The Minnesota Timberwolves faced late introductions, numerous injuries, and even a script that nobody seemed to follow. There are a number of rational reasons why the Minnesota Timberwolves failed to compete well enough throughout the 2022-23 NBA season. But that type of logic can be a significant investment of time in a busy busy modern-era world of smartphones and too many distractions.
So let’s break this down for you in quick and simple terms: The Timberwolves are heading back to the drawing board.
Was the 2022-23 NBA season a total failure for the Timberwolves?
Short answer: Not at all.
Longer answer: Not when you consider the adversity that the Timberwolves faced in the 2022-23 NBA season. This team lost starting power forward Karl-Anthony Towns for 53 out of 82 games in the regular season, yet still managed to make the NBA Playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Where do the Minnesota Timberwolves go from here?
Short answer: The 2023 NBA Draft
Longer answer: The Timberwolves have a solid core roster with a nice blend of veteran experience and youthful energy. From a GM perspective, the Timberwolves have a manageable free-agent situation, as the team has seven players whose contracts expire. The Timberwolves front office will have one second-round pick to spend during the 2023 NBA Draft. After that, the team must determine if any of the team’s projected free agents will be extended.
Who will the Minnesota Timberwolves likely extend?
Short answer: Center Naz Reid, center Luka Garza, SG/SF Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Longer answer: The Minnesota Timberwolves will have some work to do as the Timberwolves Think Tank weighs the pros and cons of reforming the Timberwolves roster for the 2023-24 NBA season. Before the team starts shoving contracts under the noses of players to sign, the team will review this year’s performance, form a new strategy for next season, and then implement that strategy.
While I cannot think of reasons why this team would not wish to extend the three key contributors named in the short answer, the team may prioritize extensions of shooting guard Anthony Edwards and/or forward Jaden McDaniels. Once those contracts are executed, the team will pursue rounding out the remainder of the team’s roster.
Should Minnesota Timberwolves be hopeful or skeptical over the 2023-24 NBA season?
Short answer: Are you a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty type of person?
Longer answer: There are many reasons to believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves are in a much better position this year than they were at this time a year ago. The reason for the Timberwolves’ Round 1 departure from the NBA Playoffs one year ago was a breakdown of the team’s intensity at the worst possible moments. This time around, the Timberwolves roster seemed to become more effective as the series wore on.
If you want things to come easily, to be handed to you on a silver platter, then you may very well be beside yourself in frustration right now. But as expected, the Minnesota Timberwolves did not roll over and play dead in Game 5 of Round 1. That type of effort has a way of carrying over into the next season.
Final
Minnesota Timberwolves
109
The top-seeded Denver Nuggets advance to Round 2 of the NBA Playoffs, and now await their next opponent. The Minnesota Timberwolves are heading back to the drawing board.
Don’t despair. A year ago the Minnesota Timberwolves shocked the NBA by coming out of nowhere to win the seventh seed in the NBA Playoffs. This season, everyone saw the Timberwolves limp through their entire 2022-23 NBA season and still could not keep them out of the NBA Playoffs.
I don’t look for the Timberwolves to limp in the 2023-24 NBA season. Enough reason for optimism and hope? Perhaps not. But the Timberwolves have nothing to be ashamed of this season. This team competed hard. And competitors know that you never are truly defeated if you keep picking yourself up after getting knocked down.
