The quick read
- The Wolves won 49 games, beat Denver in the first round and lost to San Antonio in six in the second round.
- They traded Julius Randle and Naz Reid in a four-team deal for LaMelo Ball, then added Jonathan Kuminga on a cheap two-year deal.
- Our call: around 48 wins, the No. 4 seed in the West, and a second-round exit.
The new backcourt debuts on the road. The Minnesota Timberwolves open in Miami on Oct. 21, then plays its home opener against Toronto at Target Center on Oct. 25. Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball are both 25, and NBA.com calls them one of the most exciting backcourts in the league.
Chris Finch, who has coached the team since 2020-21, is back. His team looks different. Julius Randle and Naz Reid, two of last season’s top five scorers, are gone, Ball is the new point guard, and Kuminga slides in at power forward. The defense still has Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels. Whether the new guys buy into it is the question.
Last season: 49 wins and a second-round exit
Last season by the numbers
- 49-33 Record, 6th in the West
- +3.3 Net rating, 10th in the NBA
- 116.8 Offensive rating, 12th in the NBA
- 113.5 Defensive rating, 8th in the NBA
- 26-15 At home (23-18 on the road)
- 37.0% From three, on 37.2 tries a game
Ratings are points scored and allowed per 100 possessions. Net rating is the difference. Source: Basketball-Reference.
It was a solid year, not a special one. The Wolves won 49 games and made the playoffs for the fifth straight season. They had a top-ten defense, a middle-of-the-pack offense, and they played fast, ninth in pace. Edwards scored 28.8 a game and shot 39.9% from three. At the trade deadline, they added Ayo Dosunmu from Chicago for Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks.
The playoffs started well. As the No. 6 seed they beat No. 3 Denver in six games. But Game 4 was costly. Edwards suffered a bone bruise in his left knee, and Donte DiVincenzo tore his Achilles tendon. Edwards made it back for the second round. DiVincenzo didn’t.
San Antonio ended it in six. The Wolves won Game 1 on the road and Game 4 at home, but the other four games got away from them. Three of the losses were by 29 points or more, including a 139-109 loss at home in Game 6.
timberwolves preview: The roster
Starters: LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga, Rudy Gobert.
| Player | G | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Edwards | 61 | 35.0 | 28.8 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 48.9 | 39.9 |
| LaMelo Ball | 72 | 28.0 | 20.1 | 4.8 | 7.1 | 40.7 | 36.8 |
| Jaden McDaniels | 73 | 31.7 | 14.8 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 51.5 | 41.2 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | 16 | 22.1 | 12.3 | 5.3 | 2.1 | 47.6 | 34.6 |
| Rudy Gobert | 76 | 31.3 | 10.9 | 11.5 | 1.7 | 68.2 | 0.0 |
Edwards is the star and the closer. Ball is a pass-first point guard who also takes a lot of threes, 10.3 a game last season. His shooting percentage was low, 40.7%, so efficiency is something to watch. McDaniels was quietly excellent, shooting 41.2% from three, and Finch wants to use him more as a playmaker. He may even play some small-ball center, meaning he’d be the biggest player on the floor in short stretches. Kuminga’s job is simpler: rebound, defend and run. Gobert is the anchor. He grabbed 11.5 rebounds a game and blocked 124 shots.
Bench: Ayo Dosunmu, Bones Hyland, Terrence Shannon Jr., Cody Williams, Jaylen Clark, Joan Beringer, Trey Lyles, Isaiah Evans.
| Player | G | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayo Dosunmu | 24 | 28.9 | 14.4 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 52.1 | 41.4 |
| Bones Hyland | 71 | 16.6 | 8.5 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 45.3 | 38.8 |
| Cody Williams | 67 | 24.3 | 8.8 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 46.8 | 21.4 |
| Terrence Shannon Jr. | 43 | 12.5 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 45.0 | 40.8 |
| Jaylen Clark | 68 | 13.1 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 43.4 | 32.7 |
| Joan Beringer | 40 | 7.9 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 66.3 | – |
Dosunmu is the key reserve. He was terrific after the trade and re-signed for five years. The sixth-man job is open, though, and with DiVincenzo out, Shannon, Clark and Williams all get a chance at wing minutes. Beringer, a second-year center, backs up Gobert.
On health: DiVincenzo is expected to miss most of the season after Achilles surgery. Edwards and Ball were not on the injury report in the September previews.
What changed: roster and coaching
About two-thirds of last season’s minutes are back, but that’s misleading. Returning players logged about 13,050 of last season’s 19,781 minutes, roughly 66%. DiVincenzo accounts for about 2,500 of those, and he won’t play much. Take him out and only about 53% of last season’s minutes are healthy and back.
The big loss is the frontcourt scoring. Randle (21.1 points, 5.0 assists) and Reid (13.6 points off the bench) played about 4,600 minutes between them, almost a quarter of the team’s total. They went out in the four-team trade that brought Ball and Josh Green. The price included an unprotected 2033 first-round pick and three pick swaps. Green was later flipped to Utah for Cody Williams. Mike Conley (Boston), Kyle Anderson (Toronto) and Joe Ingles also left.
Kuminga was a bargain. Atlanta declined his option, and Minnesota signed him for two years and $12.43 million with its mid-level exception, the main tool a team over the tax can use to sign free agents. NBA.com named him a breakout candidate.
The money is tight. Dosunmu got five years and $112 million. Ball has three years and $130.7 million left. The Wolves are hard-capped at the second apron, the league’s top spending limit, and sit only about $4.5 million under it. That leaves little room to add help during the season.
On the bench: Finch is back, and so is the front office led by Tim Connelly. This is the second season under owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. Finch’s camp priorities were getting Ball comfortable, getting more defense out of Edwards, and growing McDaniels as a passer.
Coach’s prediction
More talent at the top, less depth behind it. That’s a 48-win team with a higher ceiling in a short series.
Coach’s whiteboard
The betting line is 48.5 wins. USA TODAY is far higher, projecting 55-27. In a Hoops Rumors poll, 71% of readers took the over. BetFanatics leans under because of the injury history of the two stars.
We’re closer to the line. Ball and Edwards should make the offense better than 12th. But the bench is thinner, the backup big men are young, and the defense will probably slip without Reid and DiVincenzo. Gobert and McDaniels can only do so much.
Our pick: 48-34, fourth in the West. They win a first-round series against the Lakers, then lose to San Antonio in the second round again.
Watch for: Ball’s shot selection, Kuminga’s defense at power forward, and whether Gobert signs an extension once he’s eligible on Oct. 24.
