For a long time, the Minnesota Timberwolves were not a good team at all. With the franchise’s first year taking place in 1989-90, their first winning season came in their ninth year of existence. From 2005 to 2017, they watched the playoffs from home.
Of course, they’ve been on the upswing of late as Minnesota has averaged more than 51 wins during the regular season over the last three years. They have made the playoffs in five straight seasons after doing so just 9 times in their first 32 years of existence.
That puts the Wolves in a great position to finally next year no longer have the worst all-time win percentage among the 30 NBA teams.
The Timberwolves have a good chance of pulling ahead of the Nets next season
Right now, the Timberwolves have an all-time record of 1,245-1,713. That gives them a .421 winning percentage. With their much-improved play in recent seasons, they have an excellent opportunity to no longer have the worst winning percentage amongst the active 30 NBA clubs.
Right now, the second-worst winning percentage belongs to the Brooklyn Nets (previously the New Jersey Nets). Their all-time record (not counting their time in the ABA) is 1,700-2,332. That gives the Nets an oh-so-slight advantage over the Timberwolves in the winning percentage category at .422.Â
Let’s say the Timberwolves go 49-33 again, the same record they have had each of the last two seasons. Moving another percentage point, that would give Minnesota an all-time winning percentage of .4257.
For the Nets to remain ahead of the Timberwolves if that were to occur, Brooklyn would need to go 52-30. Yes, they would need to actually win more games than Minnesota because of the fact that they have played more than 1,000 more games in their history than the Wolves have, making it harder for them to improve their winning percentage.
That seems highly unrealistic for the Nets to do. This past season, they won just 20 games. Now, Brooklyn doesn’t have the motivation to lose next season because the Houston Rockets have the right to swap first-round picks with them (never mind the new anti-tanking measures that the NBA has put in place). Still, it’s hard to see a pathway where the Nets improve by that much.
So, congrats, Minnesota Timberwolves fans, you are likely to be moving on up! Of course, the hope is they continue to do so and eventually get the franchise’s first championship.
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