For UCLA product Shabazz Muhammad, things haven’t worked out as he had hoped in this his fifth year with the Minnesota Timberwolves. That can be said for pretty much the entirety of his career but with starter-reliant head coach Tom Thibodeau at the helm, Muhammad’s numbers and minutes have dropped off severely.
Though Muhammad was a free agent prior to this season, he opted to remain with Minnesota on the veteran’s minimum and that has not panned out. With his role diminishing more and more behind the likes of Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins, Muhammad has informed the Wolves he would either like to be released or traded prior to the NBA’s Feb 8th deadline. Following from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Out of the rotation and clearly out of Minnesota Timberwolves president and coach Tom Thibodeau’s plans, guard Shabazz Muhammad has requested to the franchise that it move or waive him before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, league sources told ESPN.
Muhammad’s representatives recently made the request to the Timberwolves front office, league sources said.
With Thibodeau at the helm and two quality options in front of him not to mention perennial 6th man Jamal Crawford, Muhammad should’ve seen his marginalized role coming. Thibodeau loves to ride with his starters for extended periods so it’s no surprise Muhammad isn’t getting the exposure he feels he deserves.
With the deadline sitting 5 days away, Minnesota will now have to take quick action regarding their disgruntled wing. Muhammad could garner some interest as he’s still relatively young and is a capable rotational piece. This season, however, Muhammad is averaging a career-low 3.7 points per game in a mere 9.6 minutes of action per night.
