The Timberwolves fell short of their goal, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. With the team coming under fire in the wake of their elimination, it’s time to set the record straight and defend the men who brought the Wolves as far as any squad in franchise history.
The Wolves Are Out, the Knives Are Out, and Perspective Has Left the Building
So that’s how it ends. Not with a bang, but with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dancing around slow rotations, Chet Holmgren flexing his pipe cleaner frame like a Dungeons & Dragons sorcerer, and the Minnesota Timberwolves… completely folding.
In Game 5.
Of the Western Conference Finals.
While looking like they were auditioning for a reboot of The Three Stooges.
It was gross. Let’s not sugarcoat it. I’ve watched every single Wolves game this season, and that was their worst performance. Not because the score was the most lopsided—but because of the stakes, the moment, and the expectation. They came out swinging for about 58 seconds, then forgot how to dribble, rotate, communicate, or even look like a team that wanted to be there.
So yes. You, my fellow Timberwolves fan, are absolutely within your rights to be mad. Disappointed. Sick. You can tweet like a lunatic. You can post Reddit essays that start with “I’ve been a fan since the Pooh Richardson era and I’m DONE.” You can scream “FIRE FINCH” into the void.
But after 24+ hours of letting the takes marinate—across YouTube, Twitter, this site, everywhere—I feel compelled to step in and say something that seems to be getting lost in all this venom:
This was the third-best season in Timberwolves history.
Let me repeat: The third-best season in 36 years.
And if your response is “Who cares, we didn’t win a title,” then you either (a) started watching basketball in 2023 or (b) have repressed everything from 2005 to 2021 harder than Matt Gaetz at a deposition.
1. Chris Finch: You Don’t Fire the Best Coach You’ve Ever Had Unless You Have the Next One
Let’s start here because this is where the wolves—literal and metaphorical—have sharpened their teeth the most.
Chris Finch is not a perfect coach. He might not even be a top-5 coach in the league. But the idea that he should be fired after this series is utter lunacy. And I say that as someone who has yelled “WHY HAVEN’T WE SCORED IN FIVE MINUTES?!” into a pillow multiple times.
Yes, this team had issues:
- They’ve had sluggish starts.
- They’ve had offensive droughts that felt like they’d never end.
- They’ve played down to opponents and chucked away winnable games.
And yet… here’s what Finch has done:
- Four straight playoff berths.
- Back-to-back Western Conference Finals.
- Coached the All-Star Game.
- Built a top-5 defense.
- Maintained locker room buy-in.
- Turned the Wolves into a national talking point without embarrassing the franchise.
Do we forget what this used to be like? Do I need to say the name Kurt Rambis? Or remind you that Sam Mitchell once thought playing Tayshaun Prince 28 minutes a game in 2016 was “development”?
Yes, Finch could use an offensive coordinator. Yes, the team may have benefited from some more flexible rotations. But you don’t fire a good coach unless you have a great one lined up. And please tell me who that is.
Michael Malone? The guy who lost the locker room with Nikola Jokic on his roster?
Mike Brown? Has the coaching shelf life of a banana.
You think Spoelstra is trading South Beach for Southdale?
Yes, Finch has come up short of the conference finals twice in a row, but it’s not like holding the Larry O’Brien trophy suddenly makes you immune from mistakes. Nick Nurse, Budenholzer, Vogel—all won titles, all got fired soon thereafter, all aren’t upgrades.
Until you can give me a name that makes me say “Oh wow,” not just “I guess,” stop yelling about firing Finch like this is First Take.
2. Tim Connelly: The Grown-Up in the Room (And the Architect of Two Great Runs)
I cannot believe I’m even writing this sentence: People are blaming Tim Connelly.
Are you serious?
This is the same fanbase that lived through the David Kahn Era. Kahn is the basketball equivalent of a guy who buys stocks using a dartboard and vibes. We passed on Steph Curry. Twice. We gave Darko Milicic a second chance. We gave Kevin Love a contract… just not the contract.
Enter Connelly. In just two years:
- He turned D’Angelo Russell and a pu pu platter into Mike Conley Jr. and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Massive upgrade in intelligence and team cohesion.
- He acquired Rudy Gobert, who has completely transformed the defense and been the second-most important player on the team for two straight conference finals runs.
- He offloaded KAT’s Titanic-sized contract and somehow got back Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, AND a pick. You think the team’s options are limited now? Imagine what it would look like with Towns’ contract permanently pinning us to the second apron.
- He drafted Terence Shannon Jr.—a guy who might be the Wolves’ best draft pick since McDaniels.
- He stole Jaylen Clark in the second round. And Rob Dillingham might be a future star.
- He maneuvered Gobert’s contract to make it less damaging long-term.
And now people want to throw him under the bus because the Thunder—who hit on four straight drafts and got a gift-wrapped rebuild—outplayed us in five games?
You don’t get to enjoy the last two playoff runs and pretend like they didn’t happen when your emotions get the better of you.
