5 Teams the Minnesota Timberwolves should surpass by New Year’s

3. Dallas Mavericks

Yet another team projected to finish the season with a similar number of wins as Minnesota, the Dallas Mavericks are coming off their best playoff run in a decade, with Luka Doncic and company making a run all the way to the Western Conference Finals in the 2022 postseason.

However, like the Minnesota Timberwolves, there are questions about how much better the Mavericks got in the offseason. And frankly, the questions about Dallas are more legitimate.

The Mavericks acquired Christian Wood via trade in the offseason, giving up a first-round pick and several players to do so. His fit with the team has been hit or miss so far, and it’s helped lead to an up-and-down start to the season for Dallas.

With so much talent in the Western Conference in 2022-23, many experts and voters had a hard time determining who would be left out of the playoff field in 2023. For many, the Dallas Mavericks were one of the answers. Luka Doncic’s individual talent is all-encompassing, but the group around him doesn’t measure up to the likes of some of the other teams out West.

This is precisely where the Timberwolves come in. They’ll have two matchups with the Mavericks toward the end of December, and it will be a huge opportunity to shift the standings in their favor.