The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the midst of a season that's made it easy to forget they're less than a year removed from knocking on the door of the NBA Finals. Business has certainly picked up as of late, but Minnesota is 27-21 and just 2.5 games away from outright missing the playoffs.
The Western Conference is stacked, and incorporating Julius Randle was always going to be a challenge, but the Timberwolves are guilty of wearing self-inflicted wounds.
The cost of acquiring a ball-dominant player is often incurred by the less decorated contributors around them. That's been the case in 2024-25, but a 138-113 victory over the Utah Jazz on Jan. 30 acted as a reminder of how valuable the Timberwolves' depth can be.
According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker spoke about what spurned the Timberwolves' dominant effort against the Jazz.
“Everybody had to have some fight. That’s all it took...It just took toughness,” Alexander-Walker said. “When we got to the end of the first half we built some momentum, we fought and we chipped our way back in.”
More than toughness, it took Minnesota recommitting to one of its greatest strengths: Genuinely elite depth.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker sparks resurgent Timberwolves
In 2023-24, Minnesota's bench ranked No. 2 in the NBA in net rating, trailing only the champion Boston Celtics. Leading the charge was Sixth Man of the Year award winner Naz Reid, who emerged as the ultimate third big behind Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Flanking Reid, however, was a cast of players who were ready and willing to get their hands dirty on any given night—a trait Alexander-Walker has reminded Minnesota of.
Alexander-Walker played 32 minutes during the Timberwolves' road decimation of the Jazz. He tallied 15 points, five assists, four rebounds, and a steal, helping to lead one of the best non-star displays of the season from Minnesota's exceptional supporting cast.
Minnesota's bench finished with 61 points on the night, thus perfectly complementing tremendous displays from Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert.
After Randle suffered an injury after just 10 minutes of playing time, Reid and Luka Garza stepped up in his place. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year tallied 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, and a steal in 28 minutes, while Garza tallied 16 points in 14 minutes.
Rookie point guard Rob Dillingham put the finishing touches on an explosive month of play, tallying a career-high 19 points and eight assists to help slam the door shut.
The Timberwolves still need Edwards to play like a superstar—as he did by posting 36 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, and three blocks. They would also love to see more of the same from Gobert, who put up 16 points, nine rebounds, three offensive boards, five assists, and four blocks.
If the Timberwolves are going to build upon their current five-game winning streak, however, it's their depth that will prove essential to their grand ambitions.