3. Rudy Gobert: The Most Disrespected Great Player in Wolves History
Let’s get this out of the way: Rudy Gobert was bad against OKC. He looked like he may have been hurt. He moved like a 7’1” tin man. His hands were made of stone. His box outs had all the force of a bumper car. But let’s not rewrite history just because his timing was off.
Gobert has been the second-most important Timberwolf of the last two years. Period. You remove him from this team, and the defense melts like a popsicle on the Fourth of July.
And don’t give me “he can’t play offense.” No one brought Gobert here to run the Princeton. He exists to do two things: anchor the defense and make everyone else’s life easier.
Which he has.
The Wolves went from a middle-of-the-pack defense to a full-blown juggernaut with Rudy on the floor. You think that’s an accident?
And his contract? It’s not ideal. But it was restructured. It’s manageable, especially as the cap balloons. People act like his deal is some catastrophic burden. It’s not. It’s just a premium for elite defense. Gobert remains one of the top rim protectors in the league. He still matters.
Name me the better alternative. Do it. Who’s replacing him? A free agent with the same impact? A trade for an upgrade that doesn’t also cost you Jaden, or your soul?
Exactly.
4. Mike Conley Jr.: The Calm in the Storm
Let’s keep this simple: the Wolves are a smart, connected basketball team when Conley is on the floor. When he sits, they look like they’re playing 2K on “rookie” mode but their controller batteries are dying.
Conley is 37. He’s aging. He doesn’t have the burst anymore. But his IQ, his leadership, his ability to stabilize Ant when the game is spinning—all of that still matters. And for a team that routinely forgets how to pass in the half-court, Conley is oxygen.
Should the Wolves find a backup or even co-starter for him next season? Absolutely. That might be Dillingham. That might be a veteran. But Conley still has a place on this team—if not as a starter logging 35 minutes, then as the leader in that locker room who helps unlock the next phase of Anthony Edwards.
5. Julius Randle: Not a Perfect Fit, But a Necessary One
Randle will go down as the single most polarizing Wolves player of this era. And that’s not even his fault.
He walked into a no-win situation: the guy who replaced KAT, a homegrown hero.
Randle looked terrible early. The ball stuck. The rotations broke. He was not the guy we needed… at first.
But then something happened. He figured it out. He became a real secondary scorer. He bullied LeBron and Draymond in back-to-back series. He gave Ant space to operate. He turned into a better passer. He started to buy in.
Did he disappear for stretches against OKC? Yep. He was a ghost at times. And if this team wants to beat the Thunder in the future, he has to be better.
But again, I ask: what’s the better option? Letting him walk for nothing? Trading him for pennies? Or letting him play one more year, build chemistry, and, if that doesn’t work, possibly flip him in a sign-and-trade or as an expiring contract?
He’s not perfect. But he’s better than unused dollars on the cap. And he might still grow into a better version of himself with this core.
Finch, Connelly, Gobert, Conley, Randle… None are perfect, but they’re all pretty damn good at what they do. It’s not that any are untouchable or that it’s unfathomable to think that perhaps somebody could come in and outperform them. There could very well be moves that are made this off-season that result in some of these individuals departing Minnesota. However, the suggestion that any one of these men is more part of the problem than part of the solution is completely ludicrous. That’s the point I take issue with, because each of these men had a huge role in turning this season into one of the best this franchise has ever experienced. They deserve applause, not denigration.
The Bigger Picture: Do You Remember 2020?
Back in 2020, the Wolves didn’t even get invited to the bubble. We were the NBA’s kid table. Anthony Edwards was a freshman at Georgia. We were reeling from Jimmy Butler’s rage-quit and Wiggins’ lack of impact.
And now? Look at us.
- We ended LeBron’s season in his building.
- We beat Jimmy “You Can’t With Without Me” Butler in a playoff series at Target Center.
- We went to back-to-back Western Conference Finals.
- We have Ant. A clear Top-10 guy, arguably Top-5.
- We have youth, flexibility, and competence.
Oklahoma City is great. But they’re not invincible. Just like Denver wasn’t. Remember 2023? Jokic looked like he’d never lose again. One year later? Bounced. How is that Boston Celtics dynasty that launched in 2024 fairing at the moment?
The league changes. Windows open and shut fast. But ours? Still open. Still solid. Still powered by a 23-year-old guy in Ant who gets it and wants it.
Final Word
This was a gut-punch of an ending. But it was not a wasted year. Far from it.
If you can’t find joy in beating the Lakers, in winning a series on your home floor for the first time in 21 years, in watching Anthony Edwards become him… then why are you here?
Was Game 5 the ending we wanted? No.
Was this season still one of the best rides in Timberwolves history? Hell yes.
So go ahead—be mad. But don’t be blind. Don’t be ungrateful. Don’t torch the thing that finally made you believe again.
The job’s not finished.
But it’s finally started to feel like something real.