The Minnesota Timberwolves and their fans are currently experiencing the best stretch of basketball in franchise history. They have made two straight Western Conference Finals for the first time ever, and a third consecutive could be in the cards as the team will surely compete once again in a stacked Western Conference.
But can they fly any higher? The Wolves were dispatched with relative ease by the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are likely to be just as powerful this year (and for many years to come). Meanwhile, the Wolves are deploying the strategy of running things back and hoping for the best — a strategy they'll quickly realize will not get the job done against the best of the best.
This Wolves team is going to win a lot of games. Anthony Edwards in year six might still be improving, and everyone on the supporting cast knows their role perfectly at this point.
But the problem with running it back and trying to get over the hump with mostly the same team — minus one huge piece in Nickeil Alexander-Walker — suggests that the Wolves might think they just happened to get beaten by OKC, and that this year might be different. That's not the case; the Wolves lost to the Thunder because the Thunder are much better than the Wolves. That's nothing to be ashamed of, as the Thunder are much better than everybody. But last year's Wolves roster didn't have the firepower to beat the now-defending champs, and this offseason's inactivity didn't get the team any closer to that requisite firepower.
As currently constructed, the Minnesota Timberwolves are probably not going to win the NBA championship in about 10 months.
Now what?
The Wolves likely won't win the West, but you can view that a few ways
You can take an optimistic or pessimistic viewpoint on this offseason's lack of activity. If you've been a Wolves fan your whole life, I won't blame you for taking the pessimistic route. Pessimistic fans are of the mind that the front office is fine with almost being great but has no interest in truly pursuing a championship, which is a frustrating space to occupy.
The optimist's mindset is that the front office doesn't actually think it's running back the same team as last year, and instead will get considerable upticks in production from three young players that will put them on the level of the Thunder (who have an endless cast of young, playable backups). If that's the case, then Tim Connelly, A-Rod, and Marc Lore have lots of faith in the trio of Rob Dillingham, Jaylen Clark, and Terrence Shannon Jr. — but this is the optimist's mindset, so you, the optimist, probably have faith in those guys, too.
Maybe there's a third belief system, nestled between those two extremes, one that says, yes, the Wolves are going into this season with the knowledge they likely can't beat the Thunder. But no one in the West can beat the Thunder, so the Wolves are using this year as a gap season before attacking what's shaping up to be a wild 2026 free agency. Leaps from the young guys would be great, but the team isn't pinning its future on that, and a WCF run would be a good enough result before taking major swings to get over the hump in 2026-27 and beyond. This is basically the "best of both worlds" approach: give fans a good product now, then level up again next summer when there are more chances to take a home run swing.
The Thunder are still really, really good. The Rockets added Kevin Durant. The Lakers will have a full season of Luka Dončić. The Nuggets and Clippers both made splashy moves this offseason and they'll be in the mix in the West, too. Meanwhile, the Wolves will trot out essentially the same roster as last season.
Do you believe in a master plan from this front office? If so, then you're probably excited about another good, fun season in 2025-26 and a potentially historic season after that. If not, then you likely see the Wolves' title window slowly being closed before your eyes.