Minnesota Timberwolves- Post 2024 NBA Draft

Concluding this short series on where the contending teams stand after the 2024 NBA Draft and nearly two months of free agency, we are ending it here with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Unlike the Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers, I feel that Minnesota is closer to contending for a championship than either of them – Vegas odds reflect that too. That is because I think the Timberwolves have the best player between the three teams in guard Anthony Edwards. You can make a strong case that Luka Doncic is the best, and most fans probably feel that way. But going into this season, my money is on Edwards.

Additionally, and more specific to this series, I think Minnesota did more to improve their roster than Dallas and Indiana. The biggest move was extending the rookie contract of forward Jaden McDaniels to the tune of a 5-year, $130 million contract. Last year, McDaniels was voted to the second team of the NBA All-Defensive team. He received six first place votes, 54 second place votes, and received the 9th most votes overall.

As one of the best perimeter and on-ball defenders in the league, McDaniels is a key piece in the starting lineup as he can be deployed against the best guard/wing on every opposing team. At a listed height of 6’9” (rumors he is closer to 6’11”), he is extremely disruptive and his 6’11.5” wingspan makes shooting over him or passing around him very difficult. The combination of McDaniels, Rudy Gobert (reigning DPOY), and Karl-Anthony Towns gives the Timberwolves one of the biggest frontcourts in the NBA. It is one of the reasons why they were the best defense (108.4 defensive rating) in the league last season. 

Along with his defensive contributions, he is growing as a consistent contributor on the offensive end. A career 35.4% three-point shooter, McDaniels is the definition of a 3-D player. While he is the fifth option on offense and not relied upon to create offense for himself or others, at 23-years-old there is still a lot of room for growth, particularly in terms of being able to put the ball on the floor more.

But that will still not be an ask of McDaniels this year because of the presence of Edwards, Towns, and with the resigning of Mike Conley. Truth be told, I do not love this deal, but I do not hate it either. Giving any player that is expected to consistently contribute and is over 37 (will be when the season starts) not named LeBron James roughly $10 million seems like a risky investment. But there are a few reasons why Minnesota was willing to do this deal with him.

For starters, Conley is coming off one of his best shooting performances of his 17-year-career. He converted 44.2% of his triples, a career mark, and connected on 45.7% of his overall field goal attempts, which was his third most efficient year. Conley is still an above average distributor that takes care of the ball and is an attentive on-ball defender.

While his efficiency dipped slightly in the playoffs, he scored in double-figures in 11 of their 15 playoff games. Is 12 points and 6 assists per game with 45/44/91 shooting splits worth around $10 million per season even at 37-years-old, probably. Conley is also by all accounts one of the most standup guys in the NBA and brings a lot of experience and leadership to a team primed to win their first championship.

But how is it that I have the Timberwolves ahead of every other team in this series in terms of offseason grades when all I have talked about thus far is the resigning of a premium defender and a steady veteran? That is because Minnesota was able to add impact pieces via the draft and no other team I have discussed did. To be fair, the Boston Celtics did not need to.

By all accounts this past draft was not loaded with franchise players. But the Timberwolves were not necessarily looking for that – every team would love to have as many of those under contract as possible though. They did however land one of the most exciting players in the draft in former Kentucky Wildcat Rob Dillingham via a trade with the San Antonio Spurs.

It was a little surprising that San Antonio was willing to part with Dillingham for the rights to a protected 1stround pick swap in 2030 and an unprotected 1st round pick in 2031. The Spurs seem like a team that would want to add a young talent like him to develop alongside Victor Wembanyama, but that is out of scope for this series.

Dillingham only started one game for Kentucky but was their second-leading scorer (15.2ppg) and one of their best three shooters from beyond the arc (44.4%). He provided instant offense off the bench for the Wildcats and will be asked to do the same thing for Minnesota.

In five games at the Vegas Summer League, Dillingham averaged 13.6 points and 7.6 assists per game. However, he shot just 36% from the floor and 30.8% on three-pointers. If you were a doubter of Dillingham going into the draft, then the lack of efficiency helps your case. But it is a small sample and his live-dribble polish, particularly as a passer in those five games, certainly can help refute it.

Dillingham is going to get time on the floor so he should be able to figure out how to be an effective and more efficient shooter. A lot of that can be fixed with better shot selection. How much stronger he can get between now and the start of the year will also dictate how long he remains out there. But Dillingham was not the only impact player that the Timberwolves added in the draft.

They used the 27th overall pick to select Terrence Shannon Jr. The former Illinois Fighting Illini was First-Team All-Big 10, Third-Team All-American, and was named the Big 10 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player last season. He has the athleticism and skillset (minus consistent shooting) of a player that should go in the lottery. But an emerging shooter that is also 23 years old will not be drafted there even in a “weak class”.

Shannon Jr. is a blur in open space, possesses an explosive first step, and has about as much on-ball variability as Dillingham. That is something Minnesota needed to add, and they cornered the market in the draft by adding arguably the two best players in that regard.

He averaged 13.3 points per game on a very efficient 56.9% from the field, but only connected 25% of his triples in four games in the Vegas Summer League. Shannon Jr. draws a lot of comparisons to Kelly Oubre Jr. and there is a chance he makes more of an impact immediately as opposed to Dillingham who is both smaller and nearly five years younger.

The Timberwolves resigned key pieces and drafted players to help fill one of their biggest holes – live-dribble playmaking – as they look to start the year as having the sixth best odds (10-1) to win it all. With their top seven scorers from last season all returning, and with the core of their roster now having deep playoff experience, they are my pick to make to take a step forward this year.

Final Grade:  A