bench struggles

The Minnesota Timberwolves' bench has struggled all season long. They currently rank 27th in bench points and 28th in minutes. Amid these bench struggles, the Wolves are looking for a spark. Bones Hyland has helped immensely in this regard, averaging 10.3 points since returning to the rotation nine games ago.

However, Hyland alone isn't enough to fix this massive problem for the Wolves, as even since he has gotten real minutes, they rank 24th in bench points and 29th in bench minutes.

With Terrence Shannon Jr. out for at least two weeks, the Wolves have some open minutes in their rotation. If Saturday's loss to the Brooklyn Nets is any indication, these open minutes will (understandably) go to Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark. Nevertheless, I'd like to see Johnny Juzang get an opportunity at some point.

Juggling a rotation with several young players on a competitive team isn't easy, but Juzang deserves a chance, and I think he could have a similar emergence to Hyland.

Playing Juzang could only benefit the Wolves

Minnesota signed Juzang to a two-way contract before the start of the season. That's not a big investment, but Juzang is frankly overqualified as a two-way player. Despite being active for every single game Juzang has played, in just played 10 games for 24 minutes of garbage time.

That doesn't seem significant, but the problem is that two-way players are only eligible to be active in 50 games. The most likely scenario is that Juzang's contract gets converted when the tax penalties lighten up. Regardless, if the Wolves think Juzang is good enough to earn a standard contract, why not give him some minutes?

The bigger picture is that Juzang has the skill set to make a positive impact on the Wolves. Most notably, the 6-foot-7 wing is a knockdown shooter. In the past two seasons with the Utah Jazz, Juzang averaged 19.5 minutes, 8.5 points, and shot 38.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Juzang's shooting makes him a seamless fit with anyone in the Wolves' rotation. He is mostly a spot-up shooter, but he can also create for himself and is a solid connective playmaker. The UCLA product can catch fire at any time and could very well provide the Wolves' bench with a needed scoring boost. It's only preseason, so take this with a grain of salt, but Juzang averaged 13.8 points on 48.5 percent shooting from 3-point land with the Wolves this fall.

With how poorly the Wolves' bench has been performing, there's simply no reason not to give Juzang a chance, especially since Shannon is out for the next two weeks. During these next two weeks, it wouldn't shock me if Juzang earns some real minutes, and he might not look back.

The Wolves have routinely found diamond-in-the-rough players several times before, and Juzang could be the next player who fits this mold.