The Minnesota Timberwolves enter the season with real buzz, and for good reason. If everything falls into place, this group has the talent to push deep into the postseason and give fans plenty to enjoy, with Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball driving the action in the backcourt.
But Chris Finch isn’t pretending the roster is flawless. On Sunday, he pointed straight to rebounding as the biggest issue his team has to clean up.
“I mean rebounding is at the top of the list,” Finch said when asked about the team's biggest hurdles. “We got to make sure we continue to put an emphasis on rebounding…and it’s going to have to come from Jaden (McDaniels) and Anthony (Edwards) and these guys who traditionally have not always rebounded at the highest level. Those guys are going to have to really get in there.”
That concern has been floating around all offseason, and for good reason. Rudy Gobert can handle a huge share of the work, but he can’t be expected to do all of it by himself. Even so, this doesn’t look like the kind of problem that should derail Minnesota’s bigger ambitions.
The Wolves will need everyone buying in on the glass, especially after losing some size. Trading away Naz Reid and Julius Randle takes away two of the three players who were regulars in last season’s rotation and fit the “bigs” label.
Last season, Minnesota finished 13th in rebounds per game, right around the middle of the league. Gobert remains one of the NBA’s elite rebounders, but there’s a limit to what one player can cover.
Getting more from Joan Beringer should help, especially when Gobert is off the floor and the team needs to avoid a steep drop-off. Jonathan Kuminga is also coming off a career-best rebounding season.
Edwards, meanwhile, has a case to make if he wants to be viewed as a true MVP-level candidate. His scoring is already there, but the numbers around it need to grow too, and rebounding is part of that. He has posted at least five rebounds per game in each of the last four seasons, but never six.
McDaniels gives Minnesota elite defense, though his frame makes him a tougher fit as a consistent crash-the-glass presence. His best rebounding season came in 2024-25, when he set career highs in both offensive and defensive rebounding rates.
Ball adds another wrinkle. As a taller point guard, he can help Minnesota chase down long misses, and that can feed directly into the transition game. If he’s collecting those deep rebounds, the Wolves can get moving right away.
The good news for Minnesota is that this is a solvable issue. The team does not need to become a monster on the boards to contend. Last season’s New York Knicks were strong rebounding-wise, but the 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder were actually slightly outrebounded in the regular season and still finished with the best single-season point differential in NBA history.
If the Timberwolves can hold around average again, that may be enough. Nobody wants to be weak on the boards, but being merely ordinary there doesn’t knock a team out of the title picture. If Minnesota delivers in the areas it’s supposed to, the season can still be a very good one.
In Other News...
Timberwolves May Have A Longer Wait Than Expected On This Draft Pick
Trey Kaufman-Renns path to the Timberwolves may be taking a detour back through college basketball. Minnesota still holds his draft rights, but the big man has been able to keep his college route open after a court injunction granted him an extra season of eligibility, and his future remains tied to a legal process that is not finished yet.
For now, Kaufman-Renn has moved forward with Kansas, where he has signed, enrolled in classes and started practicing with the Jayhawks. The NCAA is expected to appeal the injunction, which leaves Minnesota in a familiar draft-night holding pattern with a player it still controls on paper, even though he has not signed a professional contract. [Read more 🡒]
Cody Williams Is Making Minnesotas Rotation Battle Hard To Ignore
Cody Williams has turned Timberwolves training camp into one of those early roster discussions that can quietly linger all season. The former lottery pick has stood out to teammates and coaches with his defense and versatility, and his preseason minutes have offered the kind of preview that can matter in a crowded rotation race. Even with the offense still coming along, Williams has shown enough instincts on that end and enough playmaking flashes to make him feel more than just another camp body.
The comparison point inside Minnesota is hard to miss because Terrence Shannon Jr. has also been fighting for traction, but not with the same level of consistency. Williams steadier defensive presence has given him a real case for more consideration, especially for a team looking to sort out who can be trusted when the games start to count. For now, the most interesting part of his rise is not just what he has done, but how much attention he is forcing the staff to pay to the battle around him. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Have A Real Opening Against A Vulnerable Nuggets Team
Minnesota enters the season with a real chance to push into the next tier of the Western Conference after making major offseason changes, most notably adding LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga. Those moves were made with a clear purpose: give the offense more juice and raise the ceiling of a roster that has been good enough to matter, but not yet good enough to separate itself from the pack.
The opportunity looks even better when you scan the rest of the top half of the West, where Denver no longer looks nearly as airtight as it once did. The Nuggets have taken a hit in the kind of perimeter defense and lineup flexibility that usually keeps them stable over the long season, and the depth chart behind the starters leaves plenty of questions for Minnesota to probe if it wants to climb past the group its being measured against. [Read more 🡒]