Going into the offseason, the biggest issue surrounding the Minnesota Timberwolves was the clunkiness and overall staleness of the roster. It was abundantly clear that change was needed after falling flat in the second round to the San Antonio Spurs, with Anthony Edwards having to do everything on the court with two bad knees.
LaMelo Ball was the engine of one of basketball's best offenses last season, and the Wolves are pairing that with Edwards in the backcourt. Jonathan Kuminga was a key member of an Atlanta Hawks team that took two games from the reigning champions in the first round.
In turn, the Wolves traded Julius Randle, who scored a whopping three points in the Wolves' elimination game and struggled with consistency and body language throughout his entire Wolves tenure. They also traded Naz Reid, who was an absolute fan favorite but also never broke through as a starter in Minnesota. The Wolves took a flawed yet successful roster and improved a ton this offseason.
But Michael Pina of The Ringer ranked them just 11th in his recent power rankings. I'm just really struggling to understand that. Pina isn't the only one to express doubts about the Wolves' offseason. Last month, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report said that the Wolves got worse this offseason. Zach Karm of ESPN gave the Wolves a D+ this offseason.
These are just a few examples of how the Wolves' offseason is misunderstood and how they are being underrated as a team ahead of the season.
The Timberwolves being ranked 11th makes no sense
I understand that some people aren't fond of the Ball trade, and some of the criticisms are definitely valid. No, he has not yet made the playoffs in his career. Yes, he does have some valid injury concerns. But how many of these are truly his fault? Those Hornets rosters were next-level bad. Last season, his first year with a competent roster, they were the best offense in the NBA from Jan. 1 onward, largely thanks to Ball.
Julius Randle turned himself into a negative asset at the end of his Wolves tenure with horrific playoff performances and inconsistency after inconsistency. The Wolves dumped his salary and were happy to do so because someone like that cannot be a second option on a team with championship aspirations.
Pina stated that Randle was an "innings eater" on offense during the regular season and that the Wolves' offense was bad without him. Again, LaMelo was the driving force behind one of the best offenses in the NBA, so the Wolves have more than enough firepower to make up for his loss.
More inexcusable than all, however, are teams like the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Lakers ranked above the Wolves. Denver being above them is simply obscene, and there's honestly no excuse for that given what unfolded in the playoffs last season. The battered and bruised Wolves made an absolute fool of Denver, and they've had their number since 2024.
The Rockets haven't proven anything. They haven't won a playoff series since 2020 and recently lost to the Lakers in the first round, who were missing Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The Lakers have also not proven much recently. The Wolves beat them in five games two years ago, and they lost LeBron James this offseason.
I don't know how you can see the Wolves roster from top to bottom and think that this team is the 11th-best team in the league. Likewise, people who claim the Wolves lost the LaMelo trade and/or claim they got worse are off base.
However, all of this noise might be a good thing for the Wolves, because they always do better when people are underrating them.
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