The Timberwolves rebuilt their roster around LaMelo Ball this summer, and the expectations should rise right along with it. Here are three bold calls for the season ahead.
No team in the Western Conference changed its shape this summer quite like Minnesota.
The Timberwolves traded for LaMelo Ball and Josh Green in a four-team June deal with Charlotte, Brooklyn and Chicago, and the price was steep, with Naz Reid heading to the Hornets, Julius Randle landing in Brooklyn, and an unprotected 2033 first round pick going out the door along with three future pick swaps.
A shake-up that big changes what the season ahead is supposed to look like, so it feels like the right moment to put three bold predictions on the record.
LaMelo Ball Makes His Second All-Star Team
Ball has been an All-Star just once, back in 2022, and he played in fewer than half of Charlotte's games across the three seasons that followed.
Last season looked like the turn, because he stayed on the floor for 72 games and averaged 20.1 points and 7.1 assists per game.
He is only 24, and he lands with a team that just won 49 games and badly needed his passing.
President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly said in July, "I think he'll elevate us, and our environment will be conducive to his continued growth as well."
The case that Ball can take the Timberwolves to the next level has already been made, and All-Star voters have always liked big numbers on good teams.
A healthy year of easy offense next to Anthony Edwards gets him his second trip.
Anthony Edwards Pushes Past 30 Points Per Game
The second call belongs to Edwards, who put up 28.8 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting a season ago even though he missed 21 games.
The offense now moves on without Randle and Reid, so even more of the scoring load should land on the franchise star.
Ball also might be the best passer Edwards has ever shared a floor with, which should mean more clean catch-and-shoot looks and fewer possessions spent creating from a standstill.
Edwards already owns four All-Star nods and two All-NBA selections, and the prediction here is that he crosses 30 points per game for a full season and stays in the scoring race until the final week.
The Wolves Win 55 Games and Reach the Conference Finals
Minnesota went 49-33 for the second season in a row, took the sixth seed, and beat Denver in six games before San Antonio ended the run in six in the conference semifinals.
That team spent too many big moments grinding for a clean look, and this one should not have that problem with Ball running the offense.
Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu give the new backcourt trusted defenders to lean on, while Rudy Gobert keeps protecting the rim behind them, which is why one projected opening night rotation already looks like the deepest group of the Chris Finch era.
The fair question is whether this roster has enough to compete for a championship, and the honest answer lands somewhere past last spring.
Bold is the point, because the front office spent real draft capital on the idea that this group was one playmaker short, and if that bet is right, 55 wins, a top three seed, and a conference finals trip are all in play.
