Timberwolves’ New Jerseys: The morning after

The Timberwolves released their new jersey designs on Thursday morning, and they were met with predictably mixed reaction from around the NBA fan world.

In case you somehow missed the Timberwolves new jersey design release on Thursday morning, the team set up a microsite for you to check out the first two versions of jerseys released: the Icon and the Association. The site is extremely well done, so be sure to check it out.

For fans that were expecting a complete tear-down and rebuild of the Wolves uniforms, well…it was a fair expectation after a new logo was released in April. But it would be a stretch to call the new jersey designs (the two of the four that have been released, that is) a complete redesign.

Indeed, the basic look, and especially white and blue being the two main colors that the jerseys depend on, remains similar to the jerseys of the past seven seasons.

Here are some of the tweets that the Timberwolves put out after the release that show still images of both the Icon and the Association.

The biggest changes are the font and the shades of blue. Gone is the blue that was used heavily in the most recent jerseys, and the new blues (midnight blue and lake blue, according to the above-linked microsite) are also different from the shade used during the Kevin Garnett-era jerseys.

The look is extremely clean, and it’s tough to argue with sticking with the same overall color structure. We’ll know much more about the direction of the new look the other two designs are released as there is certainly no guarantee that the Icon and Association are even necessarily used the most. Remember, under the new jersey rules there are no designated ‘home’ and ‘away’ kits, and the home team is allowed to choose each time out. The visiting team must then select a contrasting jersey to wear.

The use of the bright green color is tasteful, and far from the overuse in the jerseys used from 2008-2010 (can be viewed, once again, on the above-linked microsite) but more present than it was in the 2010-2017 versions. It’s located only in the logo on the shorts and in the notches on the sides of both pairs of shorts as well.

Don’t be surprised if one of the remaining two designs to be released features the green. What remains to be seen, however, is what the fourth design will look like. Black seems like a good bet; the Wolves have had a black alternate from 1996-2008 and 2011-2017. Additionally, Nike is getting rid of the sleeved jerseys, so it could be a return to an awesome, sleeveless version that the Wolves had most recently in the 2012-13 season.

The Wolves’ own press release says that designs #3 and #4 will be released “in the coming months”, so don’t hold your breath for too long.

Next: Top-5 Three-Point Shooters In Wolves History

We’ll bring any news regarding free agency (yes, the Timberwolves still have a few roster spots to fill) as it crops up. Be sure to keep it tuned to Dunking With Wolves.