Tim Connelly was hired as the Minnesota Timberwolves' president of basketball operations on May 23, 2022. On July 6 of that year, he traded four first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and five players to the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert. The swift backlash to the deal, which, at the time, was one of the most controversial in modern NBA history, did nothing to dissuade Connelly's aggressive approach. 

Over the past four years, he has reshaped the roster time and again with a series of blockbuster trades, and has had no problem shipping out fan favorites in the process. He gave the San Antonio Spurs a first-round pick and a first-round pick swap for Rob Dillingham on draft night in 2024, sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo days before the 2024-25 season started, moved Dillingham and four second-round picks to the Chicago Bulls for Ayo Dosunmu at last season's deadline and started this summer by dealing Randle to the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 33 pick in the draft (Isaiah Evans) and a trade exception. 

Connelly's latest move rivaled the Gobert deal for shock value and amount of takes generated: Naz Reid, an unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps and three second-round picks to the Charlotte Hornets for LaMelo Ball. 

Amid all of Connelly's wheeling and dealing, the Timberwolves have been highly successful. Over the last three seasons, they are 154-92, which is tied for the fifth-most wins in the league in that span, have never been eliminated prior to the second round of the playoffs and went to back-to-back Western Conference Finals in 2024 and 2025. 

Will the Ball trade push them over the top and into the Finals for the first time in franchise history? Or backfire and effectively end this era of Timberwolves basketball? As we wait to find out, here's a look at what we've learned about the latest iteration of the Wolves during preseason. 

Finch wants Ball and Edwards to play together

By trade, Anthony Edwards is a shooting guard, but due to the Timberwolves' roster construction and the nature of the modern NBA, he's often found himself handling the ball and initiating offense, and has grown comfortable in that role. Ball, on the other hand, is one of the league's most unique point guards, and had unlimited freedom in Charlotte to do whatever he saw fit on the offensive end. 

Edwards and Ball both had usage rates above 30% last season, and ranked seventh and 10th in the league, respectively, in that category. Giving Edwards a point guard as talented as Ball is an exciting prospect, but both players will have to sacrifice and there are some questions about the fit, starting with how much they'll play together. 

Finch has answered the first one. Ideally, he sees them as a partnership. 

"I've thought about it of course, but I haven't overthought it. My gut tells me I want them out there together," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said in Milwaukee ahead of the team's first preseason game. "We got guys off the bench that can bring punch, that can bring handling. Those guys are really good together. The [Terrence Shannon Jr.--Ayo Dosunmu] combo is really, really good. We might just double down and play [Edwards and Ball] together, but we'll be ready to read it as we go along."

Finch re-emphasized that idea later in the preseason after Edwards scored 26 points in 25 minutes in a win over the New York Knicks. "If you look at the shots that Ant was able to make last night, they were all super easy," Finch said. "A lot of them were generated through LaMelo's playmaking."

The NBA doesn't publish lineup data for the preseason, but hand tracking shows that, for what it's worth, Edwards and Ball played just over 57 minutes together across four games, and the Timberwolves were plus-3 with them on the floor together. 

A different mood around the locker room

Trading for Ball has radically revamped the Timberwolves' identity. The on-court changes are obvious, but Finch also emphasized the emotional difference. 

"He's always in a great mood," Finch said. "Always comes in smiling. He and Anthony have a shared quality: They're really hard to stay mad at. And they do some things that you want to get mad at. They have a reflective joy, and I think that's important. They tease the joy out of each other as practice goes along. So, that kind of adds to the overall spirit of the group, which we really needed.

"We referred to ourselves as a moody team in the last couple of years at times, and it's probably gotten in our way," Finch continued. "We've traded moodiness for giddiness, so we've got to kind of get back to some sort of equilibrium. But it's been fun to go to work every day so far."

Finch didn't name any names, but it's easy to read between the lines given who's not around anymore. Randle has always been a mercurial figure and spent last season with his name in trade rumors, which did not help. And Reid, for as beloved as he was in Minnesota, could hang his head when things weren't going his or his team's way. 

