Jaylen Nowell is among the winners of Rudy Gobert’s arrival in Minnesota. Not really because of the influence of the French on his game, but because the transfer sent Malik Beasley to Utah, and offered him the place of main scorer off the bench. For his fourth season with Wolves.
A more important role that he had been waiting for for a long time.
“There were a lot of dark moments”, he assures on this long waitwith his selection in 43rd position in the 2019 Draft then his passages in the G-League. “Long, dark tunnels. Sometimes you don’t see the light, but you hang in there, keep playing, trusting yourself, and good things happen. »
The 23-year-old full-back was warned before the summer that his role would evolve and he would get more opportunities this season. Chris Finch is also proud that his player understood that he had to prepare for it.
“He was much more in tune with the team and his teammates”explains his coach. “He’s a very smart boy, and he can be a bit introverted at times. But this year, he was very committed all summer. We told him: ‘The place is yours, but you have to earn it’. And he arrived with this mentality. »
“There was doubt, frustration, annoyance. All sorts of things. But when you hang in there and work hard, good things happen to those who continue to keep a positive spirit”
Going from 15.7 to 21.5 minutes per game this season, Jaylen Nowell has boosted his offensive production, from 8.5 to 14.5 points. And if he still has to improve his efficiency (44% in shooting including 29% at 3-points), he still brings this expected offensive dynamism, after a summer of work spent in the gym.
“You know someone is working when you can’t see them”assures Anthony Edwards. “I haven’t seen him at all (all summer). But I knew why. He was great in training camp. Then in preseason. We knew what he was capable of last year when he wasn’t playing much. We knew his time would come. »
Jaylen Nowell confirms that her summer consisted of “Work, work, work knowing my opportunity was coming”. What to get out of the dark tunnels by progressing in particular in defense, where he applies to take fewer faults and to better hold the “mismatches” sought by the opposing teams.
“There was doubt, frustration, annoyance. All sorts of things. But when we hang in there and work, good things happen to those who continue to keep a positive spirit. »
Good things and maybe a nice contract next summer. Jaylen Nowell did not wish to extend with the Wolves, preferring to bet on the next off-season, where he will be an unprotected “free agent”. Without focusing on this objective. “Because if I focus on that, I’m not doing my part as a teammate. »
| Jaylen Nowell | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2019-20 | MIN | 15 | 10 | 35.8 | 11.5 | 94.1 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 3.8 |
| 2020-21 | MIN | 42 | 18 | 42.4 | 33.3 | 81.8 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 9.0 |
| 2021-22 | MIN | 62 | 16 | 47.5 | 39.4 | 78.3 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 8.5 |
| 2022-23 | MIN | 6 | 22 | 43.9 | 29.0 | 75.0 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 14.5 |
| Total | 125 | 16 | 44.5 | 34.1 | 80.8 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 8.4 | |
