Timberwolves fantastic voyage: A steep climb to relevancy

Time, time ticking, ticking, is ticking away

But most of all, time gives young shooting guard Anthony Edwards time to mature, spread his wings, and test out his ever-growing arsenal of shots and defensive moves that continue to push him to the forefront of the NBA.

Don’t rush anything. Even in losses, the Minnesota Timberwolves are discovering knowns from the vast unknowns of their season and of themselves. Some of the lessons fall into the hot-irons-burn-fingers category, painful lessons of what not to do in the future.

But some of the lessons being learned by this Timberwolves roster are positive messaging too. The Timberwolves, outgunned and undermanned, rallied around one another to win a game against a far superior opponent, the Denver Nuggets and did so rather handily. You can go over the box stats and rewatch the game footage over and over. But what you won’t see is how deeply the relationship is forged between Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and his young star shooting guard Anthony Edwards.

The longest view in the room

While the Timberwolves’ 2022-23 NBA season is near the mid-point, the careers of young stars like Anthony Edwards are just beginning. Edwards’s timeline aligns far more closely with teammates like Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell. So why trade for Rudy Gobert?  Right or wrong, the Timberwolves front office believed that the window to becoming a true force in the NBA is now. Not just the 2022-23 NBA season, but over the next four seasons.

Perhaps all of the angst, nervousness, and frustration that seems to be growing in volume by restless fans is due to the belief that the Timberwolves’ lone opportunity to become great is this season. I believe that the true timeline for this Timberwolves roster, at its core, is more likely aimed at the 2023-24 and 2024-24 NBA seasons. This year is merely the appetizer.