Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Brown’s breakout potential
The Minnesota Timberwolves did not send shockwaves through the NBA world when they signed Anthony Brown to a two-way contract. But the move is yet another that could go a long way toward helping make Minnesota formidable in the Western Conference.
Anthony Brown, the newest two-way contract for the Minnesota Timberwolves, was taken in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown was a multi-purpose scorer at Stanford, whose improvements over time kept NBA scouts intrigued with his potential.
He has the prototypical frame for a “3-and-D” wing with a 6’11” wingspan and should be a terror on defense under the watchful eye of Tom Thibodeau.
Coming out of Stanford, Brown’s main issue was his that his strengths did not immediately translate to the league. “3-and-D” guys can change a losing squad into a playoff team. This specific type of role player is especially useful in today’s league. The 3-pointer is king these days, and having an elite defender who can’t shoot (see Allen, Tony) doesn’t provide a ton of upside.
Brown’s initial weaknesses:
In his rookie season Brown brought neither the 3 nor the D. He shot below 35 percent on 2s and 3s and quickly found himself in the NBA G League. This is where he started to turn things around.
As a member of the Erie BayHawks (formerly affiliated with the Orlando Magic) Brown played 24 games receiving 37.8 minutes per game. Having so much playing time at the G League level allowed Brown to work on getting back into a groove, and the experiment worked excellently.
G League ascendence:
The Erie BayHawks struggled mightily as a team, and a big part of that was that Brown only played those 24 games. He was called up once during the season by the New Orleans Pelicans because of his scoring prowess. He led the BayHawks with 20.3 points per game, including a scorching 46.7 percent from the 3-point line.
There is no telling if those percentages will hold during a grueling and long NBA season, but the confidence is certainly there for Brown now. At the G League level, he showed off versatility playing either wing spot comfortably.
His go-to move was rising up over shorter defenders off the pick-and-roll to nail jumpers, a tantalizing prospect when you imagine players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Justin Patton setting those screens.
Brown is capable of scoring a lot of buckets no matter what. But when he is feeling it, he blends his volume scoring with tremendous efficiency. In the 38-point explosion above against the Windy City Bulls, Brown made 12 of 19 shots. This included six 3-pointers.
Brown was admittedly taking advantage of an expansion G League team that didn’t have much in the way of defensive stoppers. But the fact the got his 38 on 19 shots is impressive no matter who the competition is, and Minnesota is surely expecting a slightly less efficient version of the player Brown became over the second half of the G League season.
2017-18 outlook:
Anthony Brown should serve as the perfect backup wing for the Wolves. He is capable for coming in for Jimmy Butler at the 3 or Andrew Wiggins at the 2. The great thing is continuity would not suffer since he would offer a lesser version of their skill-sets.
With Shabazz Muhammad‘s status still in limbo, and Jamal Crawford turning 38 in March, it would be an understatement to say the T-Wolves could use some young talent off the bench.
The 24-year old Anthony Brown will most likely spend a lot of time back in the G League with the Iowa Wolves (Minnesota’s G League affiliate) since the T-Wolves signed him to one of the brand new “two-way contracts” that allows a team to have two extra roster spots for developmental players.
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Brown can only spend 45 days in Minnesota, even if he has a breakout year. But there is in my opinion no better place to be “stuck” than on a team that is being projected by many to reach 50+ wins for the first time in 13 years. The T-Wolves have a great batch of veteran talent on their roster, but Brown has a chance to take his game to the next level as one of the more battle-tested young guys on the roster.