James Nunnally

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The Wolves announced the signing of James Nunnally on Wednesday morning.

You may be unfamiliar of Nunnally, and that's fine. It's been a bit since he played in the NBA. He last played in the NBA in 2013-14, appearing in 13 games for the Hawks and 76ers.

But Nunnally has turned heads of NBA execs by playing outside of the NBA.

Nunnally, a 6-7 wing, has spent the last two seasons playing in Turkey with Fenerbahce. He helped his team to a championship in 2017, and in 2017-18, he shot a ridiculous 55.4 percent from the 3-point line. Over the last two seasons overseas, he’s connected on 208 of 400 attempts from deep.

The 28-year-old attended college at UC Santa Barbara from 2008-12 and was undrafted in 2012.

He has good size to play both wing spots, and potentially a small-ball four. The words “3 and D” are probably overused, but that’s the specific role Nunnally will likely play on this Wolves team, a team that's in need of 3-point shooters. Other teams were rumored to be after Nunnally, and credit Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden for thinking outside of the box with this signing. The free agent market has dried up, but Thibodeau and Layden took a look at a totally different market.

The Wolves lost Nemanja Bjelica in free agency, but signing Anthony Tolliver, drafting Bates-Diop and Josh Okogie, and now adding Nunnally should more than make up for that.

Just judging from Nunnally’s career arc, he’s not a guy who is afraid to put in the work. Undrafted free agent. Earned his way onto an NBA roster. Played overseas and worked his way back to the NBA.

How will Nunnally fit in with the team’s rotation? That has yet to be seen, but even after Okogie and Bates-Diop, there’s a need for wings on this team.

Nunnally knows how to get to his spots. On the first play of this video, watch him get right to the corner 3-pointer after the offensive rebound.

He’s not a crazy athlete, but he has a nice feel for the game and is enough of an athlete to run the court and finish after luring in a defender at the 3-point line.

This isn’t the sexiest of signings, considering a lot of fans are just learning now who he is. But it’s an out of the box signing with virtually no risk.

get-to-know-james-nunnally

Get To Know James Nunnally

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Gallery | James Nunnally

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Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves announced the team has signed forward James Nunnally. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Nunnally, 6-7, has spent the last two years playing in Turkey with Fenerbahçe, making back-to-back EuroLeague Final Four appearances, including winning a championship in 2017. Over 29 EuroLeague games in 2017-18, he averaged 9.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while shooting 54.0% overall from the field, including a 55.4% mark from beyond the arc.

Undrafted in 2012 out of UC Santa Barbara, Nunnally spent parts of the 2013-14 NBA season with Atlanta and Philadelphia, totaling averages of 3.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game in 13 contests. He has also played in the G League with Bakersfield and Texas, as well as overseas in Greece, Puerto Rico, Spain, Israel and Italy. Nunnally earned Italian League MVP honors in 2016 after averaging 18.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 40 games.  

timberwolves-sign-james-nunnally

Timberwolves Sign James Nunnally

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