When Noah Vonleh entered the league in 2014, many were intrigued about his tantalizing upside. However, five years later, that potential hasn't quite translated just yet. The Minnesota Timberwolves, looking to incorporate more three-point shooting into their offense this upcoming season, will be Vonleh's fifth team in six seasons. The former 9th overall pick is very confident that he will be able to help them in that department.
“I’ve been very confident. My whole life I’ve been looking to shoot the 3-point shot, from high school to middle school, college and then the NBA,” Vonleh said per Kyle Ratke of NBA.com. “I mean, depending on the team and situation you go to, they might need different things. I just remind myself, do the things team wants you to do, but also remember to work on the things that got you to the NBA.”
Part of why there was so much intrigue on Vonleh back in 2014 was his potential to become a knock-down shooting big man. The NBA had already started to transition into a more perimeter-centric game. Many teams coveted Vonleh's potential ability to shoot from deep, along with his athletic gifts.
However, Vonleh hasn't shown that so far in his five year NBA career. He is a career 31.6 percent shooter from three thus far, and is shooting just a shade under one attempt per game. He has, however, started to use the three much more. Vonleh averaged two three-point attempts on 33.6 percent shooting in a “career year” with the New York Knicks last season.
Expect Vonleh to take significantly more threes in Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders' system. If he'll shoot it at any better clip than he already has remains to be seen.
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