Minnesota Timberwolves | History & Notable Players (2024)

Minnesota Timberwolves, American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that plays in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The Timberwolves began play in 1989 as an expansion team alongside the Eastern Conference’s Orlando Magic. As a new team, the “T-Wolves” unsurprisingly struggled in their initial years in the league, winning no more than 29 games in any of their first seven seasons. In 1995 the Timberwolves’ vice president of basketball operations, former Boston Celtic star Kevin McHale, a Minnesota native, drafted teenage forward Kevin Garnett straight out of high school. Garnett soon led the team to the first playoff berth (1996–97) and winning season (1997–98) in franchise history. While Garnett turned the team’s fortunes around, he was unable to lead it past the first round of postseason play in any of Minnesota’s first seven playoff berths, through the 2002–03 season. Before the 2003–04 season the Timberwolves added veteran guards Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. That season the team won its first division title and its first playoff series, advancing to the Western Conference finals before ultimately being eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers.

In 2004–05 the Timberwolves failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time in eight years. They traded Garnett in 2007 in an effort to spur the rebuilding of the franchise. McHale left the franchise soon thereafter, and new management built a team centred on All-Star forward Kevin Love that steadily improved and in 2013–14 had the 10th best scoring differential in the NBA but missed the playoffs with a 40–42 record in a historically strong Western Conference, which nevertheless was the team’s best finish in nine seasons. Love, a pending free agent, was traded during the following off-season, and a rebuilding Timberwolves team finished the 2014–15 season with the worst record in the NBA (16–66). During the 2017–18 season the Timberwolves rebuilt around a promising young core featuring centre Karl-Anthony Towns that was complemented by veteran All-Star wing Jimmy Butler, and the team returned to the postseason after a 14-year playoff drought. However, Butler clashed with his coach and teammates and was traded away during the 2018–19 season, which ended with Minnesota finishing in last place in its division and missing the playoffs.