Enrique Freeman is a Timberwolf

[kekgeek]

The Minnesota Timberwolves are signing forward Enrique Freeman on a two-way NBA contract, agents Keith Kreiter and Sam Cipriano of Edge Sports tell ESPN. The Pacers' 2024 second-rounder had a strong summer league, averaging 16.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 56% on 3s.

[Monster]

Interesting only because the other 2-way players are big centers. Maybe Newton wants to compete for an NBA contract maybe even a non-guaranteed one. There is certainly a spot for him as a depth guy here.

I know I had seen Freeman was one of the guys that wasn't signed to an NBA team in one way or another people said had a good summer league. He put up some good numbers in the G-league last year from the glance I took.

Edit: looked up his summer league stats. Yeah they are very good. It's just preseason stats but last year he put up some good numbers in that time too. I'm looking forward to watching some video of him.

[60WinTim]

I remember liking him in the draft as a potential 2nd rounder. Strong rebounder!

[Monster]

I remember liking him in the draft as a potential 2nd rounder. Strong rebounder!

Do you think he could play some defensively as a big SF at all? Maybe Naz is part of the solution if McDaniels were to get injured and we needed a bigger SF than TSJ or one of the other wings.

[60WinTim]

I remember liking him in the draft as a potential 2nd rounder. Strong rebounder!

Do you think he could play some defensively as a big SF at all? Maybe Naz is part of the solution if McDaniels were to get injured and we needed a bigger SF than TSJ or one of the other wings.

I didn’t do a deep enough dive on him at the time to know if he had SF flexibility. I just remember the impressive rebounding numbers. Now that he is in the fold, I’ll find time to take that deeper dive.

[Lipoli390]

I remember liking him in the draft as a potential 2nd rounder. Strong rebounder!

Do you think he could play some defensively as a big SF at all? Maybe Naz is part of the solution if McDaniels were to get injured and we needed a bigger SF than TSJ or one of the other wings.

I didn’t do a deep enough dive on him at the time to know if he had SF flexibility. I just remember the impressive rebounding numbers. Now that he is in the fold, I’ll find time to take that deeper dive.

I watched some video and didn’t see the sort of handle or ball skills you’d want in a SF. Naz has far better ball skills. However, Freeman has a nice perimeter shot. I think he’s strictly a PF - an excellent rebounder at 6’7 but with long arms that give him a 9’0 standing reach and 7’2 wingspan. I’ll be surprised if we see him on the court for our NBA Wolves next season but you never know and it’s nice to have him in the fold after his really nice Summer League performance.

[Monster]

Do you think he could play some defensively as a big SF at all? Maybe Naz is part of the solution if McDaniels were to get injured and we needed a bigger SF than TSJ or one of the other wings.

I didn’t do a deep enough dive on him at the time to know if he had SF flexibility. I just remember the impressive rebounding numbers. Now that he is in the fold, I’ll find time to take that deeper dive.

I watched some video and didn’t see the sort of handle or ball skills you’d want in a SF. Naz has far better ball skills. However, Freeman has a nice perimeter shot. I think he’s strictly a PF - an excellent rebounder at 6’7 but with long arms that give him a 9’0 standing reach and 7’2 wingspan. I’ll be surprised if we see him on the court for our NBA Wolves next season but you never know and it’s nice to have him in the fold after his really nice Summer League performance.

I don't care what he can do offensively as a SF I'm more interested in if he can move his feet to guard guys. I kinda doubt it but I'm gonna watch a little more.

I watched a half of the 2024 MAC conference tournament. If you like seeing someone box people out you will LOVE Freeman. There was one time he was out of bounce and came in and absolutely rooted the biggest guy out of his spot and grabbed the rebound. He is nearly always looking to put a body on someone and at least in this game he looked physically strong enough to do it. He also just sprints around and plays with a lot of energy. That's just one half.

With his shot he isn't a shooter but I think the issue with him is whether he shoots it too flat or gets arc on it. He has a nice enough release it's not not consistent but from what I have seen of him in videos SL, G-league and college it's not a side to side problem.

Ultimately so far he plays like a big and he doesn't look or play that undersized. It's just a half of a game though and it was a game where he put up 20-20 in the previous game.

[Q-is-here]

Freeman seems to play like I'd like Miller to play, which is with a focus on rebounding, defense, and nothing too fancy offensively. So while he's yet another PF positionally, he may be a better compliment on the floor next to a guy like Naz because of his ability to rebound and provide some rim protection.

Of course he may never get out of Iowa, but I just like that he seems more complimentary with his strengths versus all the redundancy we have with Randle, Naz, and Miller.

[Monster]

Freeman seems to play like I'd like Miller to play, which is with a focus on rebounding, defense, and nothing too fancy offensively. So while he's yet another PF positionally, he may be a better compliment on the floor next to a guy like Naz because of his ability to rebound and provide some rim protection.

Of course he may never get out of Iowa, but I just like that he seems more complimentary with his strengths versus all the redundancy we have with Randle, Naz, and Miller.

I finished watching the game against Kent State. One thing I noticed was I'm not sure how good he is act finishing over any kind of length. The bigs for Kent state weren't all that big. This is one thing Miller may have over him more size and being able to finish plays in the paint.

Miller and Freeman are both excellent rebounder. Freeman is more technically sound boxing out etc but Miller has that length and also has rebounded both in the G-league and in summer league.

It was Kent state but Freeman had 4 blocks and a couple were impressive a volleyball spike on one and another to help seal the game late he blocked the shot and basically took the ball out of the air. He typically doesn't just jump at everything staying with his man but he did have a couple contests and a block where he left his man to get the block.

Overall Q I think he plays more like a big which supports what you are saying of him being a better compliment to the other guys.

I'm gonna watch a G-league game next and see what that looks like.

It's just fascinating to me that they signed this guy when they have Randle Naz And Miller...that doesn't have to say something but maybe it does. Watching him in that game I had a thought that he might be a better small ball center than Miller.