Refreshed Timberwolves roll out their dynamic new backcourt with LaMelo Ball joining Anthony Edwards

Last season: 49-33, lost to San Antonio in second round of playoffs.

COACH: Chris Finch (seventh season, 258-193).

SEASON OPENER: Oct. 21 at Miami.

DEPARTURES: F Julius Randle, F/C Naz Reid, G Mike Conley, F Kyle Anderson, F Joe Ingles.

ADDITIONS: G LaMelo Ball, F Jonathan Kuminga, F Cody Williams, F Trey Lyles, G Isaiah Evans.

Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly took another big offseason swing by acquiring Ball from the Charlotte Hornets to move Anthony Edwards off the ball, where the seventh-year superstar ought to thrive in his natural spot and have more energy to fully unlock his defensive potential. Ball and Edwards, two of the top three picks in the 2020 draft, have the talent to be the best backcourt duo in the NBA if they mesh like the team believes they will. They're certain, at least, to be one of the most exciting pairs in the game. Ball has the ability and the desire to be the type of pure point guard who should help the Timberwolves reduce their long-running problem of stagnant possessions when the ball sticks too long with one player in one spot. The 24-year-old Ball also brings a fearless and joyful style to a team that suffered last season from a moodiness that stunted its growth at times. The late-summer signing of Kuminga nicely rounded out the starting five with another player in his prime who has plenty to prove before his next contract. The team that reached the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025 before losing in the second round of the playoffs last season belongs in the conversation about the NBA's top championship contenders.

The good: Rudy Gobert at age 34 remains one of the league's premier defenders in the paint and one of its most durable players. Kuminga and Jaden McDaniels have exceptional instinct, length and quickness to help supplement the fortress led by Gobert, the four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner. Ball and Edwards ranked third and sixth in the league last season in 3-pointers made per game. Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr. bring scoring potential and defensive ability off the bench.

The not-so-good: Randle and Reid were two of the team's most durable players. Ball has played in only 303 of a possible 482 regular-season games in his career, a 63% appearance rate caused by a host of injuries, primarily to his ankle. Kuminga has also been sidetracked by injuries over the past two years, and Edwards played in a career-low 61 games last season. The Timberwolves are already at a health disadvantage with the absence of guard Donte DiVincenzo, who started all 82 games in 2025-26 before tearing his Achilles tendon during the first round of the playoffs. His return this season is uncertain. Losing Conley, Anderson and Ingles also left the team short on veteran guidance and maturity, with Gobert the only starter older than 26 and just three players on the roster who've logged more than six NBA seasons.

The departures of Randle and Reid have also elevated the role of McDaniels, who has long been the club’s best perimeter defender and has the game to become an impact scorer on a regular basis. Joan Beringer, the team's first-round draft pick in 2025, is in line for meaningful playing time behind his fellow Frenchman Gobert. The 19-year-old late bloomer who just started playing basketball five years ago has elite shot-blocking skills.

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