The Minnesota Timberwolves are trickling back into the Twin Cities to begin preparation for training camp. The team’s practice facility has been lively with many players arriving early.
This will be one of, if not the, most anticipated seasons in the franchise’s 36-year history. They are coming off of a run to the Western Conference finals, have almost everyone back and Anthony Edwards appears poised to ascend to superstardom. The front office and coaching staff might be the best, most synergistic leadership group the Wolves have ever had. Tickets and sponsorships are going at a rate that the team has never seen before.
buckle up, it’s gonna be special. pic.twitter.com/ebpbvXC65a
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) September 13, 2024
That is all encouraging for a team that is not used to being in the spotlight. But coach Chris Finch made it clear as soon as last season ended that the Wolves had to understand that all of the success they enjoyed was gone, and they would be starting from zero when training camp opens. Nothing can be assumed this NBA season just because the previous one went so well.
The Wolves have some burning questions to answer if they are going to take the next step and play for a championship. When camp opens on Oct. 1, the quest to answer them will begin.
How can the offense be boosted?
The Timberwolves were a dominant force on the defensive end last season with a 108.4 rating that was more than two full points per 100 possessions better than second-place Boston. Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and the rest of the crew made defense cool again, fueling a 56-win season and catapulting them past Phoenix and Denver in the playoffs.
The thing that prevented them from taking the final step was a 17th-ranked offense that managed just 114.6 points per 100. To be a team that truly has a chance to win a title, the gap between their offensive and defensive ratings needs to close by a significant margin. Last season, Boston, Oklahoma City, Denver and New York were top 10 in both categories. The Dallas Mavericks were eighth in offense and 18th in defense, but their defensive rating jumped to sixth overall in the final 30 games of the regular season after they made some key acquisitions at the trade deadline.
On a team with Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mike Conley and Naz Reid, there is considerable offensive firepower. Even Gobert, as clunky as his offensive skill set can be, has been a part of great offenses in the past thanks to his screening and rebounding. They were eighth in 3-point percentage, sixth in overall field-goal percentage and fifth in free-throw attempts.
Finch said a priority for the offseason was to find new ways to unlock more scoring and efficiency. The Wolves said goodbye to Kyle Anderson in free agency and they will sorely miss his defensive versatility. He was always a reliable playmaker on offense, but in his place, they brought in Joe Ingles, a much better shooter and equally adept playmaker. Look for Reid to get even more offensive responsibility as well.
Tim Connelly’s moves in the offseason also showed what a priority it was going to be to add offense. He traded for the No. 8 pick to take Rob Dillingham, a certified bucket-getter at Kentucky and exactly the kind of shot-creator they were missing against Dallas. Even adding Terrence Shannon Jr. later in the draft had an offensive bent with his ability to get out in transition and get to the basket with his physicality.
A third season with the Towns-Gobert frontcourt pairing could help just with more familiarity. It was better in Year 2 than it was in Year 1, so maybe another jump will be made. But as we saw in the Olympics, there are certain times when Gobert’s limitations on offense make it hard to trade buckets with a high-scoring team.
How Finch, Pablo Prigioni and the rest of the coaching staff tweak their systems to open up more driving lanes for Edwards, better utilize Towns as an offensive fulcrum and generate more transition opportunities will be critical to getting the offense moving in 2024-25.
Are the kids ready?
Anderson wasn’t the only player to leave this summer. Veteran point guards Jordan McLaughlin and Monte Morris departed as well, leaving the Wolves thin behind Conley, who will turn 37 next month. Ingles, the only significant free-agent signing of the summer, also turns 37 in October.
That puts some early pressure on two rookies to make an impact, particularly Dillingham, the only other real point guard on the roster. When Connelly made the aggressive move to go get Dillingham, much of the instant analysis focused on the guard’s explosive first step and shot-making. Connelly emphasized their belief in his ability to make plays for his teammates, especially in the pick-and-roll. It is one reason the Wolves have not targeted another veteran point guard in the pool of players willing to play for the minimum. They want Dillingham to play and to learn on the job.
He will not turn 20 until January and has a slight frame at 6 foot 1, 165 pounds, so there will be some adjusting for him to do. He will be asked to do it within the context of a team that has real championship aspirations. He could struggle early as he adjusts to the size and the speed of the NBA, which is something that occurred in some games at Summer League in Las Vegas.
But the Wolves believe deeply in his talent and his ability to adapt over time. Connelly did not sign a veteran point guard because they want Dillingham to be able to work through the inevitable mistakes that will come early in his rookie season. If it turns out to be too much, the Wolves do have Edwards, Ingles and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to handle the role.
