Last Updated on June 4, 2026 12:46 am by Keston Paul | Published: June 4, 2026

While the Wolves could not continue their streak of appearances in the Western Conference Finals after falling to the Spurs in the second round, it still largely felt like a similar season to their previous few years, aside from the injuries. The Wolves are a solid team in the regular season that rises in the playoffs and has fun terrorizing the Nuggets.

However, we have enough evidence to see that it is not enough to compete with the top teams in the West, so there could be some changes coming in the offseason.

How’d It Go?

The Wolves spent a lot of time as the No. 6 seed throughout the regular season, where they eventually finished, climbing up to No. 5 or No. 4 for short periods or falling to No. 7 for even shorter periods. So pretty much, they were a comfortable automatic-playoff team.

They were looking to make a splash at the 2026 trade deadline, as one of the teams that were rumored to be fighting in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, but also being linked to guards like Ja Morant, Coby White and their eventual acquisition, Ayo Dosunmu. Dosunmu made a real impact, including his 43-point game in the first round of the playoffs, amidst injuries around him. Those injuries did not stop the Wolves from “putting their paws” on the Nuggets in a 4-2 series victory, but they could not overcome the might of Victor Wembanyama in a 2-4 second-round loss to the Spurs.

With Donte DiVincenzo suffering an Achilles injury, the Wolves will have to go back to the drawing board this offseason. They will likely push for Antetokounmpo again, or perhaps another big splash to give Anthony Edwards a more reliable co-star than Julius Randle has managed to be in the postseason. Perhaps it might just be more nuanced moves on the margins to improve the roster as a whole. Whatever the case, it would be surprising if the Wolves just sit on their laurels and “run it back” once again.

Coaching

The Wolves registered a 49-33 record for the No. 6 seed. This was Chris Finch’s sixth season at the helm and fifth full season, holding a 258-193 (.572) record in his time with the franchise.

Let us look at the team’s stats via NBA.com.

• Offensive Rating: 115.6 (13th)
• Defensive Rating: 112.5 (8th)
• Net Rating: Plus-3.1 (10th)
• Pace: 101.50 (10th)

Unsurprisingly, they are a positive defense, thanks to Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and company — while they are around an average to above-average team offensively.

• Points Off Turnovers: 18.3 (14th)
• Fast-Break Points: 16.0 (11th)
• Second-Chance Points: 14.3 (21st)
• Points in the Paint: 50.3 (15th)

Nothing really stands out in these metrics, as the Wolves appear to be about average in all of these areas. This team can “play down to their opponent,” so you might see more effort on the glass or in transition against better teams.

• Opponent Points Off Turnovers: 17.9 (14th-fewest)
• Opponent Fast-Break Points: 14.5 (8th-fewest)
• Opponent Second-Chance Points: 15.0 (15th-fewest)
• Opponent Points in the Paint: 51.2 (18th-fewest)

Defensively, it seems like you can expect the Wolves to get back in transition, but once again, they are fairly average in other areas. This team does have a defensively-slanted lineup with Gobert and an offensively-slanted look with Naz Reid, which is likely why everything seems to “balance out” from a broader perspective.

As for Finch himself, he clearly seemed to win the coaching battle in the first round of the playoffs, making the necessary adjustments to stymie the Nuggets throughout the six-game series. in the second round, the Wolves were simply unable to counter a 7-foot-5 monster.

Here are some random fun stats (via NBA.com).
The Wolves led the regular season with 16 backcourt violations and 32 delay-of-game calls. On the other hand, they had the second-fewest three-second violations on defense with just three.

