The Minnesota Timberwolves are playing like a dominant AAU squad that grabs lunch together after games and laughs about the inferiority of their opponents — but they’re doing it at the NBA level.
Off to a 3-0 start, LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga have propelled the Wolves to a plus 70-point differential through the early goings of the season.
See Ya, Moodiness
An 82 game NBA regular season can be a slog if a team isn’t gelling — and last year, despite some success, the Wolves just didn’t quite gel.
Last December, Anthony Edwards confessed that the Wolves were “waiting around for the playoffs.”
The Wolves were laboring their way through last year’s regular season, and it showed. They especially struggled to find an identity that would serve them in the playoffs.
One particular culprit of the lethargic regular season spirit was Julius Randle.
Randle can stuff a stat sheet: he averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists through 79 regular season games last season. And yet, despite his offensive talent, unique bully-ball skillset, and facilitating strengths, his impact never seemed commensurate with his ability and usage.
The former Kentucky product functions as his own offensive vortex, and the Wolves would have to live-and-die by his play. Some nights, Randle would look like an All-Star, while at others times, he looked eager to take his sneakers off (Skechers, oddly) and go home.
After a 1-for-8 performance in a closeout Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs, capping off an already underwhelming Western Conference Semifinals from Randle, Tim Connelly’s front office decided it was time to move on.
On June 22, 2026, the Wolves sent Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a deal that later expanded to include the Wolves’ acquisition of Ball.
The Wolves followed the move up by signing Kuminga to replace Randle at power forward.
“We’ve traded moodiness for giddiness,” head coach Chris Finch said in a postgame following a preseason game against the New York Knicks.
Chris Finch’s “Flow Offense”
The additions of Ball and Kuminga have been seamless thus far. When Ball shares the floor with Edwards, defenses are fed a pick-your-poison that seems to only yield negative results for whoever the Wolves are up against.
Since arriving in Minnesota, Finch has preached “flow offense.” The formerly esoteric concept has materialized into something tangible — a team offense in which the ball flies around from teammate to teammate and players find shots in rhythm.
Through the first three games of the season, both Jaden McDaniels and Ball are tied for first on the NBA plus/minus leaderboard. In just a limited sample size, the Wolves’ starting five ranks at the top of lineup net ratings.
In the third quarter of the Wolves’ home opener, Ball found himself in an isolation with Toronto Raptors forward Collin Murray-Boyles. Ball performed some frantic sizing up, took two dribbles towards the rim, and then quickly stepped back behind the three-point line to shoot an off-balance three over the dazed defender.
Edwards and Bones Hyland were already out of their seats before Ball’s three slid through the net.
The box score numbers are big, but the smiles are bigger. Even the normally stoic McDaniels has had his fair share of smirks after an Edwards or Ball highlight that’s destined to make the rounds on social media.
Is This Exuberance Sustainable?
As of now, the Wolves are the Harlem Globetrotters of 2026 NBA basketball, stomping all over their competition and giving fans consistent shows.
In their win over the Raptors, the Wolves — primarily Kuminga — held All-Star Scottie Barnes to zero points on an 0-for-12 shooting night. They lead the NBA in defensive rating, but it’s been just three games.
The Wolves are playing exceptional team basketball, and what makes them so different from last year’s squad is the joy that they’re playing with.
Will the Wolves be able to sustain this “giddiness” through an 82-game regular season? Because as of now, they’re positioning themselves as an even greater threat in the Western Conference than anticipated, putting themselves in the Thunder and Spurs conversations.
ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst said it best: “The Timberwolves are turning into your favorite player’s favorite team.”
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