Shannon Jr. is an entirely different case. Where Dillingham is young and undersized but supremely talented as a scorer, Shannon is 24 years old (a year older than Edwards) and will use his size and physicality to win some minutes. He may not be as naturally electric as Dillingham, but he could usurp Josh Minott in the pecking order thanks to a keen understanding of his role and how he can be effective.
Exactly where Shannon fits in a rotation that already seems full with the five starters, Dillingham, Alexander-Walker, Reid and Ingles remains to be seen. But how quickly the young guys, including Minott, Leonard Miller and Luka Garza, show that they are capable of playing on a contending team will be important in determining the team’s ceiling.
Does Gobert have even more in him?
What a roller-coaster ride for Gobert in Minnesota. His first season was rocky and brought plenty of criticism his way from around the league and even from his fan base. To his credit, he made compromises in his second season and was a pivotal part of the Wolves’ rise in the West. For all of the consternation, his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year award was well deserved for the way he served as the lynchpin of the league’s best defense.
But Gobert’s legion of haters delighted in Luka Dončić’s 3-pointer in Game 2 and France minimizing his role in the medal round of the Olympics, and there is no more vocal contingent in the league than the one that enjoys lobbing insults Gobert’s way.
As we saw with Gobert’s response to Shaquille O’Neal, he is well aware of the discourse surrounding him. Last summer, that served as motivation for Gobert to return to his old form on defense and meet his teammates in the middle with some of their asks of him so winning would be the top priority.
It worked. The Wolves dethroned the defending champions in Denver and made it to their second conference finals. Perhaps most importantly, his addition has ensured that Edwards is playing meaningful games early in his career. The Wolves are banking on that experience paying dividends to him and the team in the coming seasons.
But how much better can Gobert be at this stage of his career? He turned 32 in June, and big men have been known to hit a wall quickly when they age. Gobert keeps himself in tremendous shape, so it will likely be more about how he continues to tailor his game to fit what Minnesota needs from him. He is used to being ridiculed, and this summer was no different. He responded well to it last summer. The Wolves will need him to do that again.
Where do Wolves stack up in Western Conference?
With so many players back from last season’s final-four team, the Wolves very much see themselves as championship contenders this season. Take a quick look around the Western Conference and it promises to be an even more grueling climb up the mountain than it was last season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the No. 1-seeded team in last season’s West playoff field, addressed their biggest weakness by adding Isaiah Hartenstein to help their rebounding woes. They also traded Josh Giddey, a player who was losing his grip on playing time, for Alex Caruso, who is one of the league’s best perimeter defenders. They are loaded.
Denver lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but they still have Nikola Jokić, the best player in the world. Dallas got Klay Thompson for even more offensive firepower next to Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
New Orleans traded for Dejounte Murray, and if Zion Williamson can finally stay healthy, the Pelicans will be a real threat. Memphis should be rejuvenated with Ja Morant back on the court, Phoenix addressed its point guard needs with Tyus Jones and Morris, Sacramento picked up DeMar DeRozan and Victor Wembanyama is back for his second season in San Antonio, this time with Chris Paul there to help.
And though they didn’t make any splash moves in the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers still have LeBron James, and the Golden State Warriors have Steph Curry, the two most important players in Team USA’s run to the gold medal in Paris.
As it stands, Portland is the only team in the conference that doesn’t look like it has designs on being competitive this season.
There will be very few nights off. The Wolves will be relying on internal improvement and youth to push them further than they got last season. Earning a top-four seed and homecourt advantage in the first round will be a huge challenge. Coming out of the West will be one of the most difficult runs in recent memory.
Is this the last dance?
The Timberwolves are now a really expensive team. With Towns, Gobert and Edwards on max deals and McDaniels, Reid and Conley all making very good money, the Wolves will be in the dreaded second apron, a level of spending that severely restricts their ability to make trades and manage their roster, in addition to severe financial penalties.
We have seen much deeper-pocketed teams like the Warriors and Clippers make roster decisions based at least somewhat on reducing costs, and teams across the league are still getting their minds around how to stay competitive for the long haul under the new collective bargaining rules.
No matter who ends up owning the team after the November arbitration case between Glen Taylor and Marc Lore/Alex Rodriguez shakes out, some financial decisions will likely have to be made. If the Timberwolves win the title or even make it to the NBA Finals, it may be a little bit easier to keep the team together thanks to the playoff revenue.
But folks around the league will be watching them closely. They have not been a tax-paying team often in Taylor’s tenure as owner, and a disappointing finish this season could lead to the breakup of this core. Speculation will surely swirl around Towns’ future all season long, but Gobert is eligible for an extension and has one more season on his deal after this one. Reid has a player option on his deal for 2025-26 and could command a big raise and Alexander-Walker is entering the final year of his contract and will be due a big bump as well.
It is hard to see how the Wolves address all of that and keep this team largely together for any more than the next two years, so there will be urgency to win as much as they can right now.
(Photo of Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
