Like it or not, the Timberwolves are forging a 2023-24 competitor

Like it or not, the Timberwolves roster will compete in 2023-24

I’m not sure what we have learned about the chemistry or the fit of the Timberwolves roster in the 2022-23 NBA season. In many ways, despite the 82 scheduled games, the sample size of the Timberwolves players competing together on a basketball court was simply too small.

So what do we know? While the team is not among the best in the NBA Western Conference right now, the team clearly has a bevy of young NBA players who are improving rapidly. And it’s the continued development of those young players that will make or break the future trajectory of the Minnesota Timberwolves future. We know that the team has solid veterans on the roster now and that they will help guide the younger players for the next year or two. But the future of this team may not be dependent on those veterans.

Young Timberwolves must bare their teeth

At some point, veterans give way to rookies who grow into new veteran leaders. Right now, that is the status of the Minnesota Timberwolves roster.  The Timberwolves are not as heavily invested in veterans as some may believe. In fact, this Timberwolves roster is uniquely positioned to pivot from veterans and invest heavily into younger players.

If the team can avoid losing such promising young talent as Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Luka Garza in the off-season, that alone could be enough to get the Timberwolves back to the NBA Playoffs at the end of the 2023-24 NBA season.

The Timberwolves are forging a 2023-24 competitor. But that does not mean that every player who sees playing time in the NBA Playoffs this year has a reserved spot on the Timberwolves roster for next season. The Timberwolves are learning a lot about themselves as they prepare for what may be their fourth and final NBA Playoffs game this year.

But the Timberwolves front office is learning a lot about this team as well. And the new data could make a huge impact on how the team resets the roster for the 2023-24 NBA season.