NBA Insider Casts Doubt on MN Timberwolves

At 27-16 at the midway point of the 2025-26 NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves find themselves as the current No. 4 seed in the West, and only 1.5 games away from falling into the play-in tournament.

Now coming off an emotional loss against the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night, Anthony Edwards and the Wolves will look to regroup Tuesday against the Utah Jazz.

Speaking of Ant, he put up a career-high 55 points in Minnesota’s loss vs Victor Wembanyama and the boys, over the weekend, following two games off with an infected toe.

ESPN lukewarm on Minnesota Timberwolves

But overall, this is a team that still rides a weekly rollercoaster, depending on how motivated they are for each game. And that isn’t their only issue.

ESPN NBA analyst Kevin Pelton is worried the MN Timberwolves may be in trouble of falling off a steep Western Conference cliff. On Monday, he gave the Wolves’ season a B-, using their point guard problems and poor BPI to prove his point.

A 51-win pace obscures concerns for the Timberwolves, who have played the second-easiest schedule thus far among West teams, according to BPI. Minnesota has also generally been healthy, with its preferred starters together for 31 of 43 games. That’s important because 2024 first-round picks Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. have been unable to fill the void left by Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s departure in free agency, with Bones Hyland emerging as Alexander-Walker’s primary replacement. Keep an eye on how injuries could expose the Timberwolves’ shaky depth.

ESPN

There’s no denying that the MN Timberwolves are a good basketball team. The problem is that good teams don’t win championships. To get over the hump, the Wolves must find consistency. Only then can they become a great team.

Tim Connelly has been looking for point guard help all season, and the right acquisition before the deadline could certainly help cure a lot of this. Head coach Chris Finch has been forced into using both Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo as miscast point guards, which factors into the lack of consistency.

Bones Hyland has been a nice addition, but he doesn’t possess the talent to produce in an NBA Championship-caliber capacity. Mike Conley is… well, old. Meanwhile, it’s difficult for Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. to develop without playing time.

Trade could turn Timberwolves tide

We are just over two weeks away from the NBA trade deadline. The Minnesota Timberwolves are facing a luxury tax bill north of $24 million as it stands currently. They also have the fifth-highest current tax payroll.

For Tim Connelly to pull something off, he’ll need to get creative regarding both the assets moving as well as the numbers. There’s no doubt he should have interest in trying to make something work though.

In each of the past two seasons, the Timberwolves have come up just one round short. Anthony Edwards is averaging a career-best 29.6 points per game while shooting the best percentages of his life. It’s time to do something with that sort of superstardom.