NBA: Three Teams With Game-Changing Young Talent

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Minnesota Timberwolves: Only A Matter Of Time

Much has already been written about how Karl-Anthony Town’s rookie season compared favorably in terms of rebounds, field goal percentage, and player efficiency rating to no-discussion Hall Of Famers like Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

Much has been written about he lead all rookies in rebounds and player efficiency rating. And of course, many words have been written legitimately comparing Towns to Anthony Davis if Anthony Davis had more eyebrows.

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He is going to be pretty good.

So will Andrew Wiggins, who while in high school was subject to so much ridiculous hype that people were saying un-ironically that he was going to be the Canadian Michael Jordan. After two seasons, he hasn’t quite lived up to that ridiculous level of expectation, but he is still obviously going to be a very productive NBA player.

Being a defensively versatile 6-foot-8 with the ability to shoot drive and pass proficiently is nothing to sneeze at. Neither is a two season career average of 18.8 points per game. If his game stopped growing right now, Andrew Wiggins would still essentially be a slightly shorter and more productive version of Harrison Barnes, and Harrison Barnes was just given a max contract to help ensure that Dirk Nowitzki never win a second title.

On physical tools alone, Zach LaVine also looks like quite a prospect. 6-foot-5 with a disgusting 46 inch vertical leap, LaVine is the definition of a freak athlete. He was solid enough as a ball handler that his NBA coaches were confident enough to allow him to play spot minutes as a point guard.

If his game stopped growing right now, Andrew Wiggins would still essentially be a slightly shorter and more productive version of Harrison Barnes, and Harrison Barnes was just given a max contract to help ensure that Dirk Nowitzki never wins a second title

Over two seasons, he has a posted a .373 three point percentage. Without hyperbole, his ceiling looks about as high as he can actually jump. Just like other young prospects such as Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac, it looks like that with added weight and mental seasoning that LaVine could be a pretty special player.

Even Ricky Rubio, who might just be the odd man out in Minnesota, is no slouch. For his career, he has been one of the leaders in the NBA in assist and steals percentage, while being known as one of the best defenders at his position. One could argue that Rubio is a pretty useful asset.

The same could be argued for Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng. Unfortunately for Rubio specifically, Kris Dunn just looks a little more special, and Rubio could be soon be suiting up for a different team (New York when Derrick Rose’s knees inevitably explode?) as a result of it.

Kris Dunn is a 6-foot-4 point guard who averaged around 16 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds his senior year while being named Big East Player of The Year for the second consecutive time. He was an early contender for the “Obviously Too Good For Summer League” Award after averaging 24 points,7 rebounds, and 3 assists in two games before being pulled out for the remainder of the league after allegedly “suffering a concussion”.

Though honestly, it could be argued that he was pulled out because he quickly proved anything his summer league tenure was supposed to prove. In two very impressive games, he quickly demonstrated a more than NBA ready handle, and as well a working jumpshot that wasn’t supposed to be working yet.

In this video, you’ll see Dunn score in multiple ways. You wanna see strong drives with technically sound finishes? Go to the 31 second mark to see Dunn drive right, maintain strong control of the ball during two long strides, and then finish gracefully with one hand off one foot.

Technically sound passes out of high screen and switch actions? Go to one 12 for a seemingly simple but crucial to master quick pass out of an action with point guard Tyus Jones. Jumpers from a supposedly non shooting guard? Go to 1:27 and watch him curl out of a pin down with Adreian Payne into a jump shot that he makes with good form and arch.

The guy seems to already have a relatively full offensive pakage, and he already has the benefit of being an athletic 6-foot-4.

The video also only shows a glimpse of his defensive potential. He not only displayed in his two games that he could effectively utilize quick body and 6-foot-9.5 inch wingspan on offense, but also on defense. On the ball he frequently made opposing guards give up the ball when in isolations, fought to get over screens, and made good ball denial efforts.

He also showed solid defensive awareness in terms of appropriate positioning. He occasionally made errors off the ball, as he sometimes was obviously trying to use his athleticism to grab steals as opposed to staying in position, but the potential is obviously there for Dunn to be a lockdown defender.

must read: NBA: Seven Teams With The Most Bust Potential Entering 2016-17

Basically, Dunn has the potential to be a very special two way player. Combining him, Towns, Wiggins, LaVine and the rest, and Minnesota has a very bright future if even just a couple of their prospects pan out as expected. It would almost be an upset if enough of Minnesota’s talent isn’t part of a team that will soon contend in the Western Conference for years to come.

Young talent is alive and well in the NBA, and as these three teams show basketball is only going to get better.

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