Isaiah Evans’ first run with the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t start on the floor. It started with a wait.
He had to sit out Minnesota’s opening summer league game while a four-team trade was being finalized, the deal that sent Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets and brought the 33rd overall pick - Evans - to the Timberwolves. Once he finally got on the court, he appeared in the last four summer games, and the results were uneven.
The numbers from that stretch are rough enough to make anybody blink: 10.5 points per game, but on 27.3 percent shooting from the field and 20.5 percent from 3-point range. That’s not the kind of debut that jumps off the page.
Still, the finish was better. Evans scored 36 points over his final two games and improved to 40.6 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent from deep.
He also played a big part in Minnesota nearly erasing a 27-point hole in its final summer league game.
There’s a decent case that the summer league version of Evans is not the real version. He was coming in cold after the trade delay, and it only took a few games for him to look more settled. In a more organized NBA environment, with better talent around him and an elite playmaker in LaMelo Ball, he should have a better chance to get clean looks and do what he does best.
That’s the selling point here. The 6-foot-6 guard was a sharp shooter at Duke, where he hit 38 percent of his 3-pointers across two seasons.
Minnesota doesn’t need him to be something he isn’t. It needs him to get back to his bread and butter.
His No. 33 says plenty about how he sees this opportunity. Evans didn’t pick it because of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, or Larry Bird.
He chose it as a reminder of where he was drafted, after being the last player waiting in the green room and seeing most mock drafts peg him as a first-round pick. He wants the teams that passed on him to feel that.
Summer league also showed a trait that should travel: Evans can make fast decisions with the ball. For a Timberwolves team that went through stretches of stagnant offense and too much ball-stopping, that matters.
He may not be ready to crack the rotation immediately, especially on a team with real expectations. But that doesn’t mean the fit is wrong. His number will be called eventually, and Chris Finch should have enough offensive ideas to help Evans settle in quickly.
In Other News...
Timberwolves Fans Wont Like Where This Anthony Edwards Fear Is Going
The Hawks have spent the summer quietly reshaping their roster, adding Kingston Flemings in the draft, bringing back CJ McCollum and landing Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins from Oklahoma City. Those moves have given Atlanta a mix of contracts and assets that can be useful in the trade market, which is why people around the league are already looking at the franchise as one that can stay aggressive if a star ever becomes available.
For Minnesota, the uncomfortable part is less about what is happening now and more about where the conversation could go later. Anthony Edwards is still with the Timberwolves, and the front office has tried to support him by adding LaMelo Ball, but the idea of a future trade request is the kind of fear that lingers for a team built around a player of his stature. Even when nothing is imminent, that sort of speculation has a way of hanging over the season. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Looked Vulnerable Until Timberwolves Reality Set In
Oklahoma City spent the summer looking more like a team trimming around the edges than one resting on its laurels, moving Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe and Lu Dort in separate payroll-saving deals while still finding ways to keep the roster competitive. The Thunder also brought back Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams, then added a pair of rookies in Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz, a reminder that even a club with championship ambitions is constantly balancing cost, continuity and the next wave of talent.
For Minnesota, the bigger-picture problem is less about what the Thunder lost than what the Wolves still have to solve. LaMelo Ball gives Anthony Edwards a new backcourt partner and raises the ceiling, but the frontcourt picture remains unsettled after the departures of Julius Randle and Naz Reid, leaving Rudy Gobert without a clear fit beside him. Until that gets sorted out, Oklahoma City remains the kind of Western Conference obstacle that can expose every soft spot in a contender's build. [Read more 🡒]