The Gap Between Timberwolves and Top of the West Is Smaller Than Ever

The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder may seem like insurmountable mountains, but the gap between them and the Wolves has shrunk this offseason.

Mar 15, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The last two playoff runs for the Minnesota Timberwolves have been ended by the two teams that project to again sit atop the Western Conference next season, and potentially for years to come.

This last playoffs, the Wolves were eliminated by Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the second round, who ended up falling to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The year before that, Minnesota made it to the Western Conference Finals before getting crushed by the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The question for the Timberwolves after decisively losing both series was how they were going to close the gap between them and these contenders. While those two teams are deserved favorites, Minnesota has made moves to make the idea of taking down one or both of the Spurs and Thunder less daunting.

How Wolves have pulled closer to the Spurs-Thunder tier in the West

The first item on the Wolves' agenda was to add talent to their roster, and they did that when they traded for LaMelo Ball, whose unique combo of scoring and playmaking gives Minnesota's offense a new identity.

There were many reasons the Wolves came up short the past couple of seasons, but one of the more straightforward ones is that the other teams were more talented than them. With the addition of Ball to the roster, that talent difference is now smaller than it was before.

The other way the trade for Ball improved the Timberwolves' roster was by reorienting their roster away from aspects that weren't working and toward the parts that were successful in the playoffs.

Most notably, the pairing of Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert had shown itself not to be a successful one, as both players struggled in the series losses to the Spurs and Thunder. Randle now heads to the Brooklyn Nets, as the pairing of Gobert and Ball is set to flourish in Minnesota.

Randle's exit also allows Minnesota to better feature the core players of Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Ayo Dosunmu, who were often slowed down by the lack of spacing that was a constant problem when both Randle and Gobert were on the floor.

Without a second true ball-handler on the court, Edwards saw constant double-teams and blitzes to get the ball out of his hands. Now, with Ball in Minnesota, opposing teams will need to shift attention away from Edwards, setting up a potential career year for the Wolves' franchise pillar.

Jaden McDaniels will be the team's third option on offense, giving him a necessary bump in offensive responsibility. McDaniels has proven to be a playoff riser, averaging 15.4 points per game over the last two seasons.

Ayo Dosunmu also stands to gain from the increased offensive workload left following the departure of Randle. The Wolves clearly view Dosunmu as a large part of what they are going to do moving forward after signing him to a five-year $112 million contract following a stellar 2026 Playoff run that included a 43-point Game 4 performance against the Denver Nuggets.

Despite a lack of power forwards, the Timberwolves now have much fewer flaws than they did one and two years ago. They have greatly increased the synergy on their roster while adding Ball, one of the most talented players in the NBA.

The Wolves improving their roster isn't the only reason the gap between them and the Spurs and Thunder is not as insurmountable as it seemed when Minnesota's season ended in a blowout Game 6 loss to San Antonio.

Following the NBA Finals, the blueprint for beating the Spurs is clear. On offense, opponents need to be able to space the floor to get Wembanyama away from the rim. The new Wolves roster is much more well-suited to do this by replacing Randle with Ball in the starting lineup.

The youth of the Spurs also showed itself to be an important flaw, at least for now, as the Knicks completed multiple large comebacks. De'Aaron Fox struggled greatly all series, while the youngsters of Devin Vassell, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper were unable to match the production of the Knicks' veterans.

The Thunder as well seem more beatable than two seasons ago when they dispatched the Timberwolves in five games. This offseason they lost Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe, chipping away at the roster depth that made their team so special these past two 60-win seasons.

While the proposition of beating both the Spurs and the Thunder in a single postseason feels close to an impossibility, the possibility of doing so has grown significantly since the Wolves' 2025-26 campaign ended in May.

The goal for Minnesota when the regular season begins should be 50 or more wins and at least the third seed. There is a good chance that the Spurs and Thunder cruise to the top two seeds again, but the Timberwolves should fight to stay ahead of teams like the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Lakers, who all have made less significant additions (or even none).

The path to the NBA Finals in the Western Conference is still incredibly difficult, but the Timberwolves have given themselves a much better chance to do it than seemed possible a few months ago.