Zach Lowe says Wolves are championship contenders, heaps praise on Ant

On the most recent episode of his podcast, Zach Lowe was discussing with Richard Jefferson which "deep cut" NBA team they'd pick as a championship contender this year. Lowe, who is one of the most prominent analysts covering the league, went with the Timberwolves.

"I think the Minnesota Timberwolves could win the championship," he said. "They're my deep-cut championship contender. 26-14, top seven on both ends of the floor, Ant is unbelievable. Ant is so dominant, physically and just the ability to score from every part of the floor. He's making the right play. He just lords over these games. He's like a domineering presence in these games."

That record is outdated by one game, because the episode was recorded before the Wolves — without Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert — blew the doors off of Giannis and the Bucks on Tuesday night in Milwaukee. Minnesota is now 27-14 and just a half-game behind the Spurs and Nuggets for the No. 2 seed in the West heading into Wednesday night's games.

West standings prior to games on 1/14. | ESPN.com

Exactly halfway through their season, the Wolves are sixth in offensive rating, eighth in defensive rating (but just 0.3 behind fourth), and sixth in net rating. The only other team in the top eight on both ends is the Thunder, who still lead the league by a wide margin in net rating despite looking a bit more mortal over the past month.

"Naz Reid has found his game," Lowe continued. "They're a lock to make a trade to upgrade their backcourt off the bench. Absolute lock. I don't know who it's going to be, but they'll get someone. It's a deep cut for a reason, I'm not going to pick them, but if we got to the end of the season and the Timberwolves won the championship, I would not be blown away by it, because I think they're that good. They have a proven track record, they have a guy, they have a defense, they have a good supporting cast. They're my pick for this question."

The question some fans might ask is whether or not the Wolves are too good to be considered a "deep cut" title contender. They have, after all, been to back-to-back conference finals. But when you look at the current betting odds, they definitely fit in that category. The Wolves are tied for the ninth-best championship odds in the league at +3500.

And although the Wolves are feeling great after Tuesday's dominant win in Milwaukee, which brought them to 6-1 in January, it hasn't been smooth sailing all season long. They've had a number of frustrating losses, including blowout defeats against the Nets and Hawks in late December. Sometimes they look like a legitimate contender and sometimes they look like a chaotic mess.

"Their losses are always horrible and make you doubt everything you think you know about the team," Lowe acknowledged. "Atlanta, they got rolled one game and you're like 'Do I not know anything about this team?' Again, they're behind Oklahoma City and Denver for sure to me. But they've always played both of those teams pretty well. They're going to make a trade. And I just respect the infrastructure that they have there, and the track record. But yeah, every loss is like inexplicable."

Lowe's belief that the Wolves are a lock to make a trade before the February 5 deadline might be a little bit extreme, especially after the way Bones Hyland and Joan Beringer played on Tuesday. But it does seem like there's a good chance they'll add some sort of scoring bench guard in the next few weeks.

Ultimately, the main reason why the Wolves have a chance to win a championship this year is that they have a superstar alpha who might be emerging as one of the five best players in the world. Edwards has gone to another level this season by adding a midrange post game and continuing to get better at reading defenses. He's also been ridiculously efficient in clutch time thus far.

Anthony Edwards | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

"I just think Ant has been — the post game has emerged as a real thing," Lowe said. "He's making the right play on most pick and rolls, he's finding the right balance. You blitz him, he'll trust everybody else on the team, including he's starting to trust Gobert with pocket passes and Gobert's doing alright making plays out of that. And if you drop or you come up to the level of the screen, sometimes he'll just blow by every layer of the defense and get to the rim. He's starting to figure out those aspects of the game in a way that's a little scary."

The Wolves have a superstar player in Edwards who is getting closer to his peak form. They have a guy who is still clearly one of the best defensive big men in the league in Gobert. They have a true No. 2 option in Julius Randle. They have one of the league's elite 3-and-D wings in Jaden McDaniels. And they have a couple other guys capable of lighting it up from deep in Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid.

If they add a proven bench guard to join the mix of Hyland, Mike Conley, Jaylen Clark, and Terrence Shannon Jr. (once healthy), this team might just be capable of getting past the Thunder and Nuggets and anyone else who will stand in their way when the postseason rolls around.

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