Who are the 2023-24 Timberwolves? If you look deeper at each player from different angles, you’ll some names and faces that made it all possible.
Our Minnesota Timberwolves have finished the regular season with the second-best record (56-26) in franchise history.
Would any long-time Wolves fan would have ever guessed that they would see another near-60-win season in their lifetime? I sure didn’t. You look up and down at the roster that achieved this feat and see a team full of All-Star killers, star role players, and important chemistry guys.
What if I told you there was more to the story of the 2023-2024 roster?
As much as we appreciate Glen Taylor Marc Lore, Alex Rodriguez, and Tim Connelly for carefully putting this specific team together, you can see a prism of former players and storylines within each individual Timberwolf. Whether or not you believe in the butterfly effect, one can’t help but ponder the beautiful, yet tragic, history that led to this iteration of the Wolves.
How did the organization acquire each of these players?
Who sacrificed their Wolves jersey to pave the way?
Note: Players who were signed/drafted without other Wolves players involved are excluded such as Naz Reid, Kyle Anderson, Jordan McLaughlin, T.J. Warren, Wendell Moore Jr., and two-way players.
Anthony Edwards
The next face of the Timberwolves NBA officially entered league on Wednesday, November 18, 2020. It has been all sunshine and rainbows since then, but how did the Wolves land him?
- Was Ant the consensus No. 1 pick of the 2020 NBA draft? Not if you asked Steve Kerr, who said he wouldn’t have drafted him if they had the first pick. Luckily, Gersson Rosas was a much better talent evaluator.
- The universal cosmic forces may have denied us of this opportunity had it not been for D’Angelo Russell’s contribution by logging into the video call with Mark Tatum.
- Minnesota only acquired enough ping pong balls thanks to the negative win shares of the Bahamas Wolves. We must thank the likes of Jake Layman, Jordan Bell, Traveon Graham, among many others. Thank you for your service.
Karl-Anthony Towns
The longest tenured member of the Timberwolves actually had quite a simple path to Minnesota, similar to his aforementioned No. 1 pick teammate.
- Unlike Edwards, KAT was mostly considered a consensus best prospect available. The late Flip Saunders did have some interest in Jahlil Okafor prior to draft night, though. However, a workout that reminded Flip of the Kevin Garnett sealed the deal.
- Glen Taylor represented Minnesota on draft lottery night, so props to him, I guess.
- The young rookie core of post threat Andrew Wiggins, point guard Zach LaVine, and sophomore wrecking ball Adreian Payne (RIP) generated plenty of losses to finish dead last in the 2014-2015 standings.
Rudy Gobert
I believe most pundits refer to this as “The Best Trade in Timberwolves History.” The soon-to-be four-time Defensive Player of the Year landed here just a couple years ago.
- The former players who actually played for the Wolves that Connelly sent out include Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, and Leandro Bolmaro. That package seemed like a decent handful of role players before considering the haul of draft picks.
- Pat Bev arrived from the Memphis Grizzlies by way of Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangoemz. Vando and Beas arrived as part of the Robert Covington trade.
- RoCo arrived by way of the Jimmy Butler fiasco.
- General Soreness arrived because of our dunking overlord, Zach LaVine.
Mike Conley Jr. & Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Speaking of best trades in franchise history, shortly behind the Rudy trade is likely the Mike & NAW trade. At first glance, you assume the transaction was singular, but buckle up. This prism is a bit of a doozy.
- D’Angelo Russell was the lone cost for this pair, but he didn’t just appear out of a helicopter ride and thin air. A lot of it was the magic of Tim Connelly.
- D’Lo came at the price of sixth-year rookie Andrew Wiggins and some draft pick who hates Steve Kerr.
- Kevin Love was shipped out to bring Maple Jordan (and others) into town in 2014.
- The day after the 2008 draft, Kevin McHale sent No. 3 pick, O.J. Mayo, and a package of Marko Jarić, Antoine Walker, and Greg Buckner for the pudgy center out of UCLA.
- Fashion icon Jarić arrived for the dancing Sam Cassell (and Clippergeddon) in 2005. Walker came by way of Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. Last, but not least, Buckner was traded for Trenton Hassell.
- The furthest level I’ll go here is here. Anthony Peeler and Joe Smith were traded for Cassell. Davis costed Wally Szczerbiak and Michael Olowokandi. Whew.
Jaden McDaniels
Seatbelt has a much less complex path to the Timberwolves. Fairly straight forward and simple, just like his facial expressions.
- The same night we drafted Ant in 2020, Gersson Rosas made the wise call to secure McDaniels with the 28th pick of the first round.
- Minnesota only acquired the 28th pick thanks to some pick swapping and the salary of James Johnson.
- Earlier that year, Bloodsport was packaged in a three-team deal that sent our beloved Gorgui Dieng to the Memphis Grizzlies.
- Rewind back to draft night 2013, Flip Saunders made a panic move after whiffing on Kelly Olynyk and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and sent out the ninth pick for the 14th and 21st picks, the latter of which became Gorgs.
Monte Morris
The Count of Monte Assist/TO has long been targeted by the Wolves, but it finally happened in 2024 right before the trade deadline.
- Tim Connelly was able to get Morris by sending out Shake Milton and Troy Brown Jr., two players he signed just months earlier in free agency.
- That pair of players came because of the luxury tax space created by allowing Taurean Prince to walk during free agency.
- TP was acquired during the 2021 offseason, when Gersson Rosas sent out Ricky Rubio. Yes, it still very much hurts.
- The Ricky reunion of 2020 happened through the Jaden McDaniels (and Leandro Bolmaro) deal, where James Johnson was the primary cost.
- As mentioned above, a part of the Gorgui Dieng move, who was selected by Flip Saunders.
Though it was possible for us to go deeper than this 40-player dive, that’s the beauty of unique prisms. There can be an infinite amount of angles, shapes, and colors that you can find when you look into one. Even with players we didn’t examine have interesting roots, such as rookie Jaylen Clark dating back to our lord Ricky Rubio. Each new face that has landed in Minnesota creates a whole new set of ripples. The possibilities are limitless.
Just like the upcoming Timberwolves postseason journey.