Timberwolves' Quest: From Perennial Underdogs to Playoff Contenders
From perennial underdogs to playoff hopefuls: Is it finally the Minnesota Timberwolves' time to shine in the NBA playoffs?
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The Minnesota Timberwolves are judged differently from most NBA teams. Their all-time winning percentage of .411 percent is the worst among active franchises, still firmly behind the Los Angeles Clippers at .423 percent. They did not make the playoffs from 1989-1996 and then went 14 years between playoff appearances from 2005 until returning to the postseason in 2018.
This is why the team celebrated their 2022 play-in tournament victory like they won the championship. Considering the franchise’s overall lack of success up to then in their existence, it was understandable in a way that would have been embarrassing for other franchises.
Flash forward to Spring 2024, when the Timberwolves have made the playoffs for three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2002-2004. However, the Timberwolves did not just make the playoffs, they leaped. After winning 42 games last season, the Timberwolves finished this season with 56 wins. Only the 2004 team has won more games than that in a single season in team history. The 2024 team had the best defense in the league and held the West’s top seed for much of the season.
Think back one year ago. The team won 46 games in 2022 and then traded for Rudy Gobert. Well, Karl-Anthony Towns misses most of the season and Gobert struggles with nagging injuries that make him look a step slow. Nonetheless, the Timberwolves eek out 42 wins but you do not make a blockbuster trade to win four fewer games and battle through the play-in tournament to lose in the first round. Last season was not bad but it still felt disappointing.
If we just use wins to say this is the second-best team in franchise history, you could already say this season is a success. By no means was this season a failure and certainly measured against its own history, this has already been a successful season. So, I won’t ask what result would make this a successful season but instead, what would be enough?
In my 10-plus years of covering and discussing this team, I have been told that I have been hard on this team and its players at times. I don’t think I have been unfair but realistic about this team. I say all that to say that, this team has raised the bar this season. If the Gobert trade heightened expectations, the team’s play this season did so further. Think about it:
Anthony Edwards ascends to budding superstar and likely All-NBA player.
Karl-Anthony Towns put together another outright all-star season, not just as an injury replacement.
Gobert has been so resurgent that he is now the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year.
The team held on to first-place in the conference for much of the season behind the league’s best defense.
All of that together and the fact that we have already seen this team make the playoffs two consecutive seasons, makes me feel that it is not unfair to believe this team should win a playoff series. This iteration of the team has already been-there-done-that with their first-round exits and this is by far the best team we have seen the Timberwolves roll out in 20 years.
The Timberwolves’ Time Is Now
This is one of the few times that this franchise has not been a punchline, ongoing ownership drama aside, and winning at least one series would capitalize on that momentum. Even last season when they squeaked in through the play-in, Naz Reid broke his wrist on a late-season dunk, Jaden McDaniels broke his hand before the playoffs punching a curtain unaware a brick wall stood behind and Gobert and Kyle Anderson got into a sideline spat in a playoff game. It’s seldom easy with this franchise.
Winning one playoff series alone won’t change their perception but it would be a start. While Phoenix poses a challenge, Minnesota should be able to perform better. Whether they should or will is a different conversation, but the Timberwolves have the pieces to go toe-to-toe with the Suns.
The bar is understandably low for success with the Timberwolves in a way that it is not for the Twins or Vikings in the Minnesota market. However, with what we have seen from the Timberwolves this season and the seasons leading up to it, now is the time to expect more from this franchise.
Further Reading:
This series will be hard to watch, but OKC and Denver series’s should be good Western Conference hoops. The Eastern playoffs should be fun to watch as well. All we can hope for is competitive games, and no Scott Foster!