The Minnesota Timberwolves are on two separate timelines, both of which fans can be hopeful will lead to championship banners hanging in the Target Center’s rafters. For years, the franchise didn’t have so much as one timeline.
For years, fans placed all their hope in the draft, longing for the Timberwolves to land a cornerstone capable of digging them out of the darkness. Fans anxiously waited for players on the court, coaches on the sidelines, and owners in courtside seats to provide tangible evidence as to why they should expect great things from the Wolves.
For years, though, Minnesota continued to sit at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. The future never looked much brighter than the present.
Now, not only are fans selling out Target Center every night to watch their team make deep playoff runs, but they are also eager to see the team’s long-term future. The Timberwolves, once mired in a cycle of failure, are now a competitive team. Fans continue to have more and more reason to believe the winning isn’t going anywhere.
A “timeline” in professional sports refers to a team’s planned trajectory. For example, the Utah Jazz are rebuilding, acquiring young talent, draft picks, and cap space. Their current timeline requires patience, with the hope of competing in a handful of years.
On the other hand, the New York Knicks have gone all-in. They have built an expensive starting five, shipped out draft picks, sacrificed depth, and fired their head coach after reaching the Conference Finals. New York is focused on right now with a championship-or-bust mindset.
Some teams try to straddle those two timelines, being competitive in the present while stockpiling resources to sustain a winning team in the long term. However, doing so is challenging, especially in the NBA, where championship windows are often shorter than anticipated.
The Timberwolves have opened a championship window, and they must have a sense of urgency to capitalize on it. Fans in the upper Midwest know all too well that the opportunity to win a championship or even make the playoffs is fleeting.
After reaching the Conference Finals in 2004, the Wolves went 13 seasons without making the postseason. Jimmy Butler led them to the playoffs in 2018, restoring hope for the franchise. But Butler demanded his way out a few months later, and the Wolves went through another multi-year rebuild before making the playoffs again in 2022.
The 2018 Wolves team is much different than the Wolves team in 2025. Anthony Edwards is only getting better, and he has the potential to be the cornerstone that brings Minnesota multiple championship banners. However, with how short contending windows can be, management can’t assume the Timberwolves will be contenders for Edwards’ entire career.
Tim Connelly knows that. He brought back Julius Randle and Naz Reid this summer, paying them a combined $225 million over the next five years. The Wolves have the players on the court, coaches on the sidelines, and a new ownership group to make a run to the Finals in the 2025-26 season. Fans will continue to sell out Target Center. The team will fill a significant portion of nationally televised slots again.
Minnesota’s “timeline” is very much in the here and now. However, you would not have been able to tell that by the way Connelly and his staff orchestrated their draft night this year.
let’s work.
pic.twitter.com/IfUZX3puxk
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) July 1, 2025
There were projected NBA-ready prospects left on the board when the Timberwolves were on the clock at pick No. 17, but they selected 18-year-old Joan Beringer out of France. The Wolves also had the first pick in the second round. Rasheer Fleming, a projected first-round pick, was still left on the board. However, Minnesota traded that pick and moved back to No. 45, where they selected 18-year-old Rocco Zikarsky out of Brisbane.
Connelly could have used this year’s draft to add more talent to the current roster, or he could have flipped a pick or two to obtain a veteran. However, he selected two developmental big men who will need time to become NBA-ready. Connelly didn’t enter the draft expecting to select a player who would enter the rotation immediately. He knows there are young players on the roster ready for a shot at the rotation — the same players who could form Minnesota’s long-term nucleus around Edwards and its second timeline.
Terrence Shannon Jr., Jaylen Clark, and Rob Dillingham are those players.
With Nickeil Alexander-Walker signing with the Atlanta Hawks, the opportunity is here for Shannon, Clark, or Dillingham to become everyday rotation players. They had inconsistent playing time last year, during which they proved they are NBA-ready with the potential to be a huge part of Minnesota’s success moving forward.
The Wolves will start to integrate their young talent into their win-now timeline. That will allow Shannon, Clark, and Dillingham to be better prepared to step up alongside Edwards with significant roles when Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, and Randle eventually depart.
In turn, that will help lead the Wolves to capitalize on their two-timeline approach.
“If you look at the young group of guys, we almost have one guy at every single position,” Wolves general manager Matt Lloyd said after the first round. “That’s exciting in the way the rules are set up now. The team-building rules are restrictive a little bit now. We have to get our draft pick rights, and we have to be a part of player development.”
For years, the Wolves had faced immense pressure to nail their draft selections. They almost always had high picks, and each front office wanted to demonstrate that they could achieve more success than their predecessors. But this year, Connelly didn’t have to find an NBA-ready prospect. Instead, he solidified a deep core of long-term prospects while still leading a team with championship aspirations.
By selecting Beringer and Zikarsky, Connelly confirmed that the Wolves are managing two timelines. He didn’t feel pressure to draft a win-now player who could help the Wolves immediately, which is a luxury that Connelly helped create for himself with his roster construction.
For years, Wolves fans have hoped for one timeline — any timeline — to buy into. Even if that meant waiting for years to watch a contender. Now, fans are hungry for sustained success with the confidence that the once-dark days are not going to return for decades.