The COMPLETE history of the Minnesota TIMBERWOLVES

The COMPLETE history of the Minnesota TIMBERWOLVES

The Minnesota timberl a franchise that has been steeped in losing seasons in bad draft picks they’ve missed on a lot of draft picks drafted the wrong guy there was one point where they drafted two point guards instead of Steph Curry not a great look for the franchise but

Their luck is starting to turn around as Superstar Anthony Edwards has them and a c for cast of talent to the number one seat in the west they’ve held that spot this season longer than they’ve held it in their entire franchise history but that word right there history is the

Word of the day because today we’re going to go back to 1989 when the timber rules first started and we’re going to take an in-depth look at their entire franchise history up to this point so join me and Sam as we go all the way

Back then to find out all about the joy and the pain and the suffering that is the Minnesota Timberwolves Minnesota’s expansion team was officially dubbed the Timberwolves in December of 1986 this was nearly 3 years before the first game would be played on November 3rd 1989 and four months before the NBA even

Officially granted Minnesota a team after original owners Harvey rner 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 the timber

Rules and the polers were deemed finalist and the 842 city cils in Minnesota were asked to submit their vote for the winner Timberwolves was selected by a 2 to1 margin Timberwolves was a fitting name for Minnesota’s new team as the state is home to the largest wolf population in the United States and

The International Wolf Center a comprehensive wolf research facility is located in Eli Minnesota similar to the naming contest the timber rules held a public contest to select the team’s first logo after receiving over 2,600 submissions some coming from as far as away as Alaska and Norway the team

Settled on a design submitted by Mark Thompson of Austin Minnesota original team president Bob Stein described the winning submission as aggressive but not Sinister the logo was first unveiled to the public on an oversized $20,000 check that the team donated to the United Way on setember 17th

1987 the timber rules would then hire a former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher men’s basketball coach Bill muselman to lead the new franchise and in 1989 NBA draft muselman selected Jerome James Pooh Richardson from the University of California Los Angeles with the 10th overall picked for their

First game meaning he was the first ever draft pick by the Minnesota timberl that right Bel belongs to Pooh Richardson the timber was then debuted on November 3rd 1989 losing to the Seattle superponics on the road 106 to 94 5 days later they made their home debut at the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome

Losing to the Chicago Bulls 96 to 84 two nights later on November 10th the timber roles got their first win beating the Philadelphia 76ers at home 125 to18 the timber rules led by Tony Campell with 23.2 points per game went on to a 22 and 60 record finishing sixth place

In the Midwest Division playing in the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome which is where the Vikings and twins also played the expansion Timberwolves set an NBA record at the time drawing over 1 million fans to their home games this included a crowd of 49551 on April 17th 1990 which saw the

Tim rules lose to the Denver Nuggets 99 to 88 in the final home game of the season the next season the team moved into their permanent home the Target Center which is where they still are and improved somewhat finishing 29 and 53 however they fired their head coach

Bill muselman they fared far worse in the 9192 season under muscleman successor ex Celtics coach Jimmy Rogers finishing with an NBA worst 15-67 record looking to turn the corner the Wolves hired former Detroit pons general manager Jack MOSI to the same position but even with the notable first

Round selection such as Christian lner and Isaiah Ryder the timber rules were unable to duplicate mcl’s Detroit Bad Boy success in the Twin Cities finishing 1963 and 20 and 62 the next two seasons one of the few highlights from that era was when Target Center served as host of

The 1994 allstar game where Ryder won the slam dunk contest with his between the leg East Bay Funk Dunk as winning basketball continued to elude the wolves rner and wolfenson nearly sold the team to New Orleans in 1994 before the NBA owners rejected the proposed move eventually GL Glen Taylor bought the

Team and named Kevin mccale general manager the Wolves finished 21 and 61 in 1994 and the future looked Bleak however that would all change in the 1995 draft as the timberl selected High School Stand Out Kevin Garnett in the first round fifth overall and Flip Saunders was named head

