Minnesota Timberwolves Team Review:

22-23 record: 59-23

Season Highlight:
The T-wolves were very active during the season, but nothing tops acquiring Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline to cap off a very successful regular season and gear up for a strong postseason run.

Season Lowlight:
Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly pan out that way, as they fell in the first rd to a Denver team that, while still impressive, won 9 fewer games.

Best Trade:
Khris Middleton & Moussa Diabate for Jrue Holiday, then Jrue Holiday & 2 1sts for Jimmy Butler - Butler may have lots of mileage on him but there’s no debate he’s still a star. Middleton is clearly on his way down the slope, so turning him plus the 21st pick and a 2027 1st into a premier talent like Butler is a huge win for his team.

Worst trade:

Myles Turner, Mark Williams, Josh Richardson, and Walker Kessler for Brandon Ingram, then Brandon Ingram and Justise Winslow for Rudy Gobert, then Rudy Gobert and Haywood Highsmith for Alex Caruso, Al Horford, and the 2 1sts used in the Butler trade. - Ultimately he turned 2 to 3 good starter caliber players into Caruso (who I personally have never been big on), an old Al Horford, and 2 1sts. Butler is hella good, and the 1sts played a part in that so I can’t be too down on it but it seems like 50 cents on the dollar as the price for competing right now, especially in an engine where bigs currently rule. But I wasn’t super around during the regular season so perhaps there were other circumstances I’m not aware of.

Other notable trades:
Horford, Lamelo, Scottie, James Nnaji for Anthony Davis - The Big One, Minnesota’s part in this has set them up with a dynamic one-two punch for the upcoming season in Butler and Davis. But man did they give up the farm for him.

Melton for a 1st and 2 2nds - Melton is a solid rotational player on a good contract, for a team looking to compete this is exactly the kind of player you give up way future 1sts for. If it gets you a title now, you live with the consequences down the road.

KCP for Derrick White, then White for Kuzma, then Kuzma for Crowder - I think Minny would’ve been best off stopping after step 2 in that chain, crowder for kuzma or even White is a clear step down. There may be other circumstances again, and Crowder did contribute 13 PPG in the playoffs, but they’ve renounced him this season so ultimately it seems a gamble that didn’t pay off.

Stars - Jimmy Butler and Anthony Davis:
I don’t care if I’m supposed to pick just one, I’m picking both. This is a team that is depending on these two guys to go far. Yes I know about Val, and he is the 3rd wheel here. This team will go as far as these two take them.

Free Agency -
The Wolves should be extremely active, given they have about 13M in cap space and only 9 players on roster. I see them prioritizing some guard depth, as their starting guards are probably the weak link on the team, given they have Butler/AD/Val at the 3-5 spots. 

Draft - C
They only signed one draft pick, Leonard Miller. He was taken a few picks earlier than his NBA counterpart but that late in the draft, you’re basically going after who you like anyway. No significant loss of value here I think. 

The Future -

They only own the minimum 2 picks over the next 5 years, so what they have is what they got unless they blow it up. This is a team meant to win RIGHT NAO, and they’re well equipped to do so as they’ll have the 2 best players on the court most nights. They turned a bunch of young talent into a team that will go as the dynamic duo goes. As long as they have both Butler and AD, they can play with anyone.