The only splashes made this summer by the Minnesota Timberwolves were new contracts for two of their best big men, an unusually quiet offseason for an organization that has rarely been far from the next round of upheaval.
The front office stayed intact. No roster-rattling trade was made in the days leading up to training camp. Seven of the top eight players have returned from the 2024-25 team that reached the Western Conference finals for a second straight time. The candidates to fill roles in the regular rotation are picks from previous drafts, not rookies. Even superstar Anthony Edwards had a relatively quiet profile, without any international competition to play in.
“This time last year, I was on the plane flying here, so it feels great,” said guard Donte DiVincenzo, who arrived with forward Julius Randle in the stunning deal that sent cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns to New York just three days before players reported to training camp. “We stayed here this summer. My family and I got to experience a Minnesota summertime, and it was beautiful. It was a comfortable feeling, feeling settled.”
Both Randle and DiVincenzo spoke bluntly last season about their unique challenge of being forced to quickly acclimate to new environments off the court — including moving families with young children across the country.
“It’s hard to be productive at your job when your off-court life is unsettled,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said.
The on-court part was tough, too. Randle, during his media day interview session at Target Center on Monday, recalled with a laugh one particular possession early in the season when he and Edwards both went to the same place to post up at the same time.
“It was like, ‘Bro, what are we doing right now?’” Randle said. “We learned how to give each other space. We learned how to play off one another. Not necessarily your turn, my turn. But learning, picking and choosing our spots. When to be aggressive, and also how to make the game easier for our teammates. Understanding how dynamic of a scorer he is, but also how dynamic of a passer I am and playing to those strengths even more. We both can score and pass. One might do one better than the other, but we do things to make the game easier for each other. With that, when our chemistry started to click, it also made the game easier for our teammates, as well."
The Timberwolves re-signed Randle and fellow big man Naz Reid, only losing backup guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker to free agency as they slid underneath the punitive second apron of the luxury tax.
“As long as you have good players and you believe in your team, you want continuity,” said coach Chris Finch, who will preside over his fifth training camp with the team when players take the practice court on Tuesday morning.
Finch is now comfortably in second place for longevity on the franchise’s list with 369 regular-season games, behind only Flip Saunders (819). With just one more first-round series, Finch (42) could even pass Saunders (47) for playoff games coached with the club.
Injuries to Randle and DiVincenzo compounded the struggle for chemistry last season, as the Timberwolves started 8-10 and 17-17 before finding their groove in time to go 49-33 and avoid the play-in games.
This time?
“I think we’ve got a cheat code to start off early," Edwards said. "We should be able to win early before a lot of teams because they made a lot of trades. They’re trying to use preseason to fit it in, but we’ve been together since last year. And we’ve been here early. Everybody has been here early. So big shoutout to my teammates, man. It’s been dope to see everybody in the facility.”
Edwards is also bullish on the Wolves younger players. Last year's two draft picks, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham, showed some real flashes and they're expected to take on a bigger role this season.
There's also this year's first round pick, French center Joan Beringer, thought to be a bit of a project but he showed some real defensive prowess in the Summer League games. Then they added more size in acquiring 7-footer Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45) from Chicago.
"I'm excited to see all of them," said Edwards on Monday. "Rob, you know, he got a chip on his shoulder. He wanna show people, he should have been playing last year. We all know what TJ gonna bring. I think the surprise of everybody is gonna be the two rookies that we just drafted. Those two guys are pretty damn good."
The Wolves also know they can't get off to a slow start in 25-26, especially with the team bringing back the core players of another Western Conference Finals team. As Connelly explained on Monday, the West is too good to take anything for granted.
"I think the Western Conference is the best conference I've ever seen," Connelly added. "It's my 29th year in the NBA. I've never seen such a talent rich conference, and even the first two picks in the draft from the Western Conference. So, we're excited, I think we're our guys are certainly fueled by competition. We're not gonna duck anybody and we can't wait to see where we stand up in this kind of historically stacked Western Conference."
Edwards also adds that he has learned the teams that go deepest in the playoffs are teams that are about the collective, not the individual.
"I think winning starts with being together, and it starts in the summertime and we gotta be together, we gotta be a team," the young superstar explains. "We can't wait to the All-Star break to try to become a team. We gotta do it now."
New owners, same vibe
The biggest offseason news was the completion of the sale of the franchise from Glen Taylor to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, but because this was a four-plus-year process — becoming complicated and contentious over the last year — the front office was already in sync with Lore and Rodriguez.
Connelly, whose arrival in 2022 was spearheaded by the incoming partners, deftly balanced his relationship with them and Taylor on his way out.
“It never really became too problematic,” Connelly said.
The core gets stronger
Edwards, Reid and forward Jaden McDaniels are the three longest-tenured players on the team, the trio of disparate skill sets and personalities that Connelly and the coaching staff have been committed to building a championship contender around. Reid is 26, McDaniels turned 25 on Monday, and Edwards is 24.
“We all just click. And we’ve got a special bond, man. We’ve been here together, and we’re going to keep this thing going,” Edwards said.
Reid leaned on that support this summer, when his sister was shot to death in New Jersey.
“That speaks for the brotherhood we have off the court,” Reid said, “the situations where I can lean on them and they can lean on me.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.