The Timberwolves dropped their fourth straight game on Wednesday against Sacramento after leading by 12 points with seven-plus minutes remaining. They have now lost seven of their past nine games and are currently 8-10 after finishing last season 56-26 and making their second-ever trip to the Western Conference Finals.
All-Star guard Anthony Edwards took exception to the Wolves’ behavior during the game, calling them “frontrunners” for cheering when they were ahead and staying silent when they weren’t. While the former No. 1 overall pick took responsibility for his part in the latest loss, he said he’s frustrated by the team’s immaturity, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
“We soft as hell as a team, internally,” Edwards said. “Not to the other team, but internally, we soft. We can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like we playing with a bunch of little kids. Everybody, the whole team. We just can’t talk to each other. And we’ve got to figure it out, because we can’t go down this road.”
Edwards also took exception to being booed by the home crowd during stretches of poor play, according to Krawczysnki, who says Minnesota has been plagued by “poor body language and low energy” for the majority of the 2024/25 season.
“However many of us it is, all 15, we go into our own shell and we’re just growing away from each other,” Edwards said. “It’s obvious. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it. The fans f—–g booing us. That (stuff) is crazy, man. We’re getting booed in our home arena. That’s so f—–g disrespectful, it’s crazy.”
Although it might seem like Edwards was livid given some of his responses, and he was undoubtedly frustrated, he presented as calm and introspective, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. But that doesn’t mean he’s any closer to finding the answers he’s searching for.
“We’re just so negative right now. Last couple years, we was like this,” Edwards said, making a motion to indicate the team was close. “And I just feel like we’ve gradually grown away from each other, which is the craziest thing, because most of us have been together. We’ve got two new players, that’s about it. Everybody else has been together.”
Veteran point guard Mike Conley, who returned to action following a three-game absence due to a toe sprain, said he initiated a halftime conversation on Wednesday after seeing that players weren’t communicating well or listening to each other.
“Trust me, we’ve spoken through the last three losses as a team, as players,” Conley said, according to Hine. “And at the end of the day, man, it comes down to us believing, believing again, believing in what we do. It’s not about you in the big game. It’s not about if you’re making shots, missing shots, if you turn it over. We have to live with each other’s deficiencies. We have to live with each other’s mistakes and pick each other up. And that’s what the message is right now is you can’t be immature about this.”
The beginning of the four-game skid featured an ominous dispute between Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle. While the team expressed confidence that it would move forward together at the time, the opposite seems to be the case at the moment.
“I’m trying to get better in that aspect, figure out what the hell to say to get everybody on the same agenda because everybody right now is on different agendas,” Edwards said, per Krawczynski. “I think that’s one of the main culprits of why we’re losing because everybody out there got their own agenda. I guess their imagination of what’s supposed to be going on, and what’s happening.”
It’s a massive gamble that I’m in favor of taking by the way, when you have a team that makes it to the conference semis or Conference Finals and you make that one gutsy trade to try and get you over the top or at least remain near the top.
Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.
Sometimes you can see that maintaining your high ranking is not going to happen so you make the trade. But then when it takes a little while for the new guys to settle in and be comfortable, you worry about the long-term success of the team.
But I think you just need to have faith it’s going to work out and keep grinding.
I believe if they stay healthy Minnesota will in fact stay very competitive and fight for a Western Conference Finals spot.
The one caveat though is that Mike Conley is getting older and he is such a HUGE part of them being successful in recent years. Him losing any Effectiveness because of age or injury would be a big blow for this team.
It wasn’t the intention to make gutsy trade to get them over the top. The intention of this trade was made so they wouldn’t have to pay KAT.
And get roster flexibility with that freed up cash.
Aside from the sale of the Team Dynamics, I’m not sure roster flexibility is the goal of a conference finals team?
I mean, what good is salary flexibility if it makes your team worse and you know it will make your team worse? I don’t understand that. I really don’t think that’s the goal. I would think if you reached the Conference Finals you make trades to become even better?
Taco yes considering the sale of the team and keeping that in mind I guess you’re right. It was about salaries and commitments and stuff like that.
