Anthony Edwards was understandably subdued as he addressed the media with sweat dripping off his face following the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
But his confidence didn’t sway.
Minnesota made a historic run to the Western Conference Finals. As Edwards processed everything that unfolded minutes after he walked off the Target Center floor for the final time in the 2024 playoffs, he simply said, “We’ll be back next year.”
Edwards has always been a reputable source for sanguine projections, some of which are hard to see coming true or spark controversy on social media. The Timberwolves could repeat what they did in 2023-24, but it isn’t as easy as Ant makes it seem. They start the season with a 0-0 record and have a long road back to being a final-four team.
Remembering all the work it took for the Wolves to reach the Western Conference Finals last season will be essential for the team to go even deeper in 2024-25.
“I knew how special we were when we went to Abu Dhabi and how we looked so early in the season,” Karl-Anthony Towns said on Podcast P with Paul George in July. “We looked locked in and motivated. Everyone had their own reason for being so motivated.”
The Wolves played their first two preseason games against the Mavericks in Abu Dhabi, 17 hours away from Minneapolis. While in the Middle East, the team laid the framework for a successful season. As a result, they looked far ahead of schedule on the court with impressive passing, shot-making, and defense. The Wolves also went on off-court team-building excursions, such as visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and riding camels during a desert experience.
In Abu Dhabi, Kyle Anderson prophesied that the Wolves would play Dallas in the Western Conference Finals because both teams were talented and deep, and the Mavericks had two closers in Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
Minnesota’s rise last season surprised even the most confident fans. However, the writing was on the wall for the Wolves to assemble a historic season, and they did just that.
The Wolves begin the preseason against the Los Angeles Lakers in Palm Springs this year. That is a three-hour flight from MSP, which is not even a quarter of the time it takes to get to Abu Dhabi. They aren’t going to have a memorable start to the preseason this year, which helped them form such a tight-knit group in 2023. Still, if they don’t come to training camp with the same urgency and desire to win, the Wolves won’t achieve their goals in 2024.
“When we return to work in October, we aren’t going to fast forward to the Western Conference Finals,” Chris Finch told the media during his exit interview. “The lessons we learned as a young team in the Dallas series and before need to be applied Day 1 in training camp and every day up until that point.”
The season unofficially starts when players report to training camp in early October. Teams have about a week to develop game plans, schemes, and lineups before preseason starts. The coaching staff crams a lot of information into a short period. There’s pressure to make the most of training camp, but the Wolves are already ahead of the curve and excited about the 2024-25 season.
Tim Connelly recently told Dan Barreiro that the Mayo Clinic Square gym has been “full” with players this summer. Minnesota’s social media team has posted photos of rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. working out in Minneapolis, along with P.J. Dozier – whom the team signed this off-season – Josh Minott and Jaylen Clark.
It’s common for young players to hang around the city they play in for summer work. However, Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels, and Anthony Edwards – fresh off his gold medal Olympic run with Team USA – have also been in Minneapolis getting in work over the last few weeks.
The practice facility has been busy this summer, and Connelly said that most players will be in town this week, almost a month before training camp begins. The Wolves appear hungry to repeat the success they had last season. Players cutting their off-season plans short to report back to their team speaks volumes to a team wanting to grow connectively.
“We can’t take regular season games off,” Connelly told Barrerio. “We took big strides last year in that regard. … Sometimes, when you come off a long postseason run, the regular season can be boring. Sometimes, when you come off an Olympic run and play into July, you are exusted. Our guys have to know that without the regular season, there is no postseason.”
The Wolves won 56 regular season games in 2023-24, the second most in franchise history. They held the No. 1 seed in the West longer than any other team, ultimately finishing with the third seed. It’s easy to remember the regular season in only a positive light, but it didn’t start with blowout wins, records breaking, and free chicken.
Minnesota opened its season against the Toronto Raptors on the road. The Wolves lost by three points to a team that eventually finished the season 32 games under .500. Teams are subject to lackluster losses early in the season, but the Wolves scored 94 points, their third-fewest in the regular season. Finch’s squad looked far from the offensive juggernaut they were in Abu Dhabi.
It was a disenchanting way to open the season. Still, Minnesota came home and beat the Miami Heat 106-90 in their home opener three days later.
After that, the Wolves hit the road to play the Atlanta Hawks in what turned out to be one of the worst losses of the season. The Wolves held a 21-point lead in the first half but allowed Atlanta to outscore them 67-34 in the second. Minnesota lost 127-113. It was a defeat that could have defined their season, but the Wolves showed resilience immediately after, winning 16 of their next 18 games and shooting up the NBA standings.
Opening the season with two losses against teams worse than Minnesota sparked concern among fans. The Wolves struggled against the league’s worst teams in 2022-23, and that issue appeared to carry over into last season. But they didn’t let a few games early in the year dictate the rest of the season. It can be easy to forget that quick blip early in the schedule, but Minnesota’s resilience right out of the gates was a driving factor in its success.
Four of Minnesota’s first five games to open the 2024-25 season will be interesting matchups against four teams with deep postseason hopes. They open the year against the Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Raptors (home opener), Mavericks, and Denver Nuggets. We will be able to see if the Wolves enter the new year focused and understand how important it is to start strong, setting a tone for the rest of the season.
Last year, the Twin Cities were euphoric. However, teams can regress after an abnormally successful season. Timberwolves fans expect another year with their team near the top of the standings, and many are hopeful to see Adam Silver present the Wolves with the championship trophy in June.
The players probably have the same goal but can’t think about it now. They must stay present, focusing on repeating last season’s boring victories – not sweeping the Phoenix Suns or winning Game 7 over Denver last year. Those memories solidified the Wolves as a genuine threat in the West. However, they didn’t get to that point without understanding the importance of the regular season and training camp.