Coach Christian leer was traded along with Shan Rooks to the Atlanta Hawks for Andrew Lang and Spud Webb also first round pick Danielle Marshall was traded the previous seasons for Golden State’s forward Tom gugliada these trades paved the way for rookie Kevin Garnett to become the go-to inside player Garnett

Went on to average 10.4 points per game in his rookie season as the the Wolves finished fifth place in the Midwest Division with a 26 and 56 record amid a display of lasers and smoke at The Mall of America’s Main rotunda the Wolves turned the page on the franchise’s

Expansion Days by unveiling this new look May 18th 1996 owner Glen Taylor described the new logo designed by La based men Nick Design Group as steps towards being more competitive and more aggressive the new design featured a metallic color scheme and a more ferocious intimidating wolf in 1996 the

Wolves added another star player in the draft trading Ray Allen to the Milwaukee Bucks for the rights to Stefon Marberry the fourth overall pick the addition of Marberry had a positive effect for the entire team as Garnett and gilada became the first wolves to be selected to the

All-Star team gugliada and Garnett led the Timberwolves in scoring as the team made the playoffs for the first time in franch history with a record of 40 and 42 however in the playoffs the timber wolves made a quick exit as they were swept by the Houston Rockets in three

Stay games in 1997 Garnett and Marbury established themselves as two of the brightest rising stars in the NBA Garnett averaged 18.5 points per game and 9.6 rebounds while Marbury averaged 17.7 points and dished out over eight assists a game despite losing lead scor Tom gugat for half the season

The timber rules went on to post their first winning season at 45 and 37 making the playoffs for a second straight season after dropping game one of the playoffs on the road to Seattle the timber rules won their first postseason game in game two winning in Seattle 98 to

93 as the series shifted to Minnesota the timberwol had an opportunity to pull an epet as they won game three by a score of 98 to 90 however the Wolves dropped game four at home home and the sonics went on to win the series in five

Games in 1998 a year after signing Kevin Grett to a six-year $126 million contract the timber roles were then used as the poster child of irresponsible spending as the NBA endured a four-month lockout that wiped out much of the season with an already cap heavy payroll the Timberwolves let Tom googly out a

Walk partially because the team wanted to save money in order to sign Stefon Marberry to a long-term contract and in part because goata did not want to play with the younger player this move proved unsuccessful however as Marbury wanted to be the biggest star on a team and

Subsequently forced an inseason trade by refusing a contract extension in the three team mid-season deal that sent Marbury to the New Jersey Nets the timber rules got Terrell Brandon in return and a first round pick in 1999 which turned out to be the sixth pick the wolves made the playoffs for the

Third straight season by finishing finish ing fourth place with a 25 and 25 record in the playoffs the timber rules were beaten by the eventual Champion San Antonio Spurs in four games in 1999 the Tim rules drafted Wally zerak with the sixth pick in the draft he now goes on to despise Tyrese

Halbert but he did have a solid season finishing third on the team and scoring with 11.6 points per game led by Kevin Garnett who averaged 22.9 points and 11.8 rebounds the wolves had their first 50 win season and finished third place with a record of 50 and 32 however in

The playoffs the Wolves again fell in the first round losing to the Portland Trail Bladers in four games the Wolves would then go on to open the 1999 2000 regular season with two home games against the Sacramento Kings at the Tokyo Dome on November 6th and 7th however tragedy would strike the

Minnesota timber rolls as in the summer of 2000 guard Malik sely was killed kill in a car accident by a drunk driver cel’s number has been retired ever since the number two jersey memorialized with cel’s name on the banner hanging from the raft as a Target Center is the only

Jersey retired by the timber rolles at this time also in that season free agent deal signed by Joe Smith was voided by the NBA who ruled the timber rules violated proper procedure in signing the contract the league stripped the timber rules of five draft picks but it was

