November was spectacular for the Wolves. Their 13-2 record wasn’t just their best month in team history but the best in Minnesota sports history. Such levels of success warrant further thought. Jim Petersen said on the broadcast last week that “the Wolves can compete for a championship.” A team rarely assembles the right pieces at the right time, but the Wolves may have.
The Timberwolves enter December as the top team in the Western Conference and one with championship aspirations. They have the fourth-best net rating and the league’s best defensive rating this season. The Wolves have had big wins over the Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, and Oklahoma City Thunder while taking care of business against inferior opponents.
Things have also been just as good individually. Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid are the only players with 50/40/90 shooting splits. Anthony Edwards has seemingly leveled up as a playmaker. Edwards had garnered MVP-type attention before his hip pointer. Rudy Gobert’s unanimous defensive player of the year campaign has fueled Minnesota’s best-in-the-association defense.
It wasn’t that long ago that people considered the Wolves a young, fledgling team. At best, the Wolves were a team with upside when Edwards and Jaden McDaniels were rookies, and the Towns-D’Angelo Russell pairing was the offensive engine. They hadn’t yet realized their potential.
There will be hardships this season. Edwards and McDaniels have already suffered injuries, and the Wolves will face adversity in the long season. Shake Milton was a big offseason pickup and is in a slump. It’s natural, slumps happen. The evolution of a young team doesn’t just happen.
The Wolves beat the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, and the Hornets were once an up-and-coming team. Steve Clifford took over as head coach of the then-Bobcats in 2013. Their future looked bright with a young Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. In the offseason, they added former Wolf Al Jefferson in free agency and Cody Zeller with the 4th overall pick.
Charlotte went 21-61 before Clifford arrived, but they made the playoffs with a 43-49 season. They made the playoffs only one more time in Clifford’s following four seasons before needing to rebuild.
The Golden State Warriors rekindled their dynasty last year and won their fourth championship. Since then, Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson have regressed, and their future looks a bit dire.
It’s difficult to assemble a championship-caliber team. Windows open when talent allows them to, but they close just as quickly.
Sometimes, the window never opens. The Wolves had glimmers of hope from 2004 to 2022, but they never looked like real contenders. Plenty of teams assemble quality talent but can’t go the distance. Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers made the playoffs eight times between 2012 and 2022 but only made the Western Conference Finals once during Lillard’s tenure.
Other teams choose to fast-track their development, like the Toronto Raptors with Kawhi Leonard and Nick Nurse. Toronto was always a threat in the Eastern Conference with DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. However, after trading DeRozan for Leonard, they won their first title in 2019.
The Wolves have made it through the difficulties and uncertainties of a rebuild. They have star power, glue guys, and an identity. The only things they may lack are time and money.
Every team that wants to have prolonged playoff success must pay to retain a core of winning players, and the Wolves are about to have big financial questions after this season. Edwards and Towns’ extensions kick in next year while Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson became free agents.
Conley represents the biggest potential loss next season. He may come back on a cheaper contract, but the Wolves are sort of on Conley’s timeline. He elevates the offense when he’s aggressive and has been a key veteran presence.
D’Angelo Russell is a good player in his own right, but Conley’s addition has allowed the team to function harmoniously. He helped open Minnesota’s window. Many teams fail to ascend because they don’t amount to even the sum of their parts. Conley has helped the Wolves make one plus one equal three.
The Wolves aren’t under heaps of pressure. They have a bright future with talent not only on the current roster but also playing for the Iowa Wolves, like Leonard Miller. However, they seem to have assembled a cohesive team laden with talent and toughness. The Wolves have opened the window to contention, but teams can’t stay together forever. They can’t let this moment slip.
