Minnesota Timberwolves: The curious under-utilization of Marcus Georges-Hunt
Much has been made of Tom Thibdoeau’s super-tight rotation. The Minnesota Timberwolves currently have four players in the top-15 of total minutes played. There is a little-used 23-year-old on the bench who could provide an unexpected spark for Minnesota.
Even if you are a diehard Minnesota Timberwolves fan, you may not know who Marcus Georges-Hunt is. The second-year wing out of the Georgia Institute of Technology has played 14 games in his NBA career. The most activity Georges-Hunt has received is stints in the NBA G League.
But this year, Tom Thibodeau has only sent him down for one G League game. One of the most popular topics in NBA circles is Thibodeau running an eight-man rotation. Thibodeau has been notorious for not giving tons of minutes to rookies or young players, preferring veterans who understand defensive concepts right away. But there are small issues on offense as well, and that is where a prospect like Geaorges-Hunt comes into play.
The T-Wolves play in too many close games. Nine of their wins have come in games decided by six points or less. A lot of those contests are close because Minnesota runs out of offensive firepower down the stretch.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins are all scoring just under 20 points per game. Jamal Crawford is scoring 9.2 points per game. Out of those four, you can usually count on two of the four having a rough shooting night.
Crawford is playing 17.5 minutes per game, which is great management of his minutes. I am more worried about the workload of the rest of the team. Minnesota is thin on the wings since Shabazz Muhammad has fallen out of the rotation. There is no proven backup for Andrew Wiggins, so why not try Marcus Georges-Hunt?
The game of Marcus Georges-Hunt
At 6’5″, Georges-Hunt is a similar size to Jamal Crawford or Shabazz Muhammad, but has a game closer to Jimmy Butler. He is a power wing, and his college statistics back up the fact that he can get to the line with extended playing time.
Free throw rate is one of the few things the translate from college to the pros directly. Aggressive players continue to force referees to make calls at the next level.
Here’s a look at Georges-Hunt’s college free throw rate through four years:
- 2012-13: 30.8 percent
- 2013-14: 42.2 percent
- 2014-15: 48.6 percent
- 2015-16: 63.5 percent
Just for comparison’s sake, in Butler’s final year at Marquette, his free throw rate was 62.8 percent. That is not to say that he will become anywhere near the player Butler is, but he forces the action. That does count for something. The fact that Georges-Hunt is a physical offensive player means that he could develop into a quality defender.
In his one game with the Iowa Wolves of the G League, Georges-Hunt scored 34 points. More impressive was the fact that the 34 points came on 62.5 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent from the 3-point line (four attempts) and 100 percent from the free throw line (12 attempts).
Of course this is against G League competition, but in the NBA that could translate to 5-10 spot minutes a night to give Butler or Wiggins a quick rest.
Tom Thibodeau opened up the rotation a bit against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night. Georges-Hunt received 17 minutes of playing time. He went 2-for-3 from the field, scoring five points. Georges-Hunt finished with a plus/minus rating of +7, and he helped keep Wiggins just under 35 minutes and Butler just under 37 minutes.
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It is by no mean a huge reduction in playing time, but Thursday night showed that Georges-Hunt is a capable young player who can have an impact on what has been an underwhelming Minnesota bench.