The Minnesota Timberwolves are arguably the most confusing team in the league. They are wildly inconsistent on both ends of the court. Some nights, they look like a team that has made back-to-back conference finals runs and is ready to take a championship leap. Other nights, their process on both ends of the court looks like that of a tanking team.
After a five-game win streak, the Wolves have two embarrassing losses against the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic, where their offense has looked non-existent.
Expecting perfection over the course of an 82 game season is foolish. However, when the Wolves lose, it's often ugly -- whether that be due to blown leads or a complete lack of rhythm on both sides of the ball. Notably, the Wolves have already lost more games by a double-digit margin this season than in the past two years. They've always had some level of volatility, but it's never been worse than this year.
As such, determining if the Wolves are championship contenders or not is a tricky task. With 17 games left, the Timberwolves must shake off their inconsistencies and prove they're a connected team. Otherwise, it will be hard not to write them off as a serious contender.
The Timberwolves have displayed poor habits on both ends of the court
Not to play armchair psychologist, but one of the more concerning aspects of the Wolves' season and inconsistencies has been that they don't seem like a connected group. All offseason long, they rallied around the phrase of continuity. However, this continuity hasn't shown much this season.
Offensively, the ball movement often dries up, and the Timberwolves revert to isolation ball even if the shots aren't falling. A. big part of this is the playstyle of Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, paired with a lack of a natural playmaker. Regardless, it's on these two stars to execute the game plan and help the team regain its structure when the shots aren't falling. Unfortunately, they often double down on the style of play that has put them behind the eight ball.
These offensive issues have plagued the Wolves in their past two losses.
While it's improved as of late, the Wolves' defensive engagement, especially from Ant and Randle, has been problematic this season. Oftentimes, it looks like poor off-ball communication leads to open shots. When Rudy Gobert is off the court, the Wolves' defense falls off a cliff. They certainly have the talent to be a championship-level defense, but there have been too many consistent lapses this season.
Are the Timberwolves still contenders?
The $1 million question is, are the Wolves still a championship-level squad? First things first, there's no denying that the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs have proven to be a tier above them. Still, on paper, the Wolves have the talent and two-way balance to go on another deep playoff run.
As we all know, though you can't simply survive off talent alone. Despite still having a solid 40-25 record through 65 games, the Wolves have some concerning habits that you don't want to see from a championship-level team.
When you have a player as talented as Edwards (and a balanced team around him), you always have a fighter's chance. I wouldn't be shocked if they make another conference finals run, but they'll need to do some soul searching to get there, and a championship run seems too far-fetched at this juncture.