This season, the Minnesota Timberwolves find themselves in a vastly different position than they were in this time last year, and in the best way possible. The Wolves currently have an advantage that no other NBA team can match: According to Basketball Reference's "Roster Continuity" statistics, Minnesota has the highest percentage of their regular season minutes being filled by players from the previous season's roster.
As of this writing, 98% of the Timberwolves' minutes have been filled by guys returning from last year's team. Julius Randle has logged 366 minutes total this season, Rudy Gobert 352, Jaden McDaniels 349, Donte DiVincenzo 334, Naz Reid 259, Mike Conley 223, Anthony Edwards 199, Jaylen Clark 145, Terrence Shannon Jr. 115, Rob Dillingham 107, Bones Hyland 100, Leonard Miller 27, and Joe Ingles 16 minutes played.
The only new players on Minnesota's roster to log minutes so far this year are Joan Beringer with 29 minutes, and Johnny Juzang with 17 minutes. That indicates an incredible amount of roster consistency, and it's an edge that the Timberwolves will be able to use to their benefit all season long.
The Timberwolves have top-notch roster continuity from 2024-25
Of course, this trend runs in stark contrast to the position this team found themselves in at this time last year. In the middle of November in 2024, Minnesota had traded away Karl-Anthony Towns and acquired Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo not two months earlier. There were still plenty of growing pains for them to go through at that point, and a lot of learning on the fly had yet to take place.
That's why what last year's team accomplished was so impressive. Making a Western Conference Finals the previous year was impressive, but to do it again after re-forming your team just a few short weeks before the season made an even greater statement about how quickly last year's group meshed. Now, that same group minus Nickeil Alexander-Walker is winning consistently once again.
This situation the Timberwolves are in is one that not even the Oklahoma City Thunder can hold claim to. They're in second place in the association with 95% of their minutes being filled by returning players, but Minnesota still boasts just a bit more consistency.
Players are of course going to grow and evolve, and some will continue to develop, while age might limit the effectiveness of others at times. But going to battle with the same group night after night produces mismatches not just from an X's and O's standpoint, but from a psychological one. This team knows each other well, and that matters over the course of an 82-game season plus the playoffs.