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Nowell Finds his Range in NBA, Begins to Pull Minutes for Timberwolves

The former UW shooter scores in double figures in three consecutive games.
Dan Raley|
Nowell Finds his Range in NBA, Begins to Pull Minutes for Timberwolves
Nowell Finds his Range in NBA, Begins to Pull Minutes for Timberwolves

If he had done it the old-fashioned way, Jaylen Nowell would be a senior for the University of Washington basketball team, which might be 12-3 instead of 3-12. We might be talking about him as a possible first-team All-American selection and a lottery pick.

Oh well, Nowell finally is starting to make his move as an NBA player, 

The former two-season Husky and Pac-12 Player of the Year has entered the rotation and turned in three consecutive double-figure games for the Minnesota Timberwolves — dropping 12 points in 16 minutes on Golden State, 10 points in 23 minutes against Philadelphia and on Sunday night a career-high 13 in 19 minutes against Cleveland.

These was his first significant playing time of the season on a team with another ex-UW player and Seattle-area product, rookie forward Jaden McDaniels. 

Nowell, originally from the same Garfield High School that sent both Brandon Roy and Will Conroy to the UW and then to the Timberwolves, has flashed his 3-point range, which is his meal ticket to a long pro career. 

As a rookie, Nowell split time between the Timberwolves and their G-League affiliate Iowa. He averaged 21 points per game and shot 44 percent from 3-point range in the minors, but connected on just 3 of 26 treys once with Minnesota. 

He was slowed by a leg injury to begin this season, but appears healthy now. He's finding a groove. The ball is going in. 

"The more reps we will get, the more I'll be able to read off guys," he said. "It's actually happening faster than I thought it would."

His inaccuracy as a first-year player admittedly was a shock to his system. It made him get in the gym when that debut pro season was over. 

"I had a lot of people tell me not to be so hard on myself after last year," Nowell said. "But just as a competitor and somebody who normally does shoot the ball fairly well, it definitely was frustrating. Over the summer, I was just shooting thousands of shots a day to make sure that wen the opportunity comes again, that I will make the majority of them."

Clearly, his confidence has kicked in at the pro level, which leads to baskets made and a steady paycheck. 

"Playing with other players who I haven't really played with consistently, it's taken a little bit of time to read them and for them to read me, as well," Nowell said. "We're still in that process of learning each other consistently, so that's definitely something that's been challenging, but we're up for that challenge."

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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