There has certainly been a lot of change for the Minnesota Timberwolves over the last two calendar years. Just think about it. Back at the end of January 2023, the Wolves still had D'Angelo Russell starting at point guard, Kyle Anderson was still in town (and actually playing well), and Mike Conley, Julius Randle and Nickeil Alexander-Walker had never worn a Timberwolves uniform in their lives.
A lot has happened since then, for better or for worse. Minnesota was given a taste of what being a top-level championship contender feels like for a season, but are now back to struggling in the middle of the packed Western Conference standings. Even so, there are reasons for optimism going forward.
Someone who has a good perspective on all the changes the Timberwolves have gone through during this time period is none other than Mike Conley. While Minnesota was in Manhattan to take on the New York Knicks last week, Conley sat down with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype to talk about his squad.
With Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, Minnesota has three talented but uniquely different big men, similar to what they had when Karl-Anthony Towns was still on the roster as well. When asked how he has been able to help those three guys in particular, Conley spoke of helping them understand how their roles can change based on what lineup they're in.
This team's adjustments have mirrored the 2022-23 season
"We’ve got unique skill sets on our team," Conley said. "All three guys are different in their games and what they do. It’s almost trying to get them to learn who they’re on the floor with and how they must adjust for that particular lineup."
Additionally, Mike compared the struggle of having the rest of the roster adjust to Randle's game to the team's situation from two seasons ago. If you recall, at the very beginning of the Rudy Gobert experiment, things were anything but smooth and easy. Conley was only around for the final 40% or so of that season, but he remembers it vividly.
"I think it took them probably a better part of half a season to figure out KAT and Rudy before I got here," he said. "They went through growing pains, and we’re in that same scenario now with adding new people into our lineups. It takes a minute. It doesn’t happen overnight ... I think we’re making a lot of progress. We’re trying to figure out how to consistently get all our guys on the same page."
This is an interesting perspective that actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. While it may be an apples to oranges comparison, there is no doubt that Minnesota took more than a few weeks or even months to really make Gobert work alongside Towns.
Once they figured it out, they were at the top of the standings in 2023-24. Of course, things are different now. Gobert looks older, Conley looks older. Randle isn't KAT. Other factors come into play. So it's not to say they will figure it out exactly like they did before. However, this is still a good reminder that major improvement for this team could just be a matter of time.