Minnesota Timberwolves practices will dictate success this season

The Minnesota Timberwolves are preparing for the 2023-24 NBA season, hoping for a third appearance in the NBA Playoffs in the past three consecutive seasons.  That is a goal that has not been heard of for the Timberwolves since this team boasted power forward Kevin Garnett on the roster.

But getting there will not be easy. While there are no major changes to the Timberwolves roster, the team’s initial depth chart highlights the need to define roles for multiple versatile players, both new and returning, who may be used in several positions depending on the rotational needs of the team.

The 2023 Training Camp schedule for the Minnesota Timberwolves begins a week early this year, on September 27, 2023. That is due to the fact that the Timberwolves will travel to face the Dallas Mavericks twice in the Abu Dhabi Games scheduled for October 5 and October 7, 2023. That means that the team will need to ramp up pretty quickly in training camp.

From housewarming to hot seat

The Minnesota Timberwolves roster was a bit free-flow and casual last season. It was necessary because the team had an unusually high turnover rate and no time to work out any roles or plays for primary rotations.  With so much unfamiliarity, the Timberwolves coaching staff needed to observe players in action before any attempts to define their rotational roles.

But this season should prove to be far different. With the Timberwolves returning all five starting players from last season, plus a significant number of key rotational players, the Timberwolves coaches know what to expect from the players this season.

That necessitates more structure, and Timberwolves Head Coach Chris Finch is committed to supplying exactly that this season. Not only will that help new players focus on their roles on their new roster, but will also help all returning players to eliminate unnecessary overlap and duplicitous roles.

All of those ugly ‘bugs,’ that surfaced throughout last season will have a strategy to improve the results this year. That should help the Timberwolves overcome that .500 curse that did not allow the team to put together a streak of wins.

Look for better things out of the Timberwolves this season.