The NBA trade deadline is one month away, and the Timberwolves are sitting in a strong position in the Western Conference despite a myriad of their own issues.
With Anthony Edwards throwing a towel and leaving the bench with just under eight minutes left in Minnesota's blowout loss in Atlanta on New Year's Eve, the heat on the Timberwolves has been turned up with the calendar flipping to 2026.
Not lost in Nikola Jokic's historic triple-double in Denver's 142-138 overtime win over the Timberwolves on Christmas night were the numerous Jokic flops.
The Timberwolves were without Anthony Edwards (foot) for a third straight game Wednesday night, but they still should've rolled a Memphis team that, as many have now quipped, had an injury report longer than a CVS receipt.
Marc Stein says he's "struggling to pinpoint another team capable of presenting a deal that would clearly trump the Heat's richest pitch." What about Minnesota?
Chris Finch isn't going to hand out flowers for every positive play, but the way he spoke about, or didn't speak about, a couple of young guys in the rotation on Thursday night did nothing more than generate concern about the Timberwolves' depth.
Friday night's NBA Cup battle between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns was an instant classic, but the Wolves left the arena on the losing end after a collapse of epic proportions in the final minute.
Bottom line: Minnesota has found an elite lineup combination to maximize Gobert's value, which, whether critics agree or not, isn't really debatable right now.
Part of the Timberwolves' mission this season is to get Anthony Edwards to the free-throw line more often, and they've taken an interesting approach to accomplish the goal: studying James Harden in his prime.
Micah Nori looked like he was going to have a heart attack when Joan Beringer attacked the rim for an uncontested dunk in the final seconds of the Timberwolves' 144-117 win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
He doesn't think it will ever happen, but Zach Lowe came up with a fake Timberwolves trade that is, at a minimum, very interesting. His idea: Minnesota sends Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels to the Atlanta Hawks for Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis.