What's Next for the Minnesota Timberwolves?
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of the more promising teams these past few seasons. Before their current success, the Timberwolves were essentially irrelevant aside from when they were led by Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett. Now they are led by All-NBA shooting guard Anthony Edwards, and his growth is the main reason they have their current level of success. However, in today's league, if you aren't getting better, then you've gotten worse, so let's look at what's next for the Timberwolves to continue on an upward trajectory.
In an intensely competitive Western Conference, the Timberwolves have managed to make the Western Conference Finals for the past two seasons. It can't be understated how impressive this is when looking at the teams they beat to get to this point. In the 2023-2024 playoffs, the Timberwolves knocked off the defending champions in the Denver Nuggets, before losing to the Dallas Mavericks in five games. In the 2024-2025 playoffs, they managed to beat the Nuggets again, despite Nikola Jokic having an amazing season, averaging a triple-double and leading the Nuggets to 50 wins. The Timberwolves then went on to lose to the eventual champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in five games. While they have yet to get to the finals, this is still an impressive accomplishment when you take into consideration that Edwards is 24 years old and is still growing as a player. Last season, he became one of the best three-point shooters in the league out of nowhere. However, it's unlikely that the Timberwolves’ upcoming 2025-2026 season will be as impressive.
The Timberwolves have remained the same caliber of team from last season, while their competitors have made immense improvements. The Houston Rockets had 52 wins and managed to capture the second seed last season, all while they had a glaring weakness in their shooting, and didn't have any major threats on the perimeter. They then added Kevin Durant, one of the greatest perimeter shooters to ever step on an NBA court. They did this while keeping their best players and maintaining their young core. The Los Angeles Lakers gave Luka Doncic a solid center in Deandre Ayton, ensuring the All-NBA point guard has a solid pick-and-roll partner. The Nuggets, who the Timberwolves beat for the past two years, finally made improvements to their roster by trading Michael Porter Jr. for Cameron Thomas and getting Joker a solid backup center in Jonas Valanciunas. That's not even mentioning the defending champions, the OKC Thunder, who have managed to keep their best players and still have enough first-round picks to make the roster even better if needed.
The Timberwolves need to make improvements to their roster if they want to stay competitive. The first move they’ll need to make is to move on from Mike Conley. While Conley is beloved by Timberwolves fans, he is already 37 years old, and since their best player is in his mid-20s, the roster around him should better match his championship window. Conley has maybe two to three seasons where he can be a solid starting point guard, but the Timberwolves front office should look at moving him to the backup point guard position and having someone younger with more of a scoring punch take the starting spot. The next improvement they need to make is finding Edwards a solid second scoring option. Julius Randle is a solid player, and this past season, he has performed well. However, the second option on this team should be a more versatile scorer, and ideally, a threat from the three-point line.
The last move that should be made is moving on from Rudy Gobert. Gobert is a polarizing player in the eyes of the NBA media, but that isn't why the Timberwolves should trade him. Gobert is a fine center currently; however, he should be traded before he becomes a problem. Gobert’s archetype isn't one that ages gracefully; he relies on his strength and physicality to be a solid defender, and as he gets older, his defensive capabilities, along with his rebounding, will start to diminish. He's not an agile defender on the perimeter, and his offensive game relies on being the biggest and strongest player under the rim. With the size of his current contract front office should flip him for multiple smaller contracts and then try to acquire a stretch five to complement Edwards' ability to drive to the rim.
