Wolves rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. is way too good for the G League
Timberwolves rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. is stuck in limbo right now. The 27th overall pick hasn't been able to crack Minnesota's rotation, playing just mop-up duty in ten NBA games so far, but he's also way, way too good for the G League. He offered another loud reminder of that fact on Thursday night when he dropped a career-high 47 points on 61 percent shooting in the Iowa Wolves' 133-124 loss to the Salt Lake City Stars.
Shannon made 17 of his 28 field goal attempts, including 4 of his 7 threes, and went 9 for 9 at the free-throw line. It was his first game with Iowa since he scored 32 and 34 points in a pair of G League games in November. He's now averaging 37.7 points in three games at that level, shooting 52 percent from the field and 47 percent from three.
Shannon is far too explosive and too skilled for G League defenders to contain. The 24-year-old, who starred at Texas Tech and Illinois, is an NBA-level scorer who simply doesn't belong on Iowa's roster.
The issue is that there doesn't seem to be room for him in the Wolves' NBA rotation. Head coach Chris Finch has a clear-cut top eight players, and Josh Minott has done some good things lately to earn short stints as the ninth man. Shannon would likely be in the rotation of a lot of teams around the league, but this is a talented Wolves roster that has stayed quite healthy so far. It's the same issue facing 2023 33rd overall pick Leonard Miller, another two-way guy who has averaged 24.4 points and 11.8 rebounds per game for Iowa.
There's a case to be made that Finch should find a way to get Shannon into the rotation somehow, but that would mean either removing Minott or adding a tenth player into the mix, which teams generally don't do. The Wolves' main stable of wings — Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Donte DiVincenzo, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker — all have big roles for a reason. McDaniels' offense has been disappointing this season, but he was a second team all-defense selection last season.
The Wolves also aren't going to just trade a first-round rookie just to give him a chance to play on a different NBA team. Depth is valuable. So the reality for Shannon is that he probably has to continue biding his time, split between sitting on Minnesota's bench and dominating in Iowa. At some point, an injury or other factor will open the door for a real opportunity with the Timberwolves, whether that's this season or further down the line.