MinnesotaTimberwolves

Nobody in the West reshaped their identity this summer like Minnesota. After a second straight 49-33 season ended in a second-round loss to San Antonio, Tim Connelly decided standing pat was stagnation: Julius Randle and Naz Reid were traded away in separate deals, and the new-look Wolves are built around a completely reimagined backcourt — LaMelo Ball, acquired via trade to run the offense, paired with All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards. Jonathan Kuminga arrives as a free agent to slash to the rim, with Cody Williams, Trey Lyles and rookie Isaiah Evans rounding out the new faces. The spine of two conference-finals runs remains: Edwards, Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels.

The gamble is obvious and enormous. For three straight postseasons, opponents threw extra bodies at Edwards and dared anyone else to create offense; now Ball takes the ball-handling burden and Kuminga adds a second downhill threat. The cost is defense — both newcomers are liabilities on that end — which is why Chris Finch, back for a sixth season, is building the scheme around Gobert and his young French counterpart Joan Beringer, the 19-year-old slated for a bigger bench role. Edwards himself blessed the shakeup at camp: "I'm going to miss Naz for sure... but I'm super happy about the changes in the locker room. Just a bunch of different mentalities, personalities, and I think it's going to mesh well together." The shadow over it all: Donte DiVincenzo, who shone in the playoffs, tore his Achilles and will likely miss the entire season.

This is a team that chose risk over comfort, and the ceiling is as high as it's been since the 2024 conference finals. The new group gets its first public test in a six-game preseason slate that opens Oct. 5 in Milwaukee and includes a home date with Detroit at Target Center on Oct. 14, before the real thing tips Oct. 21 in Miami. The West's elite — San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Denver — all know what the old Wolves looked like. None of them know what this version is yet. That's the point.