It should go without saying for the longest-suffering Timberwolves fans that “what seed will they wind up with in the playoffs?” is a nice thing to concern oneself with compared to questions like “when will they win another game?” or “what exactly is the plan here?”
The Wolves have made four consecutive trips to the postseason and are well-positioned to make it five in a row. They’ve reached two consecutive Western Conference finals. Their best player, Anthony Edwards, is still only 24 and was the All-Star MVP last weekend.
These are the golden years.
Asking for more than the simple satisfaction of enjoying a well-constructed 34-22 team play basketball can feel greedy.
Yet here we are, full of contradictions as the Wolves prepare for the 26-game post-break sprint starting Friday, Feb. 20, against Dallas at Target Center.
Star Tribune Wolves beat writer Chris Hine and I talked about what is at stake during Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
Let’s look at some key Wolves storylines at the start of today’s 10 things to know:
- Minnesota reconfigured its roster at the trade deadline. Ayo Dosunmu, acquired from the Bulls, looks like a key player down the stretch of the season and into the future. Mike Conley Jr. was traded away but brought back for a likely reduced role. Will that be enough to jump-start a team that sometimes lacked consistency and focus in the first two-thirds of the season?
- The Wolves had one of the easiest schedules in the NBA during the early part of the season. That is no longer the case. Tankathon shows them with the third-hardest schedule in terms of opponent winning percentage over their final 26 games.
- The Wolves needed a 17-4 closing stretch just to get the No. 6 seed last season. But being in that part of the playoff bracket proved beneficial when the Wolves upended the No. 3 Lakers in the first round and then bounced seventh-seeded Golden State to reach the conference finals. Avoiding Oklahoma City (last year’s eventual NBA champ and No. 1 seed) in the first two rounds was key, even though the Wolves eventually succumbed to the Thunder.
- But Basketball Reference says the Wolves’ most likely playoff slots this year are either No. 4 or No. 5, which would have them likely meeting No. 1 OKC a round earlier if both advance.
- All of that leads to this question: What would make this a successful season for the Wolves? NBA Finals or bust? Another trip to the conference finals? At least getting to the conference semifinals? I’m not sure I know the answer, but whatever happens could have an outsized influence on what could be an interesting offseason.
- J.J. McCarthy didn’t throw to the middle of the field often last season, and when he did the results were poor. Warren Sharp has a good statistical analysis of why that mattered so much for the 2025 Vikings.
- Bobby Nightengale’s Twins newsletter is always a must-read. Friday’s edition made me wonder if some Twins players are getting sick of the one TV showing a nonstop loop of obscure baseball rules.
- If you find an excuse to knock off work around, oh, 2:10 p.m. today, you probably won’t be alone. That’s when the U.S. men’s hockey team plays Slovakia in the Olympic semifinals.
- Ex-Gophers and Wild player Erik Haula had a short-handed beauty for Finland in the other semifinal against Canada.
- The St. Thomas men’s hockey team is turning heads this year. They’ve been hot and now their arena is serving cold ones, as La Velle E. Neal III writes.
