Johnny Juzang came to the Minnesota Timberwolves on a training camp deal, the kind of contract usually destined for a late October waiver or an invitation to Iowa for G League duties.
But the Timberwolves have one open spot on the roster and a history of rewarding players who have strong preseasons. So if Juzang is going to make the Wolves brass think long and hard about keeping him around, he’ll have to shoot his way onto the roster.
He’s off to a heck of a start.
Juzang went 6-for-8 from 3-point range in a 135-134 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, igniting the Wolves after a demoralizing first half against the defending Eastern Conference champions. He finished with 20 points and was a plus-15 in under 14 minutes of action after he went 3-for-7 from deep in the preseason opener against the Denver Nuggets.
“Man, sizzling,” Bones Hyland said. “He can shoot that thang. He can really shoot it. God-given talent, being able to shoot the ball like that.”
Juzang signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz after going undrafted in 2022. He spent three years with the Jazz and played in 64 games last season, averaging 8.9 points and shooting 37.6 percent from deep. He signed a camp deal with the Wolves last month and has been knocking down shots ever since.
“He’s shot the ball really well,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We’ve been able to generate a lot of good looks for him. He doesn’t need a lot of time or space to get his shot off. He certainly can be a really dangerous shooter you can put on the move, too.”
Johnny Juzang caught fire from downtown tonight for the @Timberwolves 🔥
👌 20 points
👌 6-8 from downtown
👌 6-9 from the floor pic.twitter.com/wbPZFBCoFI
— NBA (@NBA) October 8, 2025
A preseason second half in which none of the starters played on either side may seem meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But for a player like Juzang who is trying to hold on to a spot in the league, it can mean everything. If he needs any reason for hope, he can look to Luka Garza for inspiration. Garza played so well in camp two years ago that the Wolves jettisoned a plan to carry 14 players into the season and kept him as the 15th guy.
“Shooting never goes out of style,” Finch said. “He’s got enough experience in the league, too. He knows how to play. Defensively, he knows what we’re trying to do.”
Wolves fall flat
The preseason opener against Denver was an impressive display of ball movement, shot-making and intensity against one of the favorites in the Western Conference and a team playing all of its starters. This one was about the exact opposite.
The Pacers might not have Tyrese Haliburton (out for the season) or Myles Turner, but they came into Target Center and played like it was Game 8 of the NBA Finals. They picked up full court, flexed their muscles in the half court and pushed the ball relentlessly, overwhelming the Wolves with their intensity and physicality. They looked like a team buoyed by a stirring run to the finals. They played with a swagger and an identity that caught the Wolves off guard.
The starters for both teams played only the first half. Indiana led by as many as 16 before taking a 65-57 lead into the halftime break.
Finch said before the game that the Pacers were the perfect opponent to play at this point in the preseason because they would test them in every facet. That’s exactly what Indiana did.
The Wolves have wanted to focus on pushing the pace this season. The Pacers outscored them 20-4 in transition in the first half when the starters played. The Wolves wanted to have more ball pressure on the perimeter. The Pacers ran circles around them in the half court, shooting 65 percent in the first quarter and 52 percent in the first half. The Wolves wanted to take care of the ball. The Pacers forced 13 turnovers in the half, including five from Rudy Gobert.
“They looked like they were way sharper and quicker than we were to everything they were trying to get to,” Finch said. “We were reacting a lot.”
Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle and Mike Conley all played after sitting out the opener. Edwards scored 17 points but was just 6-for-15 from the floor. Randle had 14 points but was a minus-11 in 18 minutes. And Conley was a non-factor with no shots, one assist and two fouls in 14 minutes.
Yes, it is only the preseason. But if we are going to laud the Wolves for how they looked against Denver, we have to also point it out when they look outclassed. And that’s what happened Tuesday night.
Dillingham struggles
Rob Dillingham had an up-and-down preseason debut against Denver. He racked up nine assists, on the positive side, but had a hard time with fouls and staying in front of his man on defense.
The game against Indiana skewed much rougher. He scored 3 points on 1-for-7 shooting, committed four fouls and had just four assists in 22 minutes. The Pacers attacked him mercilessly on defense, with T.J. McConnell in particular going right at him over and over. McConnell got to his spots easily for pull-up jumpers and picked Dillingham clean after hounding him in the backcourt to force one of the second-year point guard’s three turnovers.
It did not get any better for Dillingham in the second half, when the Pacers went entirely with backups. The Wolves got blown out of the third-quarter gates with a 14-0 run, and Dillingham looked overwhelmed even against lesser competition. Pacers guard RayJ Dennis, who signed a two-way contract last year and was undrafted after playing at three colleges, outplayed him on both ends.
“I think the key for Rob is to pick a direction and go,” Finch said. “I think physicality gets him if he’s trying to always reverse course. Then, if he has to fight it at that point in time, he should be looking to get off of it.”
Dillingham looked his best when he was out in the open court, particularly during a sequence in the second quarter when he grabbed the ball in transition, surged up the court, hit the paint against Pacers big Jay Huff and kicked it out to Terrence Shannon Jr. for a wide-open corner 3. Finch wants Dillingham to keep things simple and to use his speed to inject pace into the game.
“When he puts his shoulder down and picks a direction, he can turn the corner, and it opens up a lot of passing angles and other opportunities for him,” Finch said.
Hyland wasn’t great, but he didn’t let Indiana’s toughness derail him. He played with more force and energy, scoring 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting.
It is still early, but Hyland just seems to have a much better feel for who he is as a player and what he can do to help than Dillingham. The 2024 No. 8 pick is still just 20 years old and barely played as a rookie last year. The learning curve will be unavoidable. He needs time to play, adjust to the speed of the game and figure out who he is as a player.
He is going to have good nights and difficult ones. How he responds to the toughest outings, and how the coaches react to them, will tell the story of his season.
Jaylen Clark brings it
One of the lone bright spots during the most important part of the game in the first half was Clark. When the Timberwolves were losing the physicality battle by a large margin, Clark entered the game and turned up the heat on defense.
He did not have a point, a rebound or a steal, but his ball pressure, hustle and toughness stood out on an otherwise passive night for the Wolves. Clark left the game with neck spasms after just eight minutes after knocking heads with Delon Wright while going for a steal, but he made his mark before that.
Jaylen Clark frontcourt steal pic.twitter.com/gzVqcetA7Z
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) October 8, 2025
Clark’s stats have been nothing to write home about in the first two games, but his cutting on offense and energy on defense are the kinds of attributes that can wedge him into the rotation. He likely will jockey with Shannon, Dillingham and maybe Joan Beringer on some nights for the eighth and ninth spots.
If the Wolves are going to make defense the driver this season, it will be hard not to give Clark as many minutes as possible.
“We could’ve done a better job of getting into the ball, and Jaylen showed what that can do,” Finch said.