Terrence Shannon Jr. may be back for the Minnesota Timberwolves after the All-Star break. The second-year player has missed 25 straight games for them due to a left foot abductor hallucis strain he suffered on Christmas Day.
TSJ recently made his return to the field on Tuesday in the G League for the Iowa Wolves. While the 25-year-old had to shake off the rust during that outing, Wednesday’s Iowa game was an unstoppable performance from him.
Shannon Jr. dominates in G League performance, just as he should
As the Wolves lost 135-120 to the Austin Spurs on Wednesday, Shannon Jr. scored. at will. The 6-foot-1 guard/forward played just 21 minutes and finished the night with a whopping 36 points.
It was also an efficient performance for the 27th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. TSJ shot 10-15 from the field, 2-6 from beyond the arc and 9-9 from the foul line. Yes, Iowa lost, but the team was a +6 with him on the floor.
That kind of performance is exactly what Shannon Jr. should do against G League competition. Dominating and clearly looking like the best player on the pitch. In his G League game on Tuesday against the same Austin team, he went just 4-11 from the field with 4 turnovers in 20 minutes. But as I wrote after that game, it was his first competitive action in 6.5 weeks, and hopefully he can turn it around if he plays on Wednesday. He did, and he left for Iowa.
Wednesday was also the Timberwolves’ last game before the All-Star break. Minnesota doesn’t play again until next Friday. It’s probably safe to say that Shannon Jr. will be available for the Timberwolves in that game for the first time in almost two months.
Will TSJ now rejoin the rotation? It was a disappointing sophomore year for Shannon Jr. at Minnesota before he was injured. The team now has Ayo Dosunmu as the scoring guard off the bench where they hoped Shannon Jr. that would be.
Jaylen Clark has played just 17 total minutes in the Timberwolves’ last three games, so his spot in the rotation could be on thin ice if Chris Finch decides to sign Shannon Jr. into position.
In his 22 games with the Timberwolves this season, Shannon Jr. only averaging 4.5 points while shooting 39.5% from the field.
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