The Players

Anthony Edwards

SG, Minnesota Timberwolves

ADP: 8.0/6.8 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 27/28 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 15/14 (8/9-cat)

Despite only playing in a career-low 61 games, Edwards registered career-high averages in points, blocks, FG% and 3P%. Edwards had never played fewer than 72 games in a season. Edwards missed four games with a right hamstring strain early, three games for right foot soreness in December, then three more games for right foot injury maintenance in January. Right knee inflammation that was later diagnosed as patellofemoral pain syndrome cost him six games in March, but he likely returned too early, as he was forced to sit out four of the next six games and then he rested the regular-season finale for injury maintenance. Edwards had built up a reputation as an iron man and always expressed in the past that he wants to play in every game, often playing through minor injuries, so fantasy managers should not doubt the legitimacy of anything he dealt with. If you had any doubts, you should have seen that he lacked some burst during the real-life playoffs and then suffered another injury — a left knee hyperextension — which forced him to miss two games and then play injured. You are healthy until you are not, and Edwards was not in 2025-26, unfortunately.

Performance-wise, Edwards is a legitimate 3-point pull-up threat and versatile scorer, but he will have to recover his free-throw percentage (.796 this season) and the playmaking aspect (3.7 APG) remains the main factor that stops him from being among the first-round elite on a per-game basis. Maybe he gets back to full health in 2026-27, playing more games, but that is not a guarantee and some of Edwards’ first-round draft outlook was due to his prior totals, thanks to his games played. He should still likely be viewed as a fringe first-round player at least, however, given the history of health before this season.

Julius Randle

PF, Minnesota Timberwolves

ADP: 64.7/76.0 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 24/41 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 58/80 (8/9-cat)

Randle began the season very well and finished with averages of 21.1 points, 1.4 triples, 6.7 rebounds. 5.0 assists and 1.1 steals with a .481 FG% and .802 FT% alongside 2.7 turnovers. Randle was a top-35 8-cat and 9-cat player on December 1 (20 games in), averaging 23.0 points (.502 FG%, .813 FT%) with 6.0 assists and 2.7 turnovers. On the other hand, from March 1 to the end of the regular season (19 games), he was the No. 124/237 (8-cat/9-cat) player, averaging 19.4 points (.467 FG%, .746 FT%) and 4.1 assists with 3.3 turnovers. Randle did seem to make some breakthroughs early, but his bad ending was likely linked to the Wolves’ injuries, as he had to step into a No. 1 option role more often. Randle has settled into being an efficient No. 2 in the regular season, but as we saw in New York, he is overtasked when asked to be the lead guy. In the NBA playoffs, he likely just isn’t going to cut it if the Wolves want to get over the hump, so we will have to see if that results in a change of scenery.

Rudy Gobert

C, Minnesota Timberwolves

ADP: 67.5/84.8 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 53/51 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 90/91 (8/9-cat)

While Gobert averaged his fewest points per game since 2015-16, he still put together a strong season as a member of the All-Defensive First Team. Gobert also shot 52.6 percent at the free-throw line (4.0 attempts per game), which is the second-lowest of his career, only topped by his rookie season. If you punted that category, his per-game rank rose to No. 20, but that does factor low turnovers into the ranking as well. Alternatively, his 68.2 percent from the field was the third-highest of his career. Gobert was still a useful fantasy big, but he will be turning 34 years old in the offseason, and at some point, a drop-off will happen. For now, however, Gobert has remained resilient and is still one of the top defensive anchors in the NBA. If you need a big man in the late-middle rounds of your fantasy draft, it seems like Gobert is still able to be productive.

Jaden McDaniels

PF, Minnesota Timberwolves

ADP: 117.5/102.4 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 44/44 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 72/70 (8/9-cat)

This is just a sneak peek of the Season Wrap. The entire roster is covered, as well as the Fantasy Star, Letdown, One to Watch and One Burning Question for this team. You’ll need to have an Ethos 360, All-Sport or NBA FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up! Premium Access Required

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• About the Author
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Keston Paul

Keston majored in Biology and minored in Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.), St. Augustine. Hailing from Trinidad & Tobago, Kes grew up loving cricket, then football (soccer, not NFL) & never missed a Barça game in the 2010s. Later on, he grew obsessed with basketball/fantasy basketball & unfortunately claims to be a Sixers fan for some reason.

• Season Wrap: The 2025-26 Minnesota Timberwolves
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