Minnesota Timberwolves: October 2018 player grades

Minnesota Timberwolves: October player grades

SHENZHEN, CHINA - OCTOBER 05: Jimmy Butler #23, Andrew Wiggins #22, Karl-Anthony Townsand and Taj Gibson #67 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrate during the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors as part of 2017 NBA Global Games China at Universidade Center on October 5, 2017 in Shenzhen, China. (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Taj Gibson

8 GP, 26.4 MPG, 10.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.1 BPG

Taj Gibson has played as well as he can be expected to play. He brings veteran presence and savvy to the Wolves. His on-court productive is nothing to write home about, however.

As mentioned before, the Timberwolves’ starting lineups have performed exceptionally poorly so far, and while Taj is not the main reason for that, most lineups he’s spent notable time with have negative net ratings. His effective field goal percentage, 61.7 percent, is solid, and he has even been willing to take corner 3s when open this season, but his 11.8 rebounding percentage isn’t getting it done.

Advanced defensive metrics are split on Gibson too. His defensive rating is a horrid 117.2, but Basketball-Reference has him as a positive in defense box score plus/minus. The eye test aligns more with the former, as he has had constant trouble containing opposing big men night after night.

Overall though, a team could certainly do worse for 26 minutes a game at power forward.

Grade: C

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