Every competitive NBA team has a good amount of depth. This season, the Timberwolves are fortunate to have talented players coming off of the bench at each position.
One player who continues to make strides in his game and who has always added a spark to the rotation is Shabazz Muhammad.
Bench players are crucial for teams if they want to avoid burning out throughout the season and overworking their starters. Take the last two NBA Champions for example.
Andre Iguodala, the Most Valuable Player of last year’s NBA Finals, comes off the bench for the Golden State Warriors; and Patty Mills averaged double-digit points in the 2014 finals for the San Antonio Spurs.
Like Iguodala, Muhammad has shown the capability of being a diverse position player by slotting in at the 2, 3 or 4 spot.
The UCLA Bruin has come a long way since being assigned to the NBA Developmental (D) League in January of 2014.
Muhammad averaged 13.5 points per game last year in the 38 games that he played in and made an impressive 49 percent of his shots.
Playing fewer minutes than last year, Muhammad has still managed to make a solid impact off of the bench this season by playing selflessly and providing a lot of hustle.
“I think if you move the ball great things happen,” Muhammad said after a home loss to the Miami Heat on Nov. 5th. “That’s something we really need to worry about and we started out 2-0, and we were playing such the right way, moving the ball and staying positive. And now, I don’t know what we saw out there tonight, we are pretty disappointed in that performance.”
The 14th overall selection in the 2013 NBA Draft is netting 52 percent of his shots and has become reliable at the charity strip making 78 percent of his attempts, a six-point increase from last year.
“I just thought the guys coming off the bench, Shabazz, Zach (LaVine) and all of the guys off the bench, they score for us and they play defense,” head coach Sam Mitchell said after a win against the Heat on Tuesday. “Like I told them before the game, we only shot 37 percent, we didn’t shoot the ball well, but in that second half we just defended, contested shots and rebounded. We just played tough.”
At 6’6 and weighing in at 225 pounds, Muhammad uses his body well and managed to reel in just under two offensive rebounds a game last year. Muhammad is one of those players where his play impacts the game a lot more than the box score indicates.
The just-turned 23-year-old prides himself on playing team basketball and always giving 100 percent on the court.
“We’re a team and we didn’t play like a team tonight,” Muhammad said after the Miami loss. “We played like a bunch of individuals and that’s something we have to learn. I know we have a lot of young guys but it’s about winning. That’s something that Coach Mitchell has been really stressing on us and I think we’re going to turn it around on the road.”
Minnesota did indeed turn it around and have an impressive 5-2 record on the road this season.
Muhammad has shown serious signs of improvements this year, and is getting to the point where many people expected him to be after being named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year in 2012; an award that has also been bestowed upon Lebron James, Kevin Love and Andrew Wiggins.
The Timberwolves recently picked up Muhammad’s team option for the 2016-2017 season.