Beringer stepping into a bigger role in revamped frontcourt

The Timberwolves have been one of the biggest, most physical teams in the league in recent years, but Towns, Reid and Randle are all gone, and they no longer have the ability to cycle through an array of frontcourt options.

In fact, aside from Gobert, they only have two players taller than 6-foot-9: Joan Beringer and Rocco Zikarsky, who is on a two-way contract. Those two have played 314 and 36 minutes of NBA basketball, respectively. Don't expect to see much of Zikarsky, but Beringer will step into a much bigger role this season as Gobert's backup. 

"We need him to play, you know it could be maybe 14 minutes a night, could be 24 minutes a night," Finch said about Beringer. "That'll be determined by how he's playing and we need to be good enough around him in those moments."

Beringer's preseason was positive. He averaged 8.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on 52.8% shooting. His energy, particularly on the defensive end, has impressed everyone, though he still needs to figure out how to properly dial things in. 

"Everybody knows his intensity is just like no other. His attention to detail has gotten a lot better, he's super young, super athletic," Edwards said. "We're trying to keep him from falling on the ground so much because he goes after every shot. Get his fouling down a little bit and he's going to be really good."

The 19-year-old Beringer's potential is obvious, but the Timberwolves need him to be a useful player now. If he can't keep them afloat when Gobert is off the floor, they're going to have some real problems, regardless of how well Edwards and Ball mesh together. Due to their lack of frontcourt options, Beringer will have every opportunity to prove himself. 

"Everything's right there for him right now. We know there's going to be some inconsistencies. There's no doubt about that. We just got to be able to, get through that and to the point where he's more comfortable," Finch said. "The biggest development is going to be those reps, those live reps that you get time and again."

The Timberwolves' first four games – against the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers – will provide a serious stress test, not only for Beringer, but the entire team's ability to deal with size and physicality now that they're more perimeter oriented. Finch highlighted rebounding as an area that concerns him. 

"We got to make sure we continue to put an emphasis on rebounding," Finch said. "And it's going to have to come from Jaden [McDaniels] and Anthony [Edwards] and these guys who traditionally have not always rebounded at the highest level. Those guys are going to have to really get in there."

Kuminga 'comfortable' in Minnesota, but can he produce?

Jonathan Kuminga's career to this point has been defined by a lack of consistency and friction between how he views himself, and the player coaches want him to be. His bizarre tenure with the Warriors finally came to an end at the deadline last season when he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, but they had no interest in keeping him around and declined their team option, which made him an unrestricted free agent this summer. 

Kuminga didn't find a new home in Minnesota until late August, a month before training camp opened, and ultimately signed a two-year, $12.5 million deal – a far cry from the max extension he was reportedly seeking from the Warriors a few years ago. But the wait and the pay cut may have been worthwhile. 

During the preseason, Kuminga noted that he has been "very comfortable" with the Timberwolves. "I feel like everybody is nice, very open, and welcoming. I feel very, very comfortable just being around just being around the guys," Kuminga said. "They're very comfortable coming to talk to me and I'm very comfortable to listen and get better."

Kuminga added that he's enjoyed being surrounded by more of his peers, as compared to a veteran Warriors team. "I think we all bond well, and I think that's just because of the mindset they have, they have the winning mindset," Kuminga said. "I haven't seen no lazy person."

The big question for Kuminga and the Wolves is whether more comfort can lead to more consistent production, especially outside of the scoring department. His shooting was all over the place in fairly limited preseason action due to general soreness. Against the Pistons he had 16 points on 5 of 6, but against the Pacers he had two points on 1 of 9. He did have three assists and a steal in both of those outings, though, which encouraged Finch. 

"I like his passing, I didn't realize he had such an ability to see the floor," Finch said. "For us he's been a connective tissue that moves the ball well and does a good job of making quick decisions."

The Timberwolves have plenty of scoring between Edwards, Ball, McDaniels and Dosunmu. If Kuminga can help fill in everywhere else, that would be ideal. But, of course, that's the same thing Kerr was saying for years in Golden State.