The NBA has released its schedule, meaning it’s an exciting time for Minnesota Timberwolves fans. They will play 28 games on national television this season, including a Christmas Day showdown against the Denver Nuggets. They will see Luka Doncic and LeBron James immediately, with two of their first five games against the Los Angeles Lakers. Throw in an October 27 matchup against the Nuggets, and three of the first five games for the Wolves will be must-watch television.
The Wolves will be competitive and connected this season, as they return nine of their top ten rotation players. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the lone rotation player who left in free agency, a stark contrast to the beginning of last season, when the team was integrating Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle after trading Karl-Anthony Towns. There should be no doubt that the Wolves will be ready to play at an elite level when they take on the Lakers in their first nationally televised game on October 24.
However, whether they are ready for prime time has never really been the question for the Wolves in the Anthony Edwards era.
It’s always been about whether the Wolves can win the proverbial easy ones.
Easy ones may sound harsh. All NBA teams have all-world talent on their rosters. Even the worst team in the standings still has a chance to win on any given night. At the beginning of the season, this is even more apparent because injuries and tanking have not yet fully taken effect. Therefore, the easy ones can turn into trap games, especially early in the year.
On the surface, the Wolves appeared to be great last season, boasting a 30-12 record against teams that ultimately finished below .500, compared to just 19-21 against winning teams. That record against losing teams ended up being the fourth-best in the Western Conference, behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, LA Clippers, and Nuggets. Interestingly, three of those four teams made the second round of the playoffs.
Compared to the entire league, the Wolves ranked ninth against teams with a winning percentage below .500, which doesn’t paint the whole picture.
Five of those teams, which had better records against sub-.500 teams also had a worse record than the Wolves against winning teams – the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons, Nuggets, and Clippers.
Additionally, consider that the Wolves lost a couple of games during the season against teams with multiple starters out, such as the Bucks (February 12) and the Indiana Pacers (March 17). At times, playing down to the competition became a narrative for the Wolves.
Unfortunately, it’s not something new to the Wolves. They had a 24-6 record against teams below .500 in 2023-24, but the Wolves went 17-18 the year before. Before that, they were 26-9 in the 2021-22 season and 14-17 in the 2020-21 season. There is a pretty clear pattern. Minnesota is good against bad teams every other year.
That’s where the schedule becomes interesting. The Wolves should be tested early with games against some of the teams projected to finish near the bottom of the standings. On November 1, they play Charlotte, followed by Brooklyn two days later. Then, they play Utah on November 7 and 10. That’s four games against teams that finished at the bottom of the standings in 2024-25. Those teams will likely have hope that they can perform better against the Wolves this season.
Here’s Minnesota’s test: If they can win all four, it indicates that they aren’t taking any teams for granted. If they split the four games, it might be a sign of more of the same frustrations for fans and the team. The Wolves won’t have another stretch of games like this at the end of December and early January. Therefore, those four games could reveal a great deal about where the Wolves ultimately finish in the standings.
With the schedule fully out and Minnesota’s season approaching fast, it’s nearing the time in the offseason for blind optimism, not just for the Wolves but for all 30 teams in the league.
Some teams will write Cinderella stories. For others, the clock will strike midnight far too early. The Wolves expect to be a championship contender, with most of their roster returning. They must ensure they are ending Cinderella stories, or they make the big dance. To do so, they must take care of the easy ones next year.