Jamal Crawford, Jeff Teague and Jimmy Butler certainly make the Timberwolves a more dangerous 3-point shooting team, but they’re still nowhere near the level of the NBA’s top teams from deep.
Minnesota finished last (30th) in the league with 601 made threes in 2016-17. The Rockets led the NBA with 1,181 threes and 11 other teams hit at least 200 more threes than the Wolves.
With just 11 players currently on roster, Wolves already with more 3ptrs & higher 3pt% than last season (based on '15/'16 stats). pic.twitter.com/Ro5TUd6nwa
— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) July 21, 2017
But it’s not all bad anymore. Consider the fact that only seven teams in the league had at least five players with 90+ threes last season, led by the Cavaliers, who had seven players top 90. The Hornets, Nuggets, Rockets, Clippers, 76ers and Jazz all had five guys with 90+.
Minnesota is now in that group with Crawford, Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Butler and Teague all hitting 90+ behind the arc last season.
None of Minnesota’s best 3-point shooters finished in the top 60 of last season’s 3-point leaderboard, but they’re bottom is much better now.
Let’s put it like this: Nemanja Bjelica was the Wolves’ fifth-best 3-point shooter with 56 made threes at a 31.6% clip. The fifth-best on roster now is Teague with 90 made threes at a 35.7% clip.
Number of Wolves players with 90+ threes in a season
- 2015-16: 1
- 2014-15: 0
- 2013-14: 2
- 2012-13: 1
- 2011-12: 1
- 2010-11: 1
- 2009-10: 0
- 2008-09: 2
- 2007-08: 1
- 2006-07: 1
- 2005-06: 0
- 2004-05: 0
In the modern era of 3-point shooting, the Wolves have never had a team with more than two players with 90+ made threes. Now they have five.
