With the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs' elite combination of youth, draft picks, and win-now talent, it couldn't be clearer that they stand alone at the top of the Western Conference as tier-one contenders. But how close are the Minnesota Timberwolves to reaching their level? Personally, closer than a lot may think.
When it comes to young talent, the Wolves went through a complete roster overhaul this offseason, and they are now not only a top contender but also one of the younger teams in the league. People forget that Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball, the Wolves' two best players, are only 25 years old. They haven't even reached their primes yet.
Not to mention, nearly their entire rotation is 26 or younger: Jaden McDaniels (26), Jonathan Kuminga (23), Ayo Dosunmu (26), Joan Beringer (19), Bones Hyland (25), Isaiah Evans (20), Terrence Shannon Jr. (26), Cody Williams (21), and Jaylen Clark (24). That's an impressive stockpile of youthful talent for a team that "sold their future" in the Rudy Gobert trade.
Not only are they young -- they have an elite roster from top to bottom
The Wolves are not better than the Thunder or Spurs yet. After losing to the Spurs in the playoffs last season and the Thunder the year before, they have to prove to be better than them in a playoff setting, and I believe that they now have the talent to potentially succeed in that.
Tim Connelly had a masterful offseason, and he answered nearly every question mark that this roster had, the same question marks that they had in the playoffs the past few seasons. They finally have a point guard, and not just any point guard, one of the NBA's best playmakers and shooters. They got a versatile forward in Kuminga, Evans should be a great shooting piece down the line, and Beringer looks like a true NBA-ready center at 19 years old.
Shot creation and playmaking have been their downfall in the playoffs for a few seasons now, and they've particularly struggled with those aspects against the two aforementioned teams. Now, those issues should be solved, or at the very least, improved.
The Kuminga addition completes it for me, to be honest. Without him, the Wolves were going into the season without a true power forward, and while he certainly has some flaws in his game, his raw talent and athleticism were too good to pass on, especially for the price of $6 million.
If he can buy into a role, similar to what Aaron Gordon provides for the Denver Nuggets, the Wolves will be looking like a true championship contender, and definitely in the same tier as the Spurs and Thunder. The rest of their roster is that perfect.
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