The Timberwolves have already lived through one expensive lesson in how long it can take a big move to settle in.
When Rudy Gobert arrived in Minnesota in the summer of 2022, it immediately pushed the franchise into a different level of expectation - one the team and its fans were not exactly prepared to absorb overnight. By the end of December that season, the Wolves were sitting at 16-21, had held a players-only meeting on New Year’s Eve, and the trade was looking, to plenty of people, like a disaster.
But the story did not stop there. The roster needed time to be reworked around the move, veteran voices had to be added, and the group had to learn how to function with Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns together. A year and a half later, Minnesota was celebrating its first Western Conference Finals appearance in 20 years.
A nearly identical arc followed the Julius Randle and Karl-Anthony Towns trade. The Wolves were 9-10 through the end of November, hung around until the All-Star break, then caught fire late and rode that momentum into another conference finals run.
The difference now is that patience may not come so easily.
Leadership has been the key thread through both of those adjustment periods, and Mike Conley was central to that. During the Gobert rise in 2023-24 and the Randle situation a year later, he gave Minnesota a steady hand as both a player and a voice in the locker room. Part of the decline this past offseason tied directly to his fading impact on the floor.
Now Anthony Edwards is entering Year No. 7, and the expectation is that he, LaMelo Ball, Gobert, and Jaden McDaniels keep everything pointed in the right direction while they figure out how to mesh. The talent is there, but the roster is too good to spend an entire season sorting itself out. Getting a true point guard into the mix matters because the ball has to get to everyone.
Jonathan Kuminga also comes into the picture with a clear financial incentive. He is basically on a one-year contract and will be trying to boost his value for a long-term deal next summer. His past as a high-iso, high-usage player - his usage rate of 22.3 last season was five points higher than Jaden McDaniels - will have to be trimmed down, and that figures to be high on Chris Finch’s to-do list as he tries to fit a bigger-usage player into a system without shortchanging everyone else.
There is some passing feel there, too. Kuminga averages only 1.8 assists for his career, but there are moments when the vision jumps off the screen, especially when he reads a collapsed or broken defensive coverage and delivers the ball with touch.
Minnesota’s profile has changed as well. The Wolves have 27 nationally televised games this season, including a home Christmas Day game, and it will be the second straight year they’ve been on national TV 25 times or more. For this franchise, that is not normal territory.
LaMelo Ball only adds to that spotlight, bringing a huge fan base into the equation alongside the attention already generated by Edwards and a team that has become a regular playoff presence.
That’s the point now: this is not the same situation Minnesota faced when Gobert arrived. The Wolves are in uncharted water, and unlike before, they do not have the luxury of treating this as a trial run.
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Timberwolves Face An Expensive Question Around Anthony Edwards And Rudy Gobert
Minnesotas long-term roster picture is already taking shape, and the core is crowded with major names. LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Ayo Dosunmu, Jonathan Kuminga, Rudy Gobert and Donte DiVincenzo are all part of the mix, with only minor expected additions left as the 2026-27 group comes into view. Even with the lineup mostly mapped out, the more pressing work is less about filling spots and more about deciding how far the front office wants to go to keep this version of the team intact.
The financial part of that equation is where things get tricky. The Timberwolves are staring at luxury-tax pressure while contract decisions begin to pile up around the leagues most important piece, Edwards, and the veteran anchor in Gobert. Minnesota has to navigate those negotiations without losing flexibility, because the next round of extensions and options could shape not just the roster, but the franchises spending structure for years to come. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Kuminga Just Gave Timberwolves Fans A Reason To Believe
Jonathan Kumingas first day with the Timberwolves was less about flash and more about fit. In his introductory press conference, the veteran forward made defense the center of his pitch, saying he wants to improve in that area as he enters his sixth NBA season and arrives in Minnesota with a new opportunity to carve out a role. For a team that has built its identity on toughness and length, that kind of message lands the right way.
Kuminga also pointed to the value of learning from teammates such as Jaden McDaniels, which fits neatly with a roster that has plenty to teach on that end of the floor. He comes from Golden State with championship experience, but this stop feels different in one key way: the defensive growth he said hes chasing now sounds a lot more central to who he wants to be next. [Read more 🡒]
Tim Connelly Just Sent A Clear Timberwolves Message With Kuminga
Tim Connelly has built a reputation on being willing to swing big, and the Timberwolves' pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga fit that mold. Minnesota did not treat the process like a long shot and move on. Instead, Connelly and the organization kept making their case, leaning into the kind of aggressive team-building approach that has marked his time in charge and helped shape the roster around another push to rise in the West.
What stands out here is how much work went into simply getting Kuminga to listen, a sign that Minnesota is thinking beyond the usual playbook. Connellys history says he is comfortable betting on conviction when a roster needs another jolt, and this latest move reinforces that the Timberwolves are still operating with an eye on bigger possibilities rather than incremental change. [Read more 🡒]