With the Minnesota Timberwolves season still months away, the team’s Summer League made its debut in Las Vegas this week. While the main Timberwolves roster did not participate in the event, a number of young additions to the roster saw action, as well as a number of young NBA prospects who continue to play and to show off their skills in hopes of eventually signing an NBA contract.
It’s this underlying competition for NBA opportunities that brings me back to summer league competition every year. This positive aura of opportunity and youthful optimism, a chance for young men to play their hearts out in an attempt to show off their talents and skills for NBA teams once before those 30 team rosters are released. signed, sealed and delivered for another season.
Those who fail still have the option of signing with a G-League team. Other options include the Euroleague, Turkish Super League and even the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). But for now, let’s focus on what we learn about the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first summer league game.
III – Look for more ball movement
One of the first impressions the Timberwolves made was the fact that the team seemed to be making a concerted effort to get more basketball movement. Although it was a little clunky at times, the team is clearly emphasizing spacing and passing in the playbook this year. And I’m here for it all.
With the new Timberwolves roster, the team will need to infuse a lot more discipline, which means a lot less improvisation and innovation on the basketball court. Such as? Create better spacing, focus on higher shooting percentage and a lot more ball movement. But at the same time, the Minnesota Timberwolves also have the ability to be a bit more aggressive on offense.
The Timberwolves led the NBA in the 2021-22 season in peripheral shooting. But sometimes the team struggled at the offensive backboard. With Rudy Gobert at the rim, the Timberwolves will have a much more aggressive shooting focus and give the ball to the open man a bit. There are already signs of this type of pace, space and passing mindset in Timberwolve summer league games. I’m looking for the same in future games.
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