Minnesota Timberwolves president Tim Connelly immediately laid out expectations last season: win a playoff series. They did that, and after one of their best seasons in franchise history, the Wolves are entering this season with higher expectations than they’ve had in 20 years.
The Wolves will experience a significant increase in national TV games, including a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night and a Christmas day game against the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks. It won’t be a straightforward road back to the conference finals or potentially further. So, what does success look like for this Wolves team in 2024-25?
After a 6-0 start to the postseason, the Wolves finished the 2023-24 season on a sour note, losing to the 5th-seeded Mavericks in five games. The Timberwolves could not retain any of their free agents this offseason and made their most significant moves in the draft.
Minnesota’s depth may have taken a hit, but they must show their playoff run wasn’t a fluke. The last time a Western Conference finalist went back to that same point the following year was the Golden State Warriors (2017-18 and 2018-19) in the midst of their dynasty run. With increased parity in the NBA, the Wolves will need to find a way to remain atop the league’s most grueling conference.
The Wolves were well on their way to bowing out in the second round of last year’s playoffs if not for a historic comeback in the second half of Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets. Anthony Edwards was Minnesota’s star of the playoffs, but he struggled to get it going all night.
However, there’s a real chance the Wolves could’ve lost in the second round this past season. Often, the playoffs are about matchups and good fortune. Perhaps the Nuggets were a healthy Jamal Murray or semi-efficient Michael Porter Jr. away from advancing. Minnesota’s defense was spectacular in that series, but Denver occasionally figured them out. Doing it once is hard, but it’ll be even more difficult to make it past the second round again this season as teams familiarize themselves with the Wolves’ style of play.
Health is a pretty important factor. Last season, the Wolves didn’t suffer many long-term injuries. However, after a long season, Finch and his staff dealt with more adversity.
Minnesota over-relied on Mike Conley last season, not only for what he brings to the Wolves but because of the team’s lack of depth at point guard. Conley was dealing with an Achilles injury that caused him to miss a pivotal Game 5 in the Nuggets series. He also continued to deal with the injury in the conference finals.
However, drafting Rob Dillingham lessens the load on the 37-year-old entering his 19th NBA season. Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s lack of shot-making as the playoffs went on may have correlated with his shoulder injury in Game 3 of the Nuggets series. Keeping Minnesota’s core talent healthy is paramount for their success this season. Losing even one of those guys greatly diminishes the team’s effectiveness.
Minnesota has made some notable changes, though. The Wolves lost all of their free agents, most notably Kyle Anderson, in a sign-and-trade to the Golden State Warriors, and the best teams in the West also have gotten better.
- Dallas lost Derrick Jones Jr. and Josh Green a year after winning the Western Conference but added five-time All-Star Klay Thompson.
- The Oklahoma City Thunder finished first in the West and traded Josh Giddey. However, they added a multi-time All-Defensive player in Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, the anchor of the New York Knicks’ defense last season.
- The New Orleans Pelicans added Dejounte Murray, the Sacramento Kings brought in DeMar DeRozan, and the Denver Nuggets signed Russell Westbrook.
Several teams in the West have made moves, knowing that the conference is deep. With how fast things can change year-to-year, it isn’t a lock for anyone to reach the conference finals as it was in the past for one team in particular. The Wolves will have to be prepared as they are a team who haven’t made as many “eye-popping” changes but enough to move them in the right direction.
For the Wolves to progress in the 2024-25 season, they’ll have to come into training camp with the same desire and focus as last season. Speaking of last season, they were better at winning the winnable games, which would have affected their playoff seeding in the past. It also brought them home-court advantage in two of their three playoff rounds.
The Wolves mustn’t get complacent or feel as though they’ve arrived. If they focus on what’s most important, this team can achieve great things again this year.
