Terrence Shannon Jr. enters the Timberwolves’ season with a shrinking lane in front of him.
Minnesota had reasons to think the 27th overall pick in the 2024 draft was turning a corner after last year’s playoffs. Over his first two NBA seasons, Shannon averaged 5.1 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists, and his postseason showing created some optimism that he could carve out a real role in Year 3. But the preseason has complicated that picture fast.
Through four exhibition games, Shannon has put up 8.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 17.8 minutes per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point range. The numbers look solid enough on paper. The issue is fit, and maybe even more than that, the math of Minnesota’s crowded backcourt.
The picture got sharper during The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski’s latest episode of The Jon Krawczynski Show, where he said Shannon remains in the mix to open the year but also pointed to Bones Hyland as someone who has forced his way into the conversation for minutes.
“So far, the idea has been it’s Ayo is the sixth man, Shannon and Beringer are the [seventh and eighth] man and Bones might be [ninth or tenth]. But I will say, I really think [Hyland] has really helped himself this preseason.”
Krawczynski said during the latest episode of The Jon Krawczynski Show. “He looks bigger.
He looks like he’s a little more filled out in his shoulder and he’s playing with a little more physicality. He’s trying to be active defensively.
He’s shooting the ball great.
“... He has a totally different physical profile than Shannon, but he has more polish to the way that his offensive game flows with the ball in his hands.
So just how they sort of make those decisions and what the determining factor for who plays more, is going to be interesting to kind of see [head coach Chris Finch] work the calculus on that. I think that’s still up for grabs, but to Bones’s credit, he is really making a hard case for himself right now.”
That’s the problem for Shannon: even when he plays well, the competition around him has a different kind of momentum.
He has never really locked down a consistent place in the rotation. Across his first two seasons, he averaged just 11.7 minutes per game, and injuries were part of the reason his role never stabilized.
Last offseason finally offered a glimpse of what Minnesota might have in him when he was used with the ball more often. With Donte DiVincenzo sidelined by an Achilles tear, Shannon handled a bigger workload and averaged 22.6 minutes, 11.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Chris Finch later said the Wolves had miscast him as mainly a catch-and-shoot option.
“We saw what TJ can do. It was good to see him back.
We finally found the best deployment of him,” Finch said during an appearance on KFAN last June. “He’s one of these guys who needs the ball in his hands more.
I think he can play well alongside Anthony as the primary handler. …I think that’s part of the solution there, internally.
He’s just gotta stay healthy and continue to build on what he did.”
For a moment, that seemed to open the door to a larger role this season, maybe even some point guard usage. Then Minnesota changed the script. The trade for LaMelo Ball a few weeks later, along with the addition of Jonathan Kuminga, brought in more players who want the ball in their hands and turned the preseason into a crowded traffic jam.
Shannon’s preseason production has been boosted by one standout outing: 19 points, six rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes against the Miami Heat on Oct. 10, a game in which Minnesota’s starters did not play. Since then, the picture has been less encouraging. He missed the Knicks game because of an undisclosed injury, and on Wednesday in a loss to the Detroit Pistons he finished with five points, one rebound, one assist and one steal.
Hyland has kept himself in the conversation too, even without eye-popping numbers. He is averaging 8.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in the preseason while shooting 40.6 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from deep.
Then there’s DiVincenzo, who could enter the equation later and make an already tight rotation even tighter. He was expected to miss most of the regular season after a first-round playoff injury, but his immediate surgery and aggressive rehab point to a return sometime this season. That would likely push him near the top of the Wolves’ rotation when he’s back.
If Hyland grabs minutes early and DiVincenzo returns later, Shannon’s path gets narrower by the week. That is why the start of the season matters so much for him.
Even then, it may not be enough to secure his spot in Minnesota. At this point, he looks like a player who has to fight for every second on the floor, whether that ends up being with the Timberwolves or somewhere else if his name surfaces in trade discussions.
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