Thad Young Must Be Critical Contributor for Minnesota Timberwolves This Season
The Minnesota Timberwolves are currently stacked with young potential All-Stars, but which one of these players has the highest reachable ceiling this season?
Andrew Wiggins might be a name that comes to mind immediately, but at only 19 years old he's still very young and his game is very raw. This past summer Wiggins struggled and was very inefficient on offense. According to NBA.com, Wiggins shot only 40.5 percent from the field and an abysmal 15.4 percent from long range.
Another player who's created a lot of buzz this offseason is Gorgui Dieng. The second-year Wolf had a remarkable summer playing for Senegal in the FIBA World Cup. According to FIBA.com, Dieng averaged 16 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
However, the 24-year-old center is still very raw, which was evident when he struggled against Spain this summer, shooting 1-of-9 from the field.
Dieng has tremendous upside, but he seems to struggle against tougher competition. One day he may be an All-Star caliber center, but right now he is still unproven.
A more sensible choice would be Ricky Rubio. However, even though he's had success as a facilitator, Rubio has made no progress as a scorer over his three-year career (as seen in the info-graph below).
| Year | FG% | 3P% | AST | PTS |
| 2011-12 | .357 | .340 | 8.2 | 10.6 |
| 2012-13 | .360 | .293 | 7.3 | 10.7 |
| 2013-14 | .381 | .331 | 8.6 | 9.5 |
Even with impressive defensive numbers (2.3 steals per game) and a career 15.4 Player Efficiency Rating (which is right around the league average), Rubio has been unable to show significant progress.
Right now, the Timberwolf with the most upside seems to be the newly acquired Thaddeus Young. The seven-year veteran has never made an All-Star appearance, but he is coming off a career year. Last season, Young averaged a career high 17.9 points per game.
He's not Kevin Love, but Young has always been a solid player throughout his career, averaging 13.7 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field.
He can score efficiently from both inside the arc and from beyond the perimeter. Last season he shot over 30 percent from long range for the fourth year of his career.
His biggest strength is his excellent athletic ability. Young is terrific in transition, and he regularly outruns his opponents down the floor.
Defensively, he is a solid improvement over Love. At 6'8", Young is slightly undersized as a power forward, but he is usually able to compensate with his lateral quickness.
Last season he averaged an impressive 2.1 steals per game, which was also a career high.
With Love no longer in Minnesota, Young is now the leader of this very young and inexperienced team.
He may not be surrounded by many scorers, but with the pass-happy Rubio on the floor, it will allow Young to get more open looks.
If Young can click with Rubio and continue to progress his offensive game, he could become an All-Star for the first time in his career.
All stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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