Two roster problems and one health question still separate the Timberwolves from a title.
The Timberwolves spent June and July acting like a franchise that believes its window is open right now.
Minnesota went 49-33 last season, knocked out Denver in the first round and pushed into the Western Conference semifinals before San Antonio ended the run in six games.
Then the front office swung big, sending Naz Reid, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick and a pile of swaps and seconds to Charlotte in the multi-team deal that brought back LaMelo Ball and Josh Green.
Tim Connelly said he thinks Ball will elevate the team.
For that to mean a championship in 2027, three things have to break right.
The Power Forward Hole Is the Obvious One
Trading Reid in the same summer Julius Randle moved on left a huge hole at starting power forward, and Chris Finch has already said he does not envision Jaden McDaniels simply sliding over to the four.
The free agent market offers names like Jonathan Kuminga, Kelly Olynyk and Maxi Kleber, but adding salary pushes Minnesota toward the second apron, and Connelly has said the team has no tradable picks left for the next decade.
A contender cannot start the season with a question mark at one of five positions, so the answer probably has to come cheap and come soon.
Bargain signings and the buyout market are not glamorous tools, but contenders fill their last starting spot with them every year, and Minnesota is shopping in that aisle now whether it likes it or not.
Ball Has to Stay on the Floor
The talent case for the trade is easy.
Ball averaged 20.1 points and 7.1 assists for Charlotte last season, and pairing him with Edwards, who put up 28.8 points per game across 61 games, gives Minnesota the two-man shot creation it lacked against San Antonio.
The risk case is just as easy.
Ball played in only 43 percent of Charlotte's games from 2022 through 2025 before last season's healthy 72-game run, and the Wolves are betting a title window on that run being the new normal.
Finch has talked about needing a big backcourt after the playoff lessons of last spring, and the fit works on paper, but paper is where it stays if Ball misses 30 games.
Minnesota already passed on chasing Jaylen Brown partly because Boston wanted Rudy Gobert and draft capital back, so this is the star bet they chose, and it is a defensible one with no safety net under it.
Edwards Needs a Reason to Stay All In
The quiet subplot of this season is Edwards' next contract.
Darren Wolfson has reported the organization's plan is to have Edwards sign another monster extension a year from now, and Edwards missing the 65-game threshold at 61 appearances last season cost him a supermax path the team wants back on the table.
Winning takes care of all of it.
If the frontcourt gets solved, Ball plays 70 games and Edwards has his best season, Minnesota looks like a real threat to Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
Anything less, and the Wolves will have traded a decade of picks for a very entertaining second-round team.
The difference between those two outcomes is no longer about talent, because the talent is in the building now.
