Last season was a big tease when it came to Minnesota Timberwolves draft pick, Terrence Shannon Jr.
Shannon was drafted in the first round by the Timberwolves in 2024. He finished his great college career with the Illini, and then Minnesota came calling. Shannon answered in a big way, too.
Whenever Shannon saw the court, he looked good. But with limited minutes, you only get to see so much. Shannon needed to be on full display, and finally, we are getting that with the NBA Summer League.
On Saturday night, Shannon put up another monster game. He led the Timberwolves with 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and one steal. His impressive night was capped off by the fact that he had zero turnovers in the 11-point win over the Denver Nuggets.
This was Shannon’s second big game in a row that led to a win. Just a couple of nights prior, Shannon dropped 20 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and two steals while only having three turnovers.
In the NBA, there are always players who can show out in the NBA Summer League when they are rookies. They go into the NBA and then don’t play much because the NBA is a tough league. The following summer, the player comes out and is just average in the NBA Summer League.
That isn’t the case with Shannon. He has the progression of a player who will have a 10+ year NBA career. If you are playing in the NBA Summer League as a sophomore or beyond, you should dominate. This shouldn’t be much of a competition, as you have NBA experience and have played against NBA players. That is what we are seeing with Shannon. He is clearly the best player on the court night in and night out.
It wouldn’t shock me to see Terrence Shannon Jr. bow out of the Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League
The main goal of the NBA Summer League is to see what you have in the G-League and the bottom of the roster, and to see if there are some diamonds in the rough.
Shannon isn’t any of those. He isn’t a G-League player anymore, as he has proven that this summer. He isn’t a diamond in the rough. I don’t believe he is on the bottom of the roster anymore, either.
So, in the coming hours, it wouldn’t shock me to see the Timberwolves shut Shannon down so some of the unproven guys can get minutes. They know what they have with the star guard, and now they can elevate him to a more prominent role while also getting some unproven guys some quality minutes in the Summer League.