Eventually reduced to three first round picks 2001 through 2004 the league also fined the Timber’s 3.5 million and suspended general manager Kevin mcale for one year Smith essentially signed with the Detroit Pistons before resigning with the timber rolls in 2001 but despite those setbacks the timber wolves made the playoffs for the fifth

Straight season with a 47 and 35 record in the playoffs the timber roles were eliminated in the first round Again by the San Antonio Spurs in four games in the spring of 2001 the start of the New Millennium saw the timber wolves in a strong position the team had a solid

Core with Kevin Garnett at the helm Garnett he was a versatile power forward he was in his prime and his performance on the court was nothing short of spectacular from 2000 to 2004 the Timberwolves were regular fixture in the playoffs they were strong consistent and they were forced to be reckoned with but

A trend that continued on into the New Millennium was the Wolves continue to struggle to get out of the first round Garnett needed more help in the playoffs and help is what he got in the 0304 season it was a standout year for the team the Wolves picked up some very

Important pieces in helping Kevin Garnett and one of these pieces which traded along with Irvin Johnson to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Joe Smith and Anthony peeler following the 03 NBA draft this player was Sam Cassell casselle had a career year for the Wolves being named an All-Star

Putting up almost 20 points and seven assists per game but not only did he make a splash with casselle they went out and got Latrell freewell in a four team trade between the Wolves Knicks 7 76ers in the Hawks spr well helped the team in scoring putting up an extra 17

Points per and Garnett was named the NBA’s most valuable player an honor that was well deserved his leadership coupled with his exceptional skill on the court led the Timberwolves to being the best team in the Western Conference into the playoffs yet again but this time things felt different the newly put together

Wolves were looking good the Denver Nuggets were the first opponent in the playoffs and they took care of business a 4-1 Series win the first series win in franchise history they took the momentum into the next round where the Kings gave them a run for their money they took them to

Game seven and the Wolves clawed their way to a victory and onto the Western Conference Finals their best finish in franchise history however the Run was cut short by the Los Angeles Lakers a team that was at the height of its own success they lost 4-2 in a series and

You start to wonder what happened well Sam Cassell decided to celebrate a tough shot against Sacramento Kings and this dance right Here the Big Balls dance injured Sam Cassell leading him to missing three games against the Lakers many think that if it weren’t for this dance the Wolves were for sure title winners but the Lakers capitalized and took the Wolves down following this High Point the Timberwolves entered a period of

Struggle in 2007 the team made a decision that would change the course of its future they traded Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics this marked the beginning of a rebuilding phase for the Timberwolves the team struggled to find consistency on the court and went through numerous coaching

Changes they were unable to make the playoffs a start contrast with their performance just a few years prior going into the 08 season the Memphis Grizzlies drafted a power forward that sparked the interest in Minnesota a new Kevin was on the Block and it was Kevin Love instead

Although love was putting up All-Star numbers in seasons for Minnesota it just wasn’t enough to get the ball rolling again and in 2011 the Timberwolves drafted point guard Ricky Rubio a player known for his creativity and vision on the court Rubio’s arrival brought a spark to the team and fans hoped that

This would be the turning point for the Timberwolves however despite Rubio and Love’s efforts the team was unable to break their playoff drought then in 2014 another significant event occurred the Timberwolves ated their star player Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers this marked the end of an era

For the Timberwolves and signaled the start of another rebuilding phase experienced a series of ups and downs they went from the highs of playoff runs and MVP Seasons to the lows of significant trades and rebuilding years it was a period of great change for the team filled with both triumphs

And challenges and through it all the Timberwolves showed their resilience and determination the 2014 and 15 season marked a new era for the Timberwolves and a lot of fans kind of started watching around this point beginning with the Kevin Love trade Flip Saunders was promoted to head coach making it his

Second stint with the timber rols after coaching the team from 95 2005 the timber rols started the new season with a 105 101 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies with Wiggins making his debut the team recorded its first win the following game a 97 to 91 victory over the Detroit Pistons on November

