Minnesota Timberwolves 2024 NBA Championship Odds
After acquiring Rudy Gobert last summer, Minnesota's flexibility was limited this offseason, but the decision to waive Taurean Prince to duck the luxury tax was disappointing. Their loss was the Lakers' gain, but they could have ducked the tax by simply not signing Shake Milton and Troy Brown Jr. with their mid-level exception. They already had better versions of those players on their roster in the form of Jordan McLaughlin and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, anyway.
2024 NBA Championship Betting Odds
Minnesota Timberwolves NBA Betting Lines
The 2022-23 Minnesota Timberwolves were 42-40 straight up, 40-42 against the spread, and 38-43 over/under the total. Also, Minnesota was 8th in the Western Conference playoff standings. Minnesota was 11 games behind the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference race. Minnesota had NBA metrics of 3rd for scoring offense, 13th for field goal percentage, 13th for 3-point field goal percentage, and 23rd for offensive rebounding. Defensively the Timberwolves ranked 18th for points allowed, 11th for field goal percentage against, 24th for 3-point field goal percentage against, and 22nd for rebounds.
Minnesota got solid marks in the 2023 NBA Draft. Starting the night with only the 53rd pick after the Rudy Gobert trade, the Timberwolves somehow came away with two of the top 30 players in my projections. Clark being available at No. 53 was unsurprising, given questions about his shooting (30% career on 3s). Still, Minnesota needed to package future picks to move into the early second round to select Miller. Like Clark, Miller must improve his shooting at the NBA level.
The Timberwolves knew they had to get significantly better to avoid the kind of toe stub the Knicks and Hawks suffered last season. Their biggest areas that needed to be addressed were rim protection and rebounding, so new President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly got the best rim protector and rebounder in the league in Rudy Gobert. Did they overpay for him? Yeah, probably. But from a strict basketball perspective, Gobert covers up so many of the Wolves’ weaknesses, while the Wolves can cover up so many of Gobert’s weaknesses.
A strong match should push them into contention for home-court advantage in the first round, hallowed ground for this long-suffering franchise. They signed Karl-Anthony Towns to a max contract extension, added versatile forward Kyle Anderson to the rotation, and grabbed Austin Rivers and Bryn Forbes on veteran minimum deals for depth. Taurean Prince was also signed to a good value contract (two years, $16 million with a team option on the second season) to retain a versatile piece of the puzzle. All in all, a great first summer for Connelly on the job.
Although Minnesota is coming off a playoff season, they remain an afterthought as a serious contender.
Season-by-Season Record (Last 5)
| SEASON |
GAMES |
WINS |
LOSSES |
FINISH |
PLAYOFFS |
| 2022–23 |
82 |
42 |
40 |
2nd, Northwest |
Lost in First Round, 1–4 (Nuggets) |
| 2021–22 |
82 |
46 |
36 |
3rd, Northwest |
Lost in First Round, 2–4 (Grizzlies) |
| 2020–21 |
72 |
23 |
49 |
4th, Northwest |
Did not qualify |
| 2019–20 |
64 |
19 |
45 |
5th, Northwest |
Did not qualify |
| 2018–19 |
82 |
36 |
46 |
5th, Northwest |
Did not qualify |
Minnesota Timberwolves History
The worst historical franchise in the current NBA is the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are the one franchise with an all-time win/loss record under .400, and they have been in the league for over three decades.
Minnesota was a feared team in the Kevin Garnett era, as they made the NBA Playoffs every year from 1997 through 2004. Head coach Flip Saunders and Garnett proved to be a strong tandem that made it to the 2004 Western Conference Finals, but that has proved to be the peak for the franchise. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for seven straight seasons before that lone breakthrough.
Since 2004, the Minnesota Timberwolves have only been to the postseason twice. They have been dreadful most years and haven’t won more than 47 games in a season in that stretch. However, they doubled their wins from 2020-21 to 2021-22 and may finally be ready to compete again.
NBA Teams
Eastern Conference - Atlantic
Eastern Conference - Central
Eastern Conference - Southeast
Western Conference - Northwest
Western Conference - Pacific
Western Conference - Southwest
Log into BookMaker Sportsbook and get the best Basketball Betting Odds, Basketball Betting Articles and information about this and all other sports betting events!
