From guarding Ant to hitting threes, Wolves might have a breakout star brewing

Nickeil Alexander-Walker was awesome, but Terrence Shannon Jr. is poised to outperform his former teammate — possibly on both ends of the floor.

Feb 13, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) and guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (00) and center Naz Reid (11) walk off the court for a timeout in the first quarter of the game with the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Anthony Edwards has vowed to be a more dominant defender. Rudy Gobert has four Defensive Player of the Year awards in his trophy case. Jaden McDaniels is one of the best all-around defenders in the league. Donte DiVincenzo can apply intense pressure on opposing guards.

The only missing piece from last season's Timberwolves defense is Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who signed with the Atlanta Hawks in free agency. While Alexander-Walker was a terrific 3-and-D guard, the Wolves are asking Terrence Shannon Jr. to fill the void — and the second-year wing from Illinois thinks he's defensive game will match his offensive skills this season.

"I feel like I'm better all around. Just getting used to the speed of the NBA your first year, knowing guys' tendencies, knowing the defense, what we want, what we will accept, and certain things that happen in the flow of the game. But I feel like I got better, a lot, all around," Shannon said Monday.

Shannon said he's been improving on defense by playing Edwards one-on-one.

"When you're playing one-on-one with Ant a lot, like this year, it gets you ready for pretty much anybody. He's a really good scorer. Knows how to move with the ball, without the ball. That was a big focus for me this summer," Shannon said.

He also said he's been working on his shooting, which has been apparent in the last two Wolves exhibition games as he's knocked down five of his last six three-point shots. That can't be overlooked considering his role in the rotation is going to be similar to Alexander-Walker, who was a 3-and-D stud off Minnesota's bench.

Alexander-Walker was a corner three-point assassin last season, making 51.8 of his threes from the left corner (29 of 56) and 44.4% from the right corner (36 of 81).

"If I'm open, I'm going to shoot it in the corner," Shannon said.

Shannon attempted only 33 three-pointers last season, and he made 11 of them. Of those, he hit 4 of 7 from the left corner and 4 of 14 from the right corner.

If Shannon comes off the bench and plays 25 minutes per game like Alexander-Walker did last season, he's going to get a ton of looks in the corner. If he can knock them down like Alexander-Walker did, he has the chance to be an even more dynamic weapon on offense because of his ability to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line.

Alexander-Walker was one of the better bench players in the NBA last season. Shannon has a chance to be better than him. If he is, then Minnesota may very well have the best trio of role players off the bench in the NBA with Shannon, Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo.

That's not a bad top eight when accompanied by the starters (Edwards, Gobert, McDaniels, Julius Randle, and Mike Conley). Throw in a big jump in production from Rob Dillingham, and Minnesota could once again have one of the deepest rotations in the league.