The Timberwolves are running out of preseason runway, and Saturday’s trip to Miami could tell them plenty about what’s ahead.
Minnesota has three exhibition games left after splitting its first two, and the visit to the Heat is the first of two stops at Kaseya Center in the next 11 days. The other comes on October 21, when the Wolves open the regular season in the same building.
The starters won’t be logging regular-season minutes in preseason, but this is still a useful measuring stick. If both teams keep their key frontcourt players on the floor, Minnesota gets an early look at how it handles size, length and physicality against a team built with plenty of it.
Miami now has the nearly 7-foot Giannis Antetokounmpo, who spent the first 13 seasons of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks. Minnesota was heavily rumored to be in the mix for him, too. When the Wolves faced Milwaukee in the past, they leaned on a defensive wall to keep the Greek Freak out of the paint, where he finishes nearly every time.
Antetokounmpo joins Bam Adebayo, a longtime Heat big man who stands a couple of inches shorter but brings rare strength. Late in the offseason, Miami added 6-foot-11 Nick Richards as well.
The roster also includes Vladislav Goldin, who is 7-foot, Nikola Jovic at 6-foot-10 and Bobby Portis at 6-foot-9. Goldin is a two-way player and probably won’t be in the mix on October 21, but the Heat still have plenty of size to throw at Minnesota on Saturday and again in the opener.
That matters because the Wolves are also trying to figure out how they’ll hold up against the kind of frontcourts the Western Conference may put in front of them. The Thunder and Spurs both bring serious size, with Victor Wembanyama, Luke Kornet, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein among the big men on those rosters.
Minnesota is not exactly undersized, but the front line looks different now. Naz Reid and Julius Randle are gone after being traded this offseason, leaving Rudy Gobert, Joan Beringer and Jonathan Kuminga to do the heavy lifting on the boards against bigger teams, starting with Miami.
In Other News...
Anthony Edwards Just Became The Target Of A Brutal New Roast
Anthony Edwards has a way of making himself part of the basketball conversation even when he is nowhere near the floor, and this time it came from an Adidas commercial that drew a playful jab at Jaylen Brown and LeBron James. Brown, now with the Philadelphia 76ers, wasnt about to let that one slide, even if the back-and-forth landed in the lighter, internet-fueled corner of NBA banter rather than anything approaching real tension.
Brown answered during a live Twitch stream with teammate VJ Edgecombe, turning Edwards hairline joke back on the Timberwolves star in a way that fit the moment. It added another layer to Edwards already busy public profile, which has included off-court headlines around multiple child support cases and his recent marriage, but for Minnesota fans the immediate takeaway is simpler: their franchise centerpiece keeps finding his way into the middle of the leagues most colorful online exchanges. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Edwards Is Giving The Wolves Their Best Early Sign Yet
Anthony Edwards has spent Minnesotas preseason giving the Timberwolves exactly the kind of early signal they wanted after an offseason of recovery and roster turnover. He has been scoring efficiently in exhibition play and, just as important for a team trying to find its footing, he has looked like a player comfortable enough to keep attacking while working alongside new teammates LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga.
Chris Finch has liked what he has seen from Edwards condition, and the broader picture matters just as much as the points. If Edwards is healthy and blending naturally into the group, it gives Minnesota a far better chance to smooth out the integration period before the games start to count, even if the real test of how ready this team is will come once the regular season opens. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Rotation Pieces Are Suddenly Playing For More Than This Season
The Timberwolves have reached the part of the season where even rotation pieces are being judged with an eye toward what comes next. Terrence Shannon Jr., Bones Hyland and Rudy Gobert all sit in different places on the roster, but each has at least some reason to wonder whether this could be their final year in Minnesota, with contract status, performance and overall fit all feeding into the discussion.
For Shannon, the intrigue is less about what he has shown than how crowded the path is in front of him. Hyland brings the uncertainty that comes with a short-term arrangement, while Gobert remains a franchise-defining player whose future is tied to bigger roster decisions than nightly box scores. A few teammates are off the table because they are only in their first year with the club, but these three are already in the part of the conversation where every stretch of play matters. [Read more 🡒]