ESPN Insider Already Out on MN Timberwolves?

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Chris Finch, Minnesota Timberwolves
Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves are back in action on Friday, after over a week off for the NBA All-Star Break. Anthony Edwards returns with his first All-Star MVP award, with aspirations for so much more.

Head Coach Chris Finch spent his break figuring out how he can lead the Timberwolves beyond the Western Conference Finals, where they’ve been eliminated from championship contention two-straight postseasons.

Minnesota Timberwolves looking at huge second half

At 34-22, Minnesota holds the 6th seed in the West playoff bracket, which is where they finished 2025, lining them up for a similar second half to what we saw one year ago.

But do the MN Timberwolves stand a real shot to make the NBA Finals for the first time ever as an organization. They’ll do so after, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly failed yet again to reel in a superstar who can take backcourt pressure off Anthony Edwards.

In 2025, he swung and missed on Kevin Durant. This time around, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo who narrowly evaded the Wolves’ grasps. So, Connelly settled on a couple of deals with Chicago that sent out Rob Dillingham and Mike Conley, in two separate deals that eventually landed them two-way combo guard Ayo Dosunmu.

Conley’s exit was for luxury tax relief. He was traded again, before eventually being cut. That allowed Minnesota to re-sign their veteran point guard of the past three seasons off the buyout market Tuesday.

ESPN Insider: Timberwolves are NOT championship contenders

Unfortunately, if you trust NBA insider Tim MacMahon (ESPN), those moves won’t be enough to put Minnesota over the top. On Get Up Tuesday, MacMahon made it very clear that he does NOT have the Wolves on his list of legitimate NBA title contenders in 2026.

His argument is pretty solid, too. If Tim Connelly is so desperate to add talent, it means he doesn’t believe Minnesota has a championship team, as constructed, either. And if the Timberwolves’ own PoBO doesn’t have faith… why should we?

“This is actions over words, [and Tim Connelly thinks the Wolves] need to get another superstar to pair with Anthony Edwards. That’s why they went after Kevin Durant…That’s why they went after Giannis…To acquire that second superstar is extremely difficult to do without draft picks, but clearly that’s the way he’s evaluating this team. The Timberwolves deserve the respect of being two consecutive conference finals, so you can’t just leave them out of the conversation of Western Conference contenders, but it’s not like the last two conference finals in the west were competitive series. I don’t see the Timberwolves as a real threat to come out of the West this season either.”

Tim MacMahon

In support of MacMahon’s argument, it’s worth noting that the Timberwolves no long roster Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who played a massive role in last year’s playoff run. They do have Ayo Dosunmu, who they acquired at the trade deadline, but he’s yet to prove anything in the postseason, hardly the addition that was desired.

Anthony Edwards is having the best season of his career. Averaging 29.3 points per game, and shooting 49.3% from the field. If the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to prove Tim MacMahon and other doubters wrong, he will have to be the best player in the 2026 NBA Playoffs.

Summer provides opportunity for MN Timberwolves

If the Wolves prove MacMahon right and come up short again, Tim Connelly will have some difficult choices to make this offseason. At that point, anybody not named Anthony Edwards — including Chris Finch, Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, etc — could be on the chopping block.

The Milwaukee Bucks may be more willing to trade their superstar over the summer, should they fail to land the No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery and/or fail to make the playoffs through the play-in tournament, out East. We already know that, if they do, Connelly will be first in line to re-open conversations.

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