The Minneapolis Lakers departed for Los Angeles after the 1960 season. The Twins and the Vikings arrived in 1961, then came the North Stars in the fall of 1967.
Do we trust the Timberwolves to properly put together their talent puzzle?
Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid, and Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, and even D'Angelo Russell ... can these pieces fit together? There are no easy answers, ever, in Timberwolves basketball.
December 20, 2022 at 11:19PM
Another 22 years were required for the NBA to return. The Timberwolves joined with the Orlando Magic for the 1989-90 season as the NBA's 26th and 27th teams.
The Magic and the Timberwolves stayed non-competitive until 1992. Then, the Magic (21-61 that season) won the lottery and drafted all-time force Shaquille O'Neal, and the Wolves (15-67) fell to third and wound up with all-time irritant Christian Laettner.
And I'm more convinced than ever that we wouldn't have been fulfilled as Minnesota sports followers for the three decades since the Shaq/Laettner flip without the Wolves to disappoint us, to confound us, to bait and then switch us.
The bottom line is there have been a lot of yucks, and as the great philosopher Milton Berle said, "Laughter is an instant vacation.''
A few years back I arrived at this motto for our T-Wolves: "Even when they do the right thing, it's the wrong thing.''
We could be standing at center stage for another such moment.
The Timberwolves managed a two-point win in Oklahoma City on Friday, then came home for back-to-back wins at Target Center.
Sunday: A franchise scoring record in a 150-125 rout of Chicago, with Anthony Edwards spectacular as he ran the show, and D'Angelo Russell moving for and making open shots.
Monday: Edwards got some help running things from Austin Rivers, Jaden McDaniels was outstanding on both ends of the court, and it was a 116-106 win vs. Dallas.
Center Rudy Gobert missed both games with a bad ankle. Naz Reid started Sunday, strained his neck and upper back and was limited to 12 minutes.
Monday, Reid went through therapy in the morning and declared himself ready. That became doubly important when Kyle Anderson, the power forward, was scratched due to an ongoing back problem.
What Reid, a muscular 6-9, did was offer up a career game: 27 points and 13 rebounds, while required to play 40 minutes.
Later, as the hero of the night, Reid came to an interview room. It was 35-40 minutes after the game, he was in street clothes, and answered questions about getting his neck in condition to play.
The conversation turned to a moment late in the game, when Edwards passed to Reid for an open three, and the shot went in and out.
The knowledgeable members of the crowd let out a groan of disappointment, aware the pass would've given Edwards a 10th assist and the much-sought triple-double.
Reid lamented the miss, before this was mentioned: "That also would've been 30 (points) for you.''
Naz nodded and smiled. Asked again about Edwards' recent commanding presence, Reid said: "This is the most happy that I've seen him.''
There it was, another bombshell for reading between the words of a Wolves observation.
The Timberwolves did the right thing, the only thing, when they gave a maximum, four-year extension (running through 2028) for $224 million to Karl Anthony-Towns on June 30.
He was a three-time All-Star, including in 2021-22. He was the leading scorer, best shooter and leading rebounder on last season's 46-36 playoff team.
BUT …
He's now sitting with a lingering calf injury, perhaps for several more weeks, according to coach Chris Finch.
And Edwards — formerly the co-star, now The Man — has never been happier, with free rein to run things.
And Reid, out of the rotation early in the season, as Finch tried to figure out what could be done to meld KAT with Gobert, is out there fighting for every foot, going 27 and 13, playing 40 with a bad neck.
He's out there giving as much effort as a 6-9 center can muster, doing his all to help make The Ant happier than ever.
What becomes of Reid's time when Gobert returns from the ankle injury? Finch said that his current view is that those two will be able to play together.
As for the 7-foot guy in street clothes over there on the bench, when that big KAT does return, how does Ant remain the man, and Gobert plays his 30-plus minutes, and Reid keeps getting a chance to prove his worthiness?
"Maybe parking [Towns] in the corner a little more at times,'' said Finch, when asked a version of that KAT question after Sunday's 150-point explosion.
That would be a very expensive corner, but these wouldn't be our Woofies if answers were easy, correct?
Remember: "Even when they do the right thing …''
High-profile victims in Minnesota include Mike Conley of the Timberwolves and Twins co-owner Jim Pohlad.
