2023-24 NBA Season Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves
We are nearing the start of the 2023-24 NBA season! Up until opening night on Oct. 24, we will be previewing all 30 NBA teams! Today, we will be previewing the Minnesota Timberwolves, who had an even 2022-23 mired by injuries after a major offseason trade.
What happened last year?
To tip things off, last offseason, the Timberwolves made a trade that will go down as one of the most confusing and criticized trades in recent NBA History–trading neophyte Walker Kessler plus 700 first-round picks (O.K., the actual number was five FRPs) to the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert. Unfortunately due to Karl-Anthony Towns’ health throughout the season, we didn’t get to see how Chris Finch’s new frontcourt would work together much. The Wolves were able to squeak through the play-in and took the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets to five games in the first round before getting bounced.
Offseason recap:
When asked about his goals heading into the upcoming season at Summer League, Anthony Edwards said without hesitation, “Kill everybody.” No, not literally of course–but on the court. While the Wolves traded for Gobert’s former running mate in Utah, Mike Conley, midseason, the Wolves had more comfortability, but it eventually came crashing down toward the end of the season. Nevertheless, the Wolves brought in Shake Milton and Troy Brown Jr. this offseason, helping replace Taurean Prince, who signed with the Lakers for pennies on the dollar. Its ceiling comes down to the health of their core three–Edwards, Towns and Gobert–which has yet to build much live-game chemistry heading into 2023-24.
Projected Starting Five?
Mike Conley, G — While the counting stats are quiet at this stage of his career, Conley is the ultimate orchestrator and stabilizer offensively, no matter the situation. He averaged 14.0 points and 5.0 assists in 24 games after getting traded to Minnesota at the trade deadline. There’s value to having a true point guard–and Conley is exactly that.
Anthony Edwards, G — Anthony Edwards is a superstar. Let’s face the music. If he’s not there already, he’s dang close. He averaged 24.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists on 45.9 percent shooting and 36.9 percent from long distance–equating to a 52.8 effective field goal percentage and a 56.4 true-shooting percentage. He also starred in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where he was Team USA’s best player and showed flashes of high-level defense fairly consistently–something he hasn’t done over an 82-game season yet. That’s a tough ask because of the burden he carries offensively, but if he’s able to, the Wolves could be prime for a top-10/15 defense this season (assuming Gobert and McDaniels remain healthy, too).
Jaden McDaniels, F — McDaniels frustratingly broke his hand in the last week of the regular season, so he did not play in the playoffs for Minnesota last season. Though he’s still a key contributor and is coming off a career-best season, where he averaged 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.9 steals across 30.6 minutes in 79 games, shooting 39.8 percent from deep (3.4 attempts) after netting a combined 33.8 percent over his first two seasons. Will he regress to the mean?
Karl-Anthony Towns, F — Towns only played in 29 games last season due to injury. In the opening 20 games leading up to his injury, the team was 10-10; he posted 21.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists on 50.8/32.8/89.8 shooting splits. He returned for eight of the final nine regular season games and played in all five playoff games, but it was not enough for the trio to develop enough chemistry.
Rudy Gobert, C — Gobert did not carry the same impact we saw from 2019-22. He averaged 13.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks last season. I expect an improved season from Gobert, though he’s not getting any younger.
Notable Reserves:
Naz Reid, F/C — Reid flourished in 68 games last year and rightfully got paid in the offseason because of his, averaging 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds on 53.7 percent shooting and 34.6 percent from deep. He could be a starting center for most organizations leaguewide, but will operate as the first big and, on some nights, Minnesota’s starting big depending on the availability of Gobert and/or Towns.
Kyle Anderson, F — I’ll never get tired of watching Slo-Mo play basketball. It’s always a treat. He’s a do-it-all-type player who will operate so slowly that he’ll leverage his pace to his own advantage. He averaged 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists on 58.3 percent true-shooting. He’s also one of their best multi-positional defenders outside of McDaniels, too.
Leonard Miller, F — Miller, standing at 6-foot-10, was an incredibly enticing prospect in this most recent draft class. The 19-year-old averaged 18.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks in 24 games with G-League Ignite last season. Miller is a high-energy, multi-positional defender who’s quite athletic vertically and laterally. He projects to be a phenomenal rebounder and solid jump shooter, though the latter still needs more fine-tuning.
Leonard did his thing at Summer League:
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) July 17, 2023
15.4 PTS / 8.0 REB / 1.6 AST / 44.6% FG pic.twitter.com/xcXroD5hLM
Biggest X-Factor? Health.
This is a cop-out, but to stand a chance in an incredibly deep Western Conference, the trio of Edwards-Towns-Gobert needs to stay healthy. Plain and simple. This trio can’t play 26 combined games (reg. Season + playoffs) and expect success. The West is too deep to survive if you’re best players aren’t healthy, no matter how clunky the fit may or may not be.
Season projection?
The West is super deep, so I predict the Timberwolves go 41-41 and finish as the No. 10 seed in the West.
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