Timberwolves' Josh Minott, 'the lawn mower,' looks to turn potential into playing time

The diehard fans on social media of most NBA teams have their pet projects — the rookies or young players who are a year or two away from potentially being big contributors. These fans consume clips of their favorite players in their G League or summer league games, adopt nicknames for them, and dream of the day they might go from being afterthoughts in the mind of casual NBA fans to stars.

That player on the Timberwolves is second-year forward Josh Minott, the springy forward out of Memphis who the Wolves took 45th overall in the 2022 draft. Almost immediately, Minott's athletic ability jumped off the page or phone screen, but the rawness in his game suggested he would need time to smooth out the rough edges. Through the season, Minott, affectionately referred to as "the lawn mower," shined in Iowa (17.8 points, 8.5 rebounds per game).

Entering his second year, the Wolves and those fans are eager to see just where Minott is as summer league opens Friday and if he has a chance to push for playing time next season.

Minott and last year's first-round draft pick, Wendell Moore Jr., are expected to be the leaders of this summer's squad.

"It's just another opportunity to show the jump I've made, to show the work that I've been putting in over the summer," Minott said this week. "Anybody can watch a workout, but I feel like it's environments like this, environments like summer league where you see how much the work has translated and just how much you've gotten better."

There were no vacations for Minott and Moore, who both hit the gym again shortly after the season ended with a playoff loss to the Nuggets.

"Can't afford to not be in there," Minott said. "It's a big summer for us, and we can't waste this. We haven't really proven anything, so I feel like people have seen that we're hungry. I don't really see why there's a reason for us to be overseas and relaxing. You've got to get the work."

One of the biggest differences for Minott in where he is now compared to a season ago is on the defensive end. Minott, exuding confidence, said he feels like he can understand any defensive concept the Wolves throw at him and that he is "one of the elites out there right now" when it comes to that end of the floor.

"Overall, it's been a strong suit of mine," Minott said. "I feel like your shot can be off, or there's just a lot of inconsistencies in people's games, but defense is one of those things that can always be there."

If there's a pathway to playing time for Minott next season, it's on defense, especially given his ability to rebound. The Wolves still struggled on the glass even after adding Rudy Gobert last season, but Minott averaged 7.3 boards per game with Iowa and said that number should have been higher.

On offense the Wolves are focusing on having Minott play out of the corner, enabling him to play off other playmakers like Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns.

"Right now, he has to be one of those players that masters the corner," Wolves assistant Chris Hines said. "... Those guys who play off the catch in the corners, shoot the shot from the corners, back cut from the corners – mastering the corners for us is going to help us."

Minott said he learned a lot from Taurean Prince, who is now a Laker, on how to play in that spot.

"He was one of the vets that was telling me the importance of quick decisions, 0.5 (second) mentality," Minott said. "You can't hold the ball. Basically, you just have to be ready for whoever passes it to you."

Summer league will be a chance for Minott — who called himself "a lawn mower ... once I got going, I just kept it going" in last year's event — to showcase all he has learned over the past year, and with the Wolves likely up against the luxury tax in future seasons, they'd like to see someone like him, who's on a team-friendly deal, become an important rotation piece.

"It's part of the reason we've been here all summer," Minott said. "Just trying to chase that opportunity."