No. 1 Minnesota Timberwolves All-Time Big Three
2003-04 Season: Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell, and Latrell Sprewell
Deemed the greatest season in Timberwolves history for a reason, the Wolves finished with a 58-24 season and the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. In the 82-game regular season, Garnett, Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell combined to miss only one game.
In the postseason, they beat the Nuggets in five and the Kings in seven before eventually losing to the Lakers in six games in the conference finals.
Sam Cassell
Coming to the Timberwolves in his age-34 season, Cassell was one of the best floor generals the Wolves have ever had.
Averaging 19.8 points, 7.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game on his way to his first and only All-Star appearance, the 34-year-old was a complement to The Big Ticket who was in his prime and on the way to winning the league’s MVP award.
Latrell Sprewell
Sprewell came to the Timberwolves in his age-33 season. The four-time All-Star was looking to make a push at an NBA title.
Sprewell averaged 16.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He was clearly the third wheel of this Big Three, but he was what they needed to make a deep playoff push.
Kevin Garnett
Garnett had the best season of his career during the 2003-04 season. The Big Ticket averaged 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.2 blocks, and 1.5 steals per contest on his way to winning the Most Valuable Player award.
Garnett is the only player to lead a franchise in all-time points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He is unquestionably the greatest Timberwolves player of all time, but his jersey does not yet hang in the rafters of Target Center. That needs to change. KG is also making a push to be part of the Wolves’ next ownership group, but only time will tell if that comes to fruition.
Going Forward
The Timberwolves have certainly had some great Big Threes, but still have no championship banners to hang.
The Wolves are slated to have the No. 1-overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, and it’s still up in the air what they might do with it. There are many big names potentially available on the free agent market that would mold this Wolves roster into a Big Three such as Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, or even a John Collins.
However, would the Wolves have better luck at constructing a big three by drafting Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball? There are many possibilities, but we will have to wait until Nov. 18 to see what the Timberwolves are going to do.