12th 20 14 the timber roles played an international home game at Mexico City Arena against the Houston Rockets the timber roles had a bismal record of 16 and66 for the season and missed the playoffs for the 11th consecutive year despite this Wiggins was selected as the

NBA Rookie of the Year the first player in franchise history to be so honored draft pick Zack LaVine gained League notoriety after winning the slam dunk contest LaVine and Wiggins dubbed the bounce brothers were seen as being the future of the franchise but due to having the worst

Record in the NBA for the 145 season the timber rules had the highest chance at the first pick 25% to be exact at that night the 2015 NBA Draft Lottery May 19th the timber rules received the first overall pick this is the first time in franchise history they had the number

Overall pick on June 25th the timber rules would go on to select Carl Anthony towns and they would also acquire min his own tus Jones through a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers the 2015 season also saw the return of Kevin Garnett in February Garnett at the time with the

Brooklyn Nets waved his no trade clause to enable a trade back to Minnesota which sent thadius Young to Brooklyn in his first game back Garnett resumed winning the number 21 Jersey that had not been worn by any of the Timber’s players since his departure and the team

Would go on to defeat the Washington Wizards 97 to 77 at Target Cent Center more tragedy would strike the timberl though as Saunders who we mentioned was named the head coach for his second stint in Minnesota was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma as a result during his recovery he would delegate his coaching

Position over to assisant coach in former MBA coach of the year winner Sam Mitchell on October 25th 2015 Saunders died at the age of 60 Mitchell took over as head coach and in honor of Saunders the team announced they would wear a patch reading flip on their uniforms for the duration of

The 20156 Season then in 2016 the Tom Tibido Saga began on April 20th 2016 the timber roles agreed to sign Tom Tibido to be their head coach and president of basketball operations he was previously an assistant coach for the team from 1989 to 1991 on September 23 2016 Kevin Garnett

Announced his retirement after 21 seasons in the NBA he he expressed interest in playing one more year for the timber rolls but felt his knees would be unable to hold up for the duration of the season the timber rules ended their season with a 31 and 51 record having only a two game

Improvement from their previous season the last game of that season though April 11th 2017 the timber roles unveiled their new logo just the second major overhaul of brand identity in franchise history created by Mississippi based design expert Rodney Richardson of rare designs the new logo features a Howling Wolf facing forward the iconic

North Star and the new Timber’s word Mark featuring the team ruin a the logo’s color scheme reflects a sense of place with each color in the palette tied to part of Minnesota Landscape colors include midnight blue Aurora green Frost white Moonlight gray and Lake blue then in 2018 the arrival of Jimmy Butler

Happened on June 22nd 2017 the Timberwolves acquired Jimmy Butler in the 16th overall pick in the 2017 draft in a trade for Zack LaVine Chris Dunn and the seventh overall pick in the draft used to select Lori marinan this trade marked the end of the Viet and Wiggins Duo dubbed bounce Bros later

That night the timbero selected Center Justin Patton with the 16th overall pick in the draft and I don’t think I ever saw him play later the team added Taj Gibson Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford and Derrick Rose during free agency the timberl ended their season with a 47 and

35 record which became their first winning season since 2004 and 2005 they also secured the last spot in the playoffs on the final day of the regular season with a 112 106 win over the Denver Nuggets the 20178 season also ended the longest streak without a playoff appearance at 133 Seasons the

Timber rules would be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Houston Rockets in a gentleman sweep five games on November 12th 2018 the timberl was traded disgruntled star Butler and Justin Patton to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Robert Covington Dario sarich Jared bis

And a 2022 second round Draft pick on January 6 2019 Tibido was fired as head coach and president of basketball operations after tibo’s firing it was announced that Ryan Saunders would serve as the inter head coach until a permanent head coach could be found on May 1st it was announced the

