The Minnesota Timberwolves spent their offseason trying to fix what had become impossible to ignore: a roster that looked clunky and stale when the games got tight. That problem was on full display when they fell flat in the second round against the San Antonio Spurs, with Anthony Edwards carrying too much of the load while dealing with two bad knees.
The changes they made were aimed straight at that issue. LaMelo Ball, who powered one of the best offenses in basketball last season, is now paired with Edwards in the backcourt. Jonathan Kuminga, meanwhile, was a key piece for an Atlanta Hawks team that took two games from the reigning champions in the first round.
Minnesota also moved on from Julius Randle, who scored just three points in the Wolves’ elimination game and had issues with consistency and body language throughout his time there. Naz Reid is gone too, even though he was a huge fan favorite. He never quite broke through as a starter in Minnesota, and the Wolves still took a flawed roster that had already been successful and made it better this summer.
Still, not everyone sees it that way. Michael Pina of The Ringer slotted the Wolves 11th in his recent power rankings, and that’s a tough one to square with how this team looks now.
He’s not alone either. Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report said last month that Minnesota got worse this offseason, and Zach Karm of ESPN gave the Wolves a D+ for their summer work.
That kind of reaction suggests the offseason is being read all wrong, because the argument against Minnesota doesn’t really hold up when you look at the roster move by move.
There are fair concerns about Ball. He hasn’t made the playoffs yet, and the injury questions are real.
But it’s also hard to ignore what he was working with in Charlotte. Those Hornets teams were, as the source of the criticism puts it, “next-level bad.”
Once he finally had a competent group around him last season, Ball helped lead the NBA’s best offense from Jan. 1 onward.
Randle, on the other hand, had become more liability than asset by the end of his Wolves run. His playoff struggles and uneven play made him a tough fit as a second option for a team with real championship hopes, so Minnesota was happy to get out from under his contract.
Pina called Randle an “innings eater” on offense during the regular season and pointed to Minnesota’s offense dropping off without him. But with Ball now in the fold after driving one of the league’s best attacks, the Wolves have more than enough shot creation to absorb that loss.
What really pushes the ranking argument over the edge, though, is the idea that teams like the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Lakers should sit above Minnesota. Denver ahead of the Wolves, after what happened in the playoffs last season, is hard to justify. The battered Wolves made Denver look bad, and they’ve had that team’s number since 2024.
Houston hasn’t done enough to earn that kind of trust, either. The Rockets haven’t won a playoff series since 2020 and recently lost to the Lakers in the first round, even with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves missing.
The Lakers haven’t exactly built up much of a case lately, either. Minnesota beat them in five games two years ago, and Los Angeles lost LeBron James this offseason.
From top to bottom, it’s hard to look at this Timberwolves roster and settle on 11th in the league. The takes that say Minnesota lost the LaMelo trade or got worse this offseason feel off target.
If anything, the outside noise may end up helping. The Wolves usually seem to play their best when people are sleeping on them.
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Timberwolves Starters Each Face One Issue That Could Define This Season
The Timberwolves spent the offseason reshaping the top of their roster after injuries and uneven play exposed enough flaws to force real change. Trading Julius Randle and Naz Reid for LaMelo Ball and signing Jonathan Kuminga gave Minnesota a different look in the starting group, one built less around familiarity and more around the idea that internal growth can clean up what went wrong a year ago.
Now the early pressure points are clear. Ball has to adjust to a role that asks him to fit next to Anthony Edwards rather than drive everything himself, while Kuminga is stepping into the power forward spot with the job of bringing more juice on both ends. Minnesota is banking on that combination, plus a sharper defensive commitment, to raise the floor of a lineup that still has plenty to prove. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Could Face A Tough Rudy Gobert Call Sooner Than Expected
The Timberwolves frontcourt picture could look very different a year from now if the right pieces start to click. Joan Beringer is expected to open with limited minutes, but the organization clearly sees a path for him to grow into a quality starter, and that kind of development would change the long-term math around Rudy Gobert. Add Jonathan Kuminga into the mix on a short-term deal, and Minnesota suddenly has another moving part to weigh as it tries to balance present-day contention with future flexibility.
Minnesotas decision on Gobert would not come lightly, but salary cap realities always have a way of forcing the issue. If Beringer keeps progressing and Kuminga settles in as more than a temporary solution, the Wolves could face a difficult call next offseason about whether to keep paying for an elite veteran center or pivot toward a younger, cheaper structure. For now, it is more of a planning exercise than a deadline, but it is the kind of roster question that can sneak up fast. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Suddenly Have One Big Problem Fans Will Gladly Take
The Timberwolves have spent much of the summer trying to answer the same question every contending team eventually faces: how do you feed enough mouths without dulling the edge of the ones who matter most? Anthony Edwards remains the centerpiece, but Minnesota now has a deeper mix of shot creators and versatile pieces around him, with Jaden McDaniels and LaMelo Ball adding to a group that can score in different ways. For once, the concern is less about finding enough talent and more about keeping it organized.
Jonathan Kumingas arrival helped settle an earlier frontcourt worry and gives Minnesota another useful option in a rotation that suddenly looks crowded in all the right places. The challenge now is figuring out how the offense can keep everybody engaged, and the answer may come from a quicker tempo that lets the Wolves spread touches around without forcing one player to carry too much. It is a nice problem to have, even if it still leaves the coaching staff with a few lineup puzzles to sort out. [Read more 🡒]