Top 5 most underrated NBA players so far this season: PF – Jarred Vanderbilt, Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of the most interesting teams in the league this season. They began in typical Twolves fashion, starting 4-9 and seemingly done for the season already, particularly in light of the distracting Gersson Rosas firing.
Then, Chris Finch made a move. He permanently made Jarred Vanderbilt a starter after toying with the idea earlier in the season, citing a need for more defense and hustle in the opening lineup.
The Wolves responded by beating the Los Angeles Lakers by 24 points and have gone 7-3 since. Coincidence?
Probably not.
As the tweets above point out, Timberwolves fans are already mounting a major “Jarred Vanderbilt for All-Defensive” push. He is both springy and laterally quick with active hands and fantastic help-side instincts. Vanderbilt can legitimately guard one through five on the court, and he throws his body around like a Teflon crash dummy.
Vando’s inability to shoot from distance doesn’t matter next to Karl-Anthony Towns’ otherworldly touch, and he makes himself valuable offensively as a roll man for D’Angelo Russell.
Between KAT, Russell, and Anthony Edwards (who hasn’t quite figured out the ideal shot-to-pass ratio yet), there aren’t many shots left over, but Vando doesn’t care.
The new starting lineup, with those four and another defensive pest in Pat Beverley, is the absolute best lineup in the league so far, outscoring opponents by so many points that it looks like an error.
It’s hard to tell whether this Wolves team is for real, but with Vando leading the charge, at least they’ll always bring the effort.