On Monday, Tim Connelly spoke about the Minnesota Timberwolves’ priorities during his end-of-season press conference.
“I’d always err on the side of continuity,” Connelly said. “I think patience in professional sports is largely nonexistent, and those organizations that can show patience tend to have really high levels of success. But patience shouldn’t lead to risk aversion.”
During his 20-minute interview, Connelly spoke multiple times about his preference to return the team’s core to make another run in 2025-26. The Wolves haven’t maintained a core roster since drafting Edwards in 2020.
The team around Edwards has lacked consistency. The Wolves fired Ryan Saunders in the middle of 2020-21, Edwards’ rookie season. They hired Chris Finch over qualified assistants like David Vanderpool, causing media backlash.
In that offseason, the Wolves traded Ricky Rubio to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Taurean Prince, after he averaged the fifth-most minutes on the team and was a veteran for Edwards.
“(He’s) the best leader I’ve been around my entire life,” said Edwards.
Former Wolves GM Gerson Rosas brought in Patrick Beverley, who joined Prince as the new de facto leader in the locker room. Weeks later, the Wolves relieved Rosas of his duties and placed Sachin Gupta in charge.
The Wolves overhauled their roster again the following summer, after the 2022-23 season. They hired Connelly, and Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore began purchasing the Timberwolves. Soon after, the Wolves completed a blockbuster trade for Rudy Gobert. They sent Malik Beasley, Beverly, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Leandro Bolmaro to the Utah Jazz, trading the fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-highest minutes per game players with a package of picks.
Trading for Gobert shifted Minnesota’s defensive and offensive philosophy, and it brought in Kyle Anderson to round out the rotation. After going 7-24 to start the season, the Wolves dealt D’Angelo Russell for Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker at the trade deadline.
Edwards experienced the closest thing to continuity in 2023-24 when the Wolves returned their eight primary rotation players, the entire coaching staff, and the front office. The Wolves went 56-36 that season and reached the Western Conference finals.
Anderson left in free agency last summer, and they traded Karl Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in October, days before training camp. Again, Edwards had to figure out how to thrive in a new situation. However, things clicked late in the season, and the Wolves returned to the Western Conference Finals.
This upcoming offseason will likely be one of the most interesting and scrutinized in recent Wolves history. They face a decision with Julius Randle, who has a player option and wants to return to the team.
“I will say that I love it here,” Randle said in his exit interview. “This is the most meaningful basketball I’ve played in my career, and from how the organization made me feel, front office, and just my teammates and playing with Ant.”
The Wolves will also face a similar situation with Naz Reid, who has a player option this summer and wants to return to Minnesota.
“I’ve been here six years,” Reid said in his postgame interview after losing Game 5 to the Thunder. “I don’t plan on doing anything differently. Hopefully, it’s the same feeling on the other side.”
Lastly, Alexander-Walker is a free agent. Like Randle and Reid, he has publicly stated his desire to return to the Twin Cities.
“I love Minnesota, what the fans have meant to me, what the team has meant to me,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going to go into the offseason and X-out Minnesota.”
There certainly will be other moves that they could make this off-season. Still, given the turnover Edwards has experienced and Connelly’s comments on wanting stability, bringing back the same team and attempting another run may make the most sense.
“The goal is to keep everybody, and what’s neat is the players are all really happy here,” Connelly said. “So when the player wants to be here and the team wants to have them back, there’s always room for optimism.”
Sometimes, patience is the best option. The Wolves have young talent, with nine players aged 24 or younger. Trusting in the developmental staff and the natural progression of players could be the best option in the long run.
Still, the NBA moves fast, injuries can happen, and championship windows can close quickly. The Wolves will be juggling two timelines again this offseason, and their decisions could be the most impactful in franchise history.