Following a dominant win against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 13, the Minnesota Timberwolves have lost four games in a row for the first time since November of 2024. Two of the last four losses have come against inferior opponents, the Chicago Bulls and the shorthanded Utah Jazz.
The only positive that can be taken out of this recent stretch is that it is coming at a time that might force the front office to bring in some reinforcements. As it stands now, the Wolves only have six players on their roster that you can rely on every night: the starting five and Naz Reid. Everyone else is either inconsistent or simply not rotation-worthy.
They absolutely cannot stand pat at the trade deadline
If the front office thinks that you can march your way through this gauntlet of a Western Conference with six consistent players, then they're in for a rude awakening come May. Bringing in another guy that can play in big minutes is no longer a want; it's a need.
The Western Conference is scary. You have the juggernaut Thunder, the Nuggets are somehow winning without the best player in the NBA, the Lakers have Luka Doncic and LeBron James, the Rockets have Kevin Durant surrounded by a great defense, and the Spurs have a demigod with an abundance of talent surrounding him.
This Wolves team, as it stands, is good; they have a true superstar, so they can hang with anyone. But after back-to-back conference finals trips, they need to graduate from settling for "good." Their deadline doesn't have to be ground-breaking, but if they could add a real rotational guard with game-closing potential, and maybe a backup wing, they would look a lot better.
What archetypes should they be targeting to right the ship?
First and foremost, a guard should be the priority -- they need someone to handle the ball, especially in the non-Ant minutes. Whether this is a pass-first guy like Tre Jones, a score-first guy like Coby White, or a little bit of both, like a Collin Sexton or Malik Monk, getting someone in who fits that bill is a necessity.
They could also benefit from adding another wing to their rotation. The only true wing on the team right now is Jaden McDaniels, and while they've managed to get by with this, if there are ways to add another for cheap, that should be the adjoining move.
Some guys I like here are reuniting with an old friend, Kyle Anderson, potentially via buyout, Ziaire Williams, Ja'Kobe Walter, or my favorite pick, Saddiq Bey, who's had a resurgence on an awful Pelicans team that could be looking to sell.
With each loss, the Wolves find themselves looking further upwards at a top-four seed, but if they can start rattling off some wins, and potential help coming at the deadline, this may not have been the worst time of the year to have a small skid.