Timberwolves fans have grown accustomed to their team being bad. In their entire team's history, they have made it out of the first round just one time- the 2004 Kevin Garnett MVP year. In the 18 years that have passed, they have made the playoffs just one time (!)- the 2018 Jimmy Butler rental year. In the same season that their most recent "big three" of Towns, Wiggins and LaVine all made the all-star team, with the latter two being on different teams, one might expect a typical Minnesota narrative of ruing lost talent and losing every night.
This is not the same Minnesota organisation that has spent the last 18 years losing though. Glen Taylor is finally out as a notoriously bad owner, soon-to-be-replaced by all-star duo Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, bringing fresh energy to stagnant ownership. Despite the front office drama surrounding the firing of Gersson Rosas, Sachin Gupta has been a welcome presence as new GM, making the type of smart and analytically focused moves previous general managers would not have, and new coach Chris Finch is already beloved in the team among staff, players and fans for his community efforts and modern basketball philosophy. Finally, the Wolves have collected a core of great young players who seem committed to the future of this team, and they have the right blend of veterans like Patrick Beverley and Taurean Prince mentoring the youngest players on the roster like Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards.
What has made them so good this year?
Okay, maybe "so good" is a bit of an overstatement- they are only 28-25 which would only be good for 10th in the West, but for Timberwolves standards it is extremely positive, considering only last year they were 13-40 at the same juncture.
To examine what has gone right this year, you must start with their shockingly good defence. The biggest difference to previous Wolves' defences, is the adoption of a far more aggressive defensive scheme- something Towns has been vocal about his entire career. The drop coverage he has been forced to play his entire career has never worked for the Wolves, even in the 2018-19 playoff year, they were still 24th in defensive rating.
The more aggressive scheme this year has unlocked Towns' ability to switch out onto the perimeter and stay with guards, has transformed D'angelo Russell from defensive liability to defensive coordinator, and Jarred Vanderbilt has been crucial anchoring the defence- playing at an all-defensive level for the Wolves, and has frequently drawn comparisons to Dennis Rodman in his ability to play 'bigger than his size'. Patrick Beverley has also been crucial in improving the teams' defensive culture, and it is no coincidence that the Wolves' best lineups net-rating wise always involve Beverley and Vanderbilt- they have been crucial additions to both this teams culture and defence.
Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards' huge improvements on the defensive side of the ball have also been crucial to the Wolves improvement defensively. Edwards has been much more focused on this side of the floor this year, cutting out many of the off-ball lapses that made him such a huge defensive negative last year, while McDaniels has emerged as a switchy, lengthy defender and has been crucial to the Wolves' chaotic defensive success. This clip against the Pistons highlights his potential to be an all-NBA level defender one day as part of this system.
Recently, however, it has been the Wolves offence that has been firing on all cylinders. After a disappointing start offensively, over the past 15 games, the Wolves have had the best offence in basketball, and it's not all just shooting luck either. In the same sample, the Wolves are shooting 36.3% from deep- a good number but certainly not an outlier. For comparison, the best shooting team have been Atlanta, shooting over 37% from 3, and with elite shooters like Towns, Russell and Beasley you would expect the Wolves to be a good shooting team. This good shooting has opened up the floor for drives to the basket, as can be seen with Towns' increased focus on attacking the rim from the perimeter. He leads all centers in drives to the rim at 7.1, and the full arsenal was on display in their recent win over the Pistons. As a result, the Wolves are also shooting a league-best 58% from 2 over the last 15 games, and the overall result has been an extremely healthy 59.7 TS%.
Overall, the Timberwolves seem to be a completely different team this year: they have a more stable and modern front office and coaching staff, they finally have good depth and high-quality players that fit together, and their young talent looks as bright as ever. While they might not make much noise in the playoffs this year, this franchise appears to have turned itself around in a positive direction, and Timberwolves fans may actually enjoy rooting for this team over the coming years.
