Minnesota Timberwolves: Success for the foreseeable future

The Minnesota Timberwolves may have just returned to the NBA Playoffs in the 2021-2022 season. But with a roster tweak here and a salary cap cut there, this team could see that level of success, and more, for the foreseeable future. And, here’s the kicker: The Minnesota Timberwolves boast the second-youngest roster in the entire NBA.

So do the Timberwolves just sit back and await the young players to grow up? Or should the front office be a bit more aggressive, and seek a third elite to join the tandem of center Karl Anthony Towns and small forward/shooting guard Anthony Edwards.  While the options are many, the perils are too.

After all, the team was in a similar situation after the 2017-18 season.

The right fit

The Timberwolves tried to resynch the roster after their 2017-18 playoff appearance by dealing veteran Jimmy Butler for young and promising players in Dario Saric and Robert Covington.  While both players were the right age to develop with Towns, neither seemed capable of stepping up to that next level of play that the Timberwolves so badly needed at the time.

Not like Anthony Edwards has since being drafted first overall in the 2020 NBA Draft.

While the Timberwolves hold four selections in the 2022 NBA Draft, it is probably more important for the team to get the right player in one of their selections than try to make the 2022 NBA Draft a clean sweep. But the way this Timberwolves roster is constructed, the team may be wise to prune a few players who are not the right fit and acquire some established players who truly are a better fit for the team.

The challenge for the Timberwolves is a familiar one for any NBA team. How can the Minnesota Timberwolves improve on the defensive side of the court while not compromising their ability to score points at will? Does this team sacrifice some youthful potential for the dependability of NBA veterans?

Right now, those questions are likely to be sitting in the inbox of the Timberwolves’ next president, which NBA Rumors suggest could be Tim Connelly in the near future.  Whoseever job it is to sort this all out will have work to do.