Team History (1989-2024)

Minnesota’s expansion team was officially dubbed the “Timberwolves” in December of 1986, nearly three years before the first game would be played on November 3, 1989, and four months before the NBA officially granted Minnesota a team. After original owners Harvey Ratner and Marv Wolfenson submitted a formal expansion proposal to the NBA Board of Governors in October of 1986, they held a “Name the Team” contest that drew 6,076 entries from across the state featuring 1,284 different proposed nicknames. The two most common submissions, Timberwolves and Polars, were deemed finalists and the 842 city councils in Minnesota were asked to submit their vote for the winner. They were filled with mediocrity for their first 20 years in the league as most new expansion teams are, but every would change when they selected key franchise star Kevin Garnett in the 1995 draft. This would lead to the first successes of the franchise. They would make the post season up until 2006. They traded Garnett in 2007 in an effort to spur the rebuilding of the franchise. New management built a team centered 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 center 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. In the current day, the franchise has been rejuvenated, making the post season for two straight years (2023 and 2024) with all star guard Anthony Edwards at the forefront of it all.