It feels like a lost season for Timberwolves

It's the final weekend of the NBA regular season, and most teams know who they are and have an idea of what they can accomplish in the postseason.

The Timberwolves are an exception.

We're six months into The Great Experiment, the collaboration between Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns that was designed to provide matchup nightmares for opponents and drive the Wolves to 50 wins and, hopefully, a lengthy postseason run.

But we still don't know what the Wolves are, and it feels like a lost season.

They head into a season-ending game against New Orleans on Sunday with a 41-40 record and a bunch of unanswered questions.

Can KAT and The Stifle Tower thrive on a nightly basis?

How close is Anthony Edwards to stardom?

Is the point guard position solidified for the near future?

Are the Wolves any closer to joining the elite teams in the Western Conference?

The Wolves shook up the NBA with the offseason trade for Gobert, a megadeal that was supposed to launch the franchise into elite status. Alex Rodriguez, who with Mark Lore is purchasing the team from Glen Taylor, stated during the offseason that they wanted to be first class in everything they did. Adding Gobert seemed to fall in line with those aspirations. And for Towns, who had played in only 11 playoff games in seven seasons before the trade, it seemed that this was his chance to get more exposure on a bigger stage.

After winning a play-in game a year ago — and getting fans to return to Target Center — the Wolves looked prepared to be a factor in the conference race.

The wait was on to see how long it would take for these big pieces to fit together and allow the Wolves to zoom up the standings.

And we're still waiting.

Towns having played in only 28 games due to a lengthy calf injury definitely was a setback. But earlier in the week, the Wolves were talking about taking better advantage of their size and adapting more quickly when teams switch to smaller lineups. This is something that should be figured out at the start of the season. This is compounded by Towns admitting that he's still rounding into form after his nearly four-month layoff.

It's hard to imagine the Wolves winning a playoff fight when they don't know what their best punch is. And it doesn't seem realistic to expect them to suddenly put everything together before the play-in games begin.

There are a couple positives. Edwards has another season of experience and looks closer to being the face of the franchise. This should become more Ant's team than KAT's team. Towns' absence offered Edwards a chance to try out the role this season.

And the Wolves have a legitimate point guard in Mike Conley. D'Angelo Russell, who was dealt to the Lakers, wasn't the answer there. Edwards stepped in as the playmaker at times, but that's not the best way to use his scoring talents. Conley is a traditional floor manager and will help execute the Twin Tower attack. The Wolves still need to develop a point guard of the future, but the 35-year-old Conley is a fine option for now.

But in the end, this has been a downer of a season. The pairing of Towns and Gobert has yet to take off. And the Wolves' propensity to drop games to the worst teams in the NBA is maddening. If they can't beat Detroit and a tanking Portland with a lineup of players who wouldn't cut it in the Howard Pulley summer league, how can you expect postseason success?

The Wolves will wrap up the regular season this weekend and then head into the play-in tournament they should not have fallen into. Regardless of the outcome then, the question will remain when will the Wolves jell with Towns and Gobert. It looks like it will be next season, which is tough to swallow after six months.

And that's why this feels like a lost season.