With Newfound Depth and Cohesion, Timberwolves Look Like Title Contenders

This is the version of the Minnesota Timberwolves we've been waiting for.

Thanks to some shrewd front office work around the trade deadline, the Wolves' roster is more complete than it's been all season. On and off the court, this group is finding its stride and gelling as a unit at the right time. All of the pieces — and vibes — appear to be in place for Minnesota to contend for a championship in a few months.

On Thursday night, the Timberwolves won their fifth consecutive game and their eighth in the last nine contests. They led a good Raptors team by a point at halftime, then used a dominant third quarter to gain some separation and cruise to a 115-107 win. Several highlight plays in the quarter set off jubilant bench celebrations and threatened to blow the roof off of an elated Target Center. The win moved the Wolves to 40-23 and into the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference thanks to a Rockets loss.

Six players scored in double figures for the Wolves on Thursday. Anthony Edwards led the way with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, but he didn't need to score 41 like he did on Tuesday against the Grizzlies. Rudy Gobert had 18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a team-high 5 assists, including a dime to Naz Reid that the bench loved. Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo combined for 33 points. Ayo Dosunmu had 13 points and 3 steals and was a team-high plus-25.

Rudy Gobert offensive rebound + nasty crossover + kickout pass to Naz Reid for 3, Wolves bench loves it pic.twitter.com/E06IMZ1OVp
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) March 6, 2026

Earlier this season, the Wolves had maybe six trustworthy players between their starting unit and Reid. Now it feels like they have a full nine-man rotation of valued contributors. Getting Dosunmu before the deadline was outstanding from Tim Connelly. Landing Kyle Anderson on the buyout market solves some of Minnesota's issues. Bones Hyland has emerged as a solid bench guard.

"We got options and depth and versatility," head coach Chris Finch said. "We're super blessed right now. Our front office did a great job of rounding out this roster with exactly what it needed."

For much of this season, the Wolves were an inconsistent, imperfect team. That may still prove to be the case over the final 19 games of the regular season, but it's hard to overstate the value of adding Dosunmu and Anderson into the mix. Dosunmu gives Minnesota another legit scorer and tone-setter on both ends of the floor. He's a solid defender who has quickly proven to be the best transition player on the roster. The best thing he does is attack with decisiveness.

Anderson, meanwhile, gives the Wolves another connector in their second unit. He can handle the ball, he can defend, and he always seems to make the right play.

"He's making the game easy," Finch said of Anderson. "Finds somebody on a backdoor cut. You put the ball in his hands late in the shot clock, you know you're gonna get something. He sees the floor, anticipates where the defense is gonna be. All the same things that we loved about him when he was here before."

Kyle Anderson | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Since the All-Star break, the Wolves have looked like a team with a variety of different ways to win on a given night. They'll always have one of the best players on the floor in Edwards, who is capable of going for 40 points at any moment. They have a couple guys who can serve as a No. 2 offensive option in Randle and Jaden McDaniels. Gobert sets the tone defensively. DiVincenzo rains in threes and competes as hard as anybody. The four-man bench group brings a little bit of everything, led by Reid and Dosunmu's scoring punch.

Thursday night was a prime example of Minnesota's newfound depth and versatility. The Raptors delivered an early jab with their physicality, but the Wolves have the bodies to respond with physical play of their own. Over the course of 48 minutes, their talent was too much for Toronto.

"It was fun. The physicality, the pace, the ball movement," Gobert said. "It feels like we're finding ourselves. ... It feels like this is a team that's hungry for something big."

The togetherness of this roster is an element that legitimately matters, too. Mike Conley isn't part of the rotation, but bringing him back was important because of his veteran presence and the relationships he's built with his teammates. One of the things that stood out most about Thursday's win was how much fun everyone in a Timberwolves uniform seemed to be having. Typically, when this team is having fun, that energy leads to better basketball.

"I'm a family guy," Anthony Edwards said. "So if I feel like we're a family, I'm always gon' be having the best time of my life. And that's how I feel right now. We're super connected, we talk to each other all the time. It's always together, so it's starting to feel like a family here. And I feel like that's the start of something good."

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— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) March 6, 2026