But I would think the team makes trades to become better and win is it not? Didn’t they think they went as far as they could with Towns? They needed to do something to improve?
No, that’s not the case. The thought is that long term financial flexibility gives them an opportunity to stay competent through Edwards’ rookie extension. The problem is they downgraded significantly from Towns to Randle. In the modern NBA I don’t think you can look so much at the long term, you need to look at the here and now.
Exactly plus they wanted an expiring contract in Randle. Minny has plenty of time to figure this out. As do Knicks.
I agree in spirit when the gamble in question would involve acquiring the best player in a deal, but it’s harder to defend when it would be partly motivated by money. And even though I understand wanting to avoid the second apron and don’t think the dropoff in talent was overly significant, we’re talking about messing with an up and coming WCF team with another year of continuity. All the other stuff aside, I think you have to give that team one more shot and figure out the rest later.
That being said, I agree the Wolves will probably be fine with improved chemistry and better luck. Just a few weeks ago people were panicking over the Bucks and they’ve already righted the ship. There are some cracks developing in the hull, but likely not enough to sink the entire ship.
Randle is a solid piece at power forward but I can’t help wonder if Ingram would fit better in Minnesota.
Trade Randle is a top priority
Randle is an awful fit, he is not a winning player
Nor is Gobert. Rudy was the center they needed to trade. Annoyed people in Utah, now doing it in Minny.
The idea of trading either Gobert or Towns wasn’t the smartest. Gobert is a defensive system unto himself. The Jazz won a lot games with him at center. They weren’t that far off from a trip to the finals. They should’ve signed a competent backup to Conley and sat tight. Randle isn’t a bad player, the players around him need to be the right guys and it takes time to adjust to his style of play. I just don’t think Edwards, Finch or the fans are going to be patient.
Not really sure ANT would play that well with Ingram … BI is pretty ball dominant and doesn’t seem to play well off ball
Rudy for Draymond N Kuminga?
Rudy doesnt fit the Warriors play style and defense is not their problem
That would be hilarious
Bro how bad does it have to be if Ant-man is saying you’re immature. Anyone see him in Starting Five? Yikes. Great player, but I’m sure there aren’t any players look to him for maturity.
It’s a sign of how mature the teams leader is…
Last time I checked, the NBA considers star players the leader…
The answer is definitely not Julius Randle
Wait… so you’re telling me… that when Keon Ellis plays more than 8 minutes… the Kings can actually stop another team from freely scoring? Yeah right. Next you’re gonna say when Huerter doesn’t have the green light to absolutely derail possessions that the Kings can actually score consistently.
Must have been a fluke. Looking forward to Huerter starting against the Blazers tomorrow.
This is the aftermath of the Gobert trade that they never should have made. It forced them into a series of “need to” and “have to” situations thereafter down the road, and relying on ‘if this guy develops’ and ‘if we find…’ type scenarios. Now the lack of draft picks really pins them in. Couldn’t be patient and now left trying to polish the turd.
It was a turd to begin with…
Waiting for a turd to mature and fill in around was a smarter route, but Glen Taylor was in the meeting…
I would definitely call the Pelicans and offer Rudy Gobert in a trade for Ingram. Pelicans get their center, older than ideal but can stem the tide until they draft one. Gets them out of the Ingram headache. Might not be a bad idea to trade out some more guys with Rudy that are “not believing” in the team anymore. Ant wants to win. He hit that wall last season going solo, but BI can take away some shots and they can run Reid at the C for a bit or make a move for a Clint Capela.
Ant hit a wall because he spent most of his teens and early years in the league eating junk food…
It takes years to retune a body to nutrients that they weren’t getting…
A star player who took nutritional guidelines seriously as a teen wouldn’t have that issue…
Worst thing ever happened was comparing him to MJ. He is nowhere near MJ. He’s more Vince than MJ. And proved it by saying afterwards. That MJ was the only one with that skill level back then. Biggest skill you learn as a player. Is how to win. I know rotation players who know that better than AD.
Trade Randle for a young scoring PF starter and a bad contract.
Waive J Edwards and Nix off two way contracts and sign a young C and a young SG on two way contracts