Timberwolves hired gersan Rosas who previously served as the Houston Rockets Executive Vice President of basketball operations as their new president of basketball operations and on May 20th after conducting interviews with several candidates the timber roles announced that Ryan Saunders had been hired to a multi-year deal to become the team’s

Permanent head coach removing his intern status with Rose’s hiring the timber rules also o made several front office changes in the organization the timber rolles held both a first and second round pick in the 2019 draft the 11th pick which was cam Johnson along with Dario sarich was traded the Suns in

Exchange for the sixth pick in Jer Culver a small forward from Texas Tech with the 43rd pick the timber selected Jaylen noell a point guard from Washington on February 6 20120 the timber was traded Andrew Wiggins to the Golden State Warriors for Carl anony Town’s longtime friend and D’Angelo

Russell at the season end the timber rules got the first overall pick and with that pick they took Superstar Anthony Edwards out of Georgia then on February 21st 2021 head coach Ryan Saunders was fired and Toronto Raptor assisant coach Chris Finch was hired to replace him the Tim rules finished the

Season with a 23 and 49 record and missed the playoffs in April 2021 the timber roles announced that owner Glen Taylor had reached a deal with markk lore and Alex Rodriguez to sell the team lore and Rodriguez will become majority owners over the course of 2 years on July 21st

2021 it was announced that lore and Rodriguez had purchased 20% of the team they purchased 20% more in 2022 and will purchase 40% more in the coming Seasons at the time they will be the majority owners of the club the transaction also includes ownership in the timber rols

WNBA sister Club the Minnesota lyx the deal values a team at 1.5 billion in the offseason the Wolves traded guard Ricky Rubio to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ford tan Prince the Wolves then acquired guard Patrick Beverly in exchange for juano herin Gomez and former firstr round pick Jared Culver the final move

They made was signing former 22 draft pick LeAndre Bal Maro to a 4-year 11.8 million rookie contract on September 22nd 2021 after Gerson Rosas was relieved of his president of basketball operation duties Sachin Gupta was promoted as the new intern president of basketball operations while keeping his role as EVP

Of basketball operations the timber rules began the season October 20th at Target Center against the Houston Rockets the timber rules then finished the 2021-22 season 46 and 36 overall the second most regular season win since making the Conference Finals in 2004 despite Carl Anthony towns fouling out

With 11 points in 24 minutes the Wolves beat the LA Clippers in the 78 playing game to secure their spot in the 22 NBA playoffs the timber rules were then eliminated by the Memphis Grizzlies in first round four games to two on May 23rd 2022 it was announced that Timber

Rols had hired Tim Connelly who previously served as the Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations as their president of basketball operations taking over gupta’s job he was reportedly signed to a 5year $40 million contract by the Timberwolves that includes ownership equity on July 1st 2022 the timber rules traded Malik

Beasley Patrick Beverly Jared Vanderbilt Leandro Balo and the 2022 number 22 pick wer Kesler and four future first round picks in exchange for three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy goar from the Utah Jazz this was one of the largest trades in NBA history the timber

Wars then began the 202 23 season with high expectations following the gobear trade they were dealt a huge blow on November 28th 2022 when Carl Anthony Town suffered a severe calf strain that cost him 52 games however the injury pushed Anthony Edwards into a leadership role with his

First time Allstar selection and he guided the team to a 42 and 40 finish and a planned tournament birth after falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game the Timber will secured the a seed with a 25-point win over the OKC Thunder they went on to lose to the

Number one seed and eventual NBA champions Denver Nuggets in the first round four games to one which brings us all the way to where we are now as the Minnesota timber rules are in the number one seat in the west and looking very dangerous come playoff time well guys

Thank you so much for sticking along with me and Justin on this little history of the Minnesota Timberwolves if you like our content you’re new to the Channel please hit that like hit that subscribe button and leave a comment down below and tell us what you guys

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Guys in the next one peace out

Sam and Justin dive into the complete history of one of the NBA’s unluckiest franchises