The Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of the more successful playoff teams in the Western Conference in the last three seasons, making the Conference Finals in two of the last three seasons, and going six games with the San Antonio Spurs in the second round this past season. 

Despite their postseason success, they've never been able to get over the hump and make the Finals. 

They lost in five games to the Dallas Mavericks in 2024 and then in five games to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2025 in the Conference Finals. 

This offseason, the team addressed a big need by adding another creator next to Anthony Edwards by trading for LaMelo Ball. 

Will it be enough to get Minnesota to the Finals?

According to FanDuel, the Timberwolves have the fourth-best odds to come out of the West at +1500. 

They trail the Oklahoma City Thunder (+125), San Antonio Spurs (+155), and Denver Nuggets (+1300). They're just ahead of the Houston Rockets (+1700). 

Based on the odds, it's clear that the Thunder and Spurs are a tier above the rest of the conference, which makes sense given how both teams performed last year during the regular season and playoffs. 

The Nuggets are still getting respect as they have Nikola Jokic, but their performance against the Timberwolves last postseason should raise some red flags. 

They should be a playoff team, and once they get into the playoffs, they're going to need some breaks. 

Assuming the Thunder and Spurs are the top two seeds in the West, Minnesota would have to beat both of them to make it to the Finals. That's a tough task for a team that hasn't looked on the level of either team when it matters in the past two seasons. 

If the Thunder and Spurs aren't the top two seeds, the path to a Finals appearance becomes a little bit easier, assuming they don't have to play one of those two teams in the first round. 

After that, it will come down to health. If Minnesota can bring a healthy lineup into the postseason and other teams are a little banged up, that would be a big break for the team. One issue is that teams like the Spurs and Thunder, and even the Lakers, have more depth than Minnesota, so they are able to survive injuries better than Minnesota.