Where do Timberwolves stand with end-of-season awards?

There could be some firsts coming for Minnesota.

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is the runaway favorite to win his fifth career NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. Reserve big man Naz Reid has the second-best odds to win Sixth Man of the Year. And Chris Finch has the third-best odds to win Coach of the Year. 

If any of them come home with those respective NBA end-of-season awards, they’d be the first ever to do so within the 35-year history of the Timberwolves organization. The Wolves also appear in line to garner their first All-NBA selection this season since Karl-Anthony Towns was voted All-NBA Third Team after the 2021-22 season. And Mike Conley is a finalist for the Teammate of the Year Award.

That goes to show the strides this team has taken this season on its way to a 56-26 record, the second-best mark in team history behind its 58-24 finish in the 2003-04 season. And it gives Wolves fans something to be excited for beyond the upcoming first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns, which begins on Saturday at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. 

Gobert is the heavy betting favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award and, of votes tracked so far, is leading the early vote totals with eight first-place votes. San Antonio Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama has the second-most first-place votes with two. Gobert appears well on his way to running away with the award, well deserved for the Wolves' most consistent player.

The rest of the honors are quite as assured. Reid has the second-best odds to win Sixth Man of the Year behind Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk, although Monk's late-season injury that sidelined him down the stretch of the regular season may damage his chances of winning the award. Of the early votes tracked, Reid was leading the charge with eight first-place votes to Monk's two.

Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley and Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault are the only two coaches with better odds to take home the Coach of the Year Award than Finch. The Magic overachieved this season and earned the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, while the Thunder found their way to the top seed in the West, likely swaying the award for Daigneault. 

Daigneault leads the early vote totals with seven first-place selections so far. Finch has garnered three third-place votes and one second-place vote, while Mosley has received three second-place votes. Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has one first-place and one second-place vote.

Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards has the 18th-best odds to win the Most Valuable Player Award but has not received any votes that have been tracked thus far. So, that's what you'd call a long shot, but it'd certainly be criminal to leave him of an All-NBA Team. Gobert has a pretty compelling case for an All-NBA selection, too, and should probably be a lock for at least a third-team nod.

But whether that's the case is a little unclear. Of the early votes tracked, Edwards has received six second-team votes but Gobert hasn't received any. In Bleacher Report's recent predictions for the All-NBA Teams, the org felt only one Timberwolves player should garner a spot, tabbign Edwards an All-NBA Third Team selection. Gobert was inexplicably left off that list entirely, not even picking up an honorable mention. Hopefully the rest of the voters will have a different view.

But in any case, both Edwards and Gobert should be in serious consideration for a selection, and if the early voting is any indication, Edwards should be at least a lock for a third-team nod and appears well on his way to a second-team selection. If he were to make the All-NBA Second Team, he'd be the first Timberwolves player to do so since Kevin Love took home second-team honors after the 2013-14 campaign. Needless to say, it's been a while.

Meanwhile, no Timberwolves player has made an All-NBA First Team since Kevin Garnett did so in 2003-04. In fact, Garnett is the only Timberwolves player to ever make first team, doing so three times in his Wolves tenure in 1999-00, 2002-03 and 2003-04. 

But Garnett probably won't be the only Timberwolves player with that distinction for long. Edwards may not get first-team honors this season, but it feels like only a matter of time before he does.

Either way, the Wolves made some history this season, and perhaps some more is on the way.