MTMinnesota Timberwolves

Franchise history

Minnesota joined the NBA as a 1989 expansion franchise and spent its early years mired in losses, both on the court and off it: a voided 1999 contract offer to free agent Joe Smith, ruled an illegal under-the-table salary-cap circumvention, cost the team five future first-round draft picks (later reduced to three on appeal), a $3.5 million fine, and a one-year suspension for general manager Kevin McHale. The one bright spot of the era was Kevin Garnett, drafted fifth overall in 1995, whose all-around brilliance carried the Timberwolves to eight straight playoff appearances and, in his 2004 MVP season, the franchise's first trip to the Western Conference Finals — a five-game loss to the Lakers. Garnett was traded to Boston in 2007, and Minnesota endured a 13-year playoff drought afterward.

The rebuild turned on two number-one picks — Karl-Anthony Towns in 2015 and Anthony Edwards in 2020 — and the 2022 trade for defensive anchor Rudy Gobert. Led by Edwards' emergence as a star, the Timberwolves returned to the Western Conference Finals in 2024, falling to Dallas in five games, and reached the same round again in 2025 before losing to eventual champion Oklahoma City. It's the most sustained success the franchise has had outside the Garnett years, with Edwards now the centerpiece of Minnesota's title hopes.

Sources

• Minnesota Timberwolves — Wikipedia
• David Stern and the Minnesota Timberwolves: The Joe Smith Debacle — Canis Hoopus