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In what is surely the biggest news of the day, Minnesota has re-signed PF Juancho Hernangomez to a 3-year, $21 million deal, with the final year being a team-option.
Restricted free agent Juancho Hernangomez is finalizing a three-year, $21M deal to re-sign with the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 22, 2020
Third year is a team option, sources tell @TheAthleticMIN https://t.co/GSeZWqyH2N
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) November 22, 2020
Juancho is mostly a fine player, albeit an unexciting one. He was always the most realistic option at PF to start the season, at least. Hernangomez is a good three-point shooter, as evidenced by his 42% clip from beyond the arc for Minnesota on just a hair under five attempts per game.
Defensively, the Wolves gave him a lot of responsibility, often having him guard the best wing scorer on the opposing team when Josh Okogie wasn’t on the floor. That is probably a bit of an outsized role for Juancho, but it at least shows the coaching staff believes he can be a solid defender down the road. Those reps can’t hurt, that’s for sure.
As far as the big picture goes, the Wolves were always unlikely to let either of Juancho or Malik Beasley walk in free agency given what they invested at the 2019-20 season trade deadline to acquire them.
The Timberwolves front office invested a 1st round pick in acquiring Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez at the deadline so as to have first dibs (and Bird Rights) on them in free agency.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) November 22, 2020
Beasley: 4 years, $60M (team option yr 3)
Hernangomez: 3 years, $21M (team option yr 3)
It looks like he’ll start at the 4 opening night, barring a trade. The one place I really worry with Juancho as the starting 4 is on the defensive glass. In his career, he hasn’t been a good rebounder yet, sitting mostly around 8 boards per-36 minutes for his career. There will be a lot of pressure on Karl-Anthony Towns to gobble up rebounds.
What this does ensure, though, is that Minnesota’s starting lineup will be loaded with shooting. It remains to be seen who starts alongside D’Angelo Russell at guard, but any lineup with Russell, Hernangomez, and KAT is a pretty dang good shooting lineup given that both Rubio and Beasely (the most likely candidates to start at guard) are passable or good shooters.