The last three years have arguably been the best the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise has ever experienced. During this span, they've won five playoff series and made it to two Western Conference Finals.
However, seeing the rise of the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, the Timberwolves realized that their current core was not good enough. So, they ditched Julius Randle and Naz Reid, and brought in LaMelo Ball, Jonathan Kuminga, and Josh Green.
Unfortunately, their overhaul may come with some unintended consequences.
The Timberwolves may be playing with fire
For as good as Anthony Edwards is, it has become pretty apparent that he needs another high usage ball handler by his side. The team tried to fill this void with Mike Conley Jr., but he was too much of a liability on defense while also not such a good offensive player that he could transcend those limitations. Ball is younger and taller, which makes him less of a moving target on that end of the floor, and he's also a far superior offensive player to Conley (ranking tenth in Offensive Estimated Plus-Minus last season, per Dunks & Threes).
To do this, they had to give up two of their three best forwards, but adding Kuminga helps fill this void (and Jaden McDaniels is the best of the bunch at this point). Plus, they still have their all-time rim protector Rudy Gobert available to protect the backline.
This Timberwolves team undoubtebly has a higher ceiling than their previous iterations, but it does come with the drawback of having a lower floor. Part of that is because their loss of depth puts them in danger of having their season derailed by injuries.
But even more than that, the players they do have are quite volatile. Ball has never played in a playoff game in his six seasons in the league, and while I think the narratives around him are false, he does have a reputation as a "losing" player. Their other marquee edition, Kuminga, fancies himself a star, puts up gaudy numbers when his teams are shorthanded; yet no one seems to want to pay him, and the analytics aren't totally sold on his value as a player.
Then, you have Gobert. It's been awhile since he's made the news for bad reasons, but don't forget that he can be a little problematic at times. Edwards often walks the fine line between confidence and arrogance, and if you tight rope long enough, sometimes you fall off.
The point of all this is to say, while the Timberwolves got better and anyone would have agreed with the decisions they've made this offseason, their plan isn't exactly fullproof. On the court, the pieces seem to fit together well. But off the floor, there are a lot of dynamics that could cause this team to crumble.
I'm personally rooting for this Timberwolves team. I think it's really fun when small market teams, especially ones without a championship, are good. But I also wouldn't be surprised if they end up being one of the more dissappointing teams of the 2026-27 season.
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