What will the Minnesota Timberwolves do for an encore?

Getting hot for the NBA Playoffs

The fun part of the Timberwolves in the 2022-23 season is the fact that as long as this team remains relatively healthy, the team will become much better as the season moves along. Last season, the Timberwolves managed to close out the season with a 22-11 run. This season, I can see this team going on a 26-7 run to close out the season.

Too optimistic? Perhaps. But if all of the pieces to this team synch up, then any opponent will face something completely unique and in many ways, unable to defend.

As long as the Timberwolves can cobble together solid perimeter defense and shooting, can get Gobert comfortable defending the bucket, and can get a career-high season out of D’Angelo Russell running the floor, the Timberwolves can write a very successful story on their way to the NBA Playoffs this year.

The cutoff to a Top-4 seeding in the playoffs has been at the 50-win mark, and that seems to be a great goal for the team this season. 50 wins are not only a prerequisite for a better playoff seeding, but it will show the type of sustainable improvement that will pop the organization onto the radar screen of players and agents who are looking to sign on with an improving team.

The key to the Timberwolves’ future success is to show improvement this year. That is not as easy as it sounds, particularly in the face of the team taking such a dramatically different and innovative approach this season. Hiccups can and will likely occur along the way. But there are quite a few bright NBA minds in the team’s front office that believe that the Timberwolves are on the right track. By this season’s end, they believe that there will be many more believers.