A Guide To Minnesota Professional Basketball Team 

This year, the Minnesota Timberwolves were the final team to qualify for the NBA Playoffs this year. They are a professional basketball team based in Minnesota. They were founded in 1989 and have always played in Minnesota. 

After firing their general manager, Gersson Rosas, at the end of last season, many were curious to see what would happen to the Timberwolves this season. 

What we have seen is a vast improvement in performance and they even qualified for the Playoffs this year. 

Today, we are going to take a closer look at this team and their hopes for the 2022 Playoffs and beyond. 

History of the Team 

The Timberwolves are based in Minnesota and are one of the younger teams in the NBA. They were founded during the expansion of era, in 1989. They currently play in the Target Center. 

They struggled for their first few seasons, until in the 1995 Draft when they picked up Kevin Garnett. While he played for the team they qualified for the Playoffs for 8 years in a row – which is an NBA record. 

After this they qualified a few times in the mid-2000s, they then went for 10 years without making it to the playoffs between 2008 and 2018. 

The next time they made it to the Playoffs was this year, 2022.

The Timberwolves have one retired number – 2. This number belonged to Malik Sealy, a Timberwolf who was killed in a car accident while playing for the team. 

Last Season 

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2020-21 season was the shortest on record. During this season, some teams struggled to find form and others thrived with fewer matches to worry about. 

The Timberwolves had a slightly better season than 2019-20 (which was truly appalling, 19-46 was what they ended in), but it still was not great. 

They finished second from the bottom of their division with a winning record of 23-49. In the Western Conference table, they finished 3rd from the bottom (13th out of 15 teams). 

This Season 

The 2021-22 season was a huge improvement on the previous one. 

It didn’t really show in the division table, finishing third overall. But they are in a highly contested group. However, in the Western Conference table, they moved up from 13th overall to 7th overall. They also won 3 out of 4 of their pre-season games. 

The Timberwolves entered the Play-in tournament this year and were able to clinch the final spot in the 2022 Playoff tournament. 

It seems the change in top-level staff has really paid off for the team. This was their most successful season since 2004.  

Coach 

After the 2020-21 season, the Timberwolves let their general manager go and they also let their head coach, Ryan Saunders, go. Saunders had a .314 victory record with the Timberwolves. 

After taking over officially in February 2021, new head coach Chris Finch has a .504 win record. The only other coach who has over .500 with the Timberwolves is Flip Saunders. 

Finched started his coaching career in the UK, where he had also played basketball professionally. Eventually, he moved back to America and worked as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets, the Denver Nuggets, and the New Orleans Pelicans before moving to Minnesota. 

MVP Hopeful 

Anthony Edwards is the Timberwolves’ best hope for the MVP award this year. 

Only two Timberwolves have ever been named MVP – Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love. So, could Anthony Edwards become the first Timberwolf MVP not to be called Kevin? 

Well, all the signs are there. Edwards was a first overall pick in 2020, he was a five-star recruit, and this season Edwards became just the seventh player in NBA history to score 2,000 points in his first 100 games. Edwards also became the youngest player in NBA history with 10 three-pointers in a game. 

If you need to pick a Timberwolf for your fantasy football team next season, you will want to pick Edwards. Find more information about DFS NBA here. 

Last NBA Title 

The Timberwolves have never won the NBA Finals. They have also never won the Western Conference.

The closest they came to either was in 2004 when they made it to the Conference finals for the first and only time. That year was also the first and only time they won their division. 

Now, we are going to look at whether the Timberwolves have a chance of changing these stats this year. 

The 2022 Playoffs 

Thanks to the New Tournament that the NBA introduced last year, the Play-in Tournament, the Timberwolves were able to clinch the last spot in the Playoffs this season. 

They are the 8th Seed in the Western side of the draw. 

They are playing the Memphis Grizzlies in their first round. If they win that round then they could be facing last year’s conference winners the Phoenix Suns. 

The bookies suggest that the Grizzlies have a better chance of winning the round. They have just won their conference for the first time in their history and are looking to continue making it. 

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us