Top 50 Minnesota Timberwolves
Entering the National Basketball Association as an expansion team in 1989, the Minnesota Timberwolves have not yet won a championship, though the acquisition of future Hall of Famer, Kevin Garnett put the T-Wolves in the national spotlight and made them a force in the Western Conference.With Garnett, Minnesota would become a playoff contender, however, would lose in the First Round seven times in a row. In their eighth playoff attempt, the 2003-04 season, they would break through to the Western Conference Finals but would fall to the Los Angeles Lakers.
They have only been to the playoffs three times since, but they are facing their highest expectations in years.
This list is up to the end of the 2023/24 season.
Note: Basketball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
At one point in time, Shabazz Muhammad was a top three prospect but that would not be the career he would have in the NBA. Drafted 14th in 2013 by Utah and arriving on a draft day trade, Muhammad saw limited playing time for Minnesota as a rookie but he looked to be a star on the rise in his second pro year. He played 38 Games before a hand injury forced him out and…
Oh boy.Latrell Sprewell is known for a lot of things, but sadly his prowess on the basketball court comes behind three things.
Known as the “Drunken Dribbler” (Seriously, is that not the best nickname ever?), Corey Brewer likely did not live up to the potential that he had as a former 7th pick overall due to a torn ACL. The former NCAA Final Four Outstanding Player of the Year had two stints in Minnesota, most notably with a 13.0 PPG in the 2009/10 Season.
Jarred Vanderbilt played his college ball at Kentucky, and did well enough to earn a spot in the 2018 NBA Draft, a second round selection by Denver. An excellent leaper and dunker, Vanderbilt did not play much for the Nuggets, as he was assigned mostly with Rio Grande in the G-League, but a trade in 2000 would grant the Power Forward an opportunity for playing time. Vanderbilt was on the T-Wolves roster going into the 2020-21…
Arriving as part of a draft-day trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tyus Jones came to Minnesota after being named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player and taking Duke the NCAA Championship in 2015. Jones played his first four years of his NBA career with the T-Wolves, and while he has not seen good production numbers, he rarely turns the ball over and became above-average on the defensive side of the ball. That would reflect on…
While Tod Murphy was unquestionably a journeyman in the NBA, his longest “journey” was with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The big man from California-Irvine had his best season in 1989-90 where he started 52 Games recording 6.1 Win Shares.
After being drafted 7th overall by Boston, Randy Foye was traded twice before his first season, landing with an already loaded set of guards with the Timberwolves. Foye managed to get minutes and enough to make the All-Rookie team and in his third and final year he netted over 16 PPG, his highest ever in the NBA. His low ranking however comes for poor distribution numbers for a Guard.
The Serbian Guard, Marko Jaric has had his best team success in the Italian League. Jaric, which holds the distinction of being the first player to win the Italian League Championship consecutively with two different teams. Jaric had his best results as a member of the Tomberwolves putting up his best career numbers.
How fitting that Troy Hudson put out an album called “Undrafted”.
From Serbia, Nemanja Bjelica was drafted by the Washington Wizards who traded him to Minnesota on a 2010 Draft Day Trade, but he elected to stay in Europe where he would be the EuroLeague MVP in 2015. After that impressive performance, he traveled stateside where he played three seasons for the Timberwolves as their backup Power Forward where he averaged 6.1 Points and 3.8 Rebounds per Game.