After the OKC Thunder won the 2025 NBA Finals, this summer, many of their direct conference rivals have been actively bolstering their talent pools in an effort to better contend with the newly anointed champs.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, on the other hand, have seemingly done the exact opposite.
Granted, the reigning Western Conference Finals runner-ups still have superstar Anthony Edwards and a number of other established All-NBA talents in Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert leading the charge, and, based on recent projections, are attached to an over/under of 50.5 wins heading into the 2025-26 campaign.
However, their supporting cast took a significant hit this offseason with the departure of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who signed a four-year, $62 million deal with the Hawks in free agency.
As witnessed throughout the playoffs and in spurts against the Thunder in round three, NAW was a major piece of coach Chris Finch's scheme and, as The Athletic's Andrew Schlecht recently articulated, his loss is "a really big deal for their rotation," and in more ways than people think.
Thunder would have one less foe to fear if Timberwolves take step back
Losing Alexander-Walker's services may seriously come back to bite the Wolves, as he was one of their top long-range snipers (shot 38.1 percent from distance) and most dependable defensive talents (108.5 defensive rating) in 2024-25.
However, this departure is far more complicated than just losing his on-court attributes, as Schlecht stressed during a recent episode of The Athletic NBA Daily that the only options Minnesota currently has to take his place are young, inexperienced players who have yet to prove themselves as mainstays on a title-hopeful team.
"I think that this team is just worse. They needed to shore up some stuff around Ant in the backcourt. Mike Conley is a year older, they lost Nickeil, [and] they're counting on some really young guys that haven't been there before yet. Can Rob Dillingham take on real minutes? I think that's a huge question. If he can't, then I don't really know what the answers are for the Timberwolves," Schlecht said.
With their roster construction last season, Minnesota was able to win 49 games and clinch the sixth seed in the conference standings and even split the season series against the Thunder at two games apiece.
However, when it mattered most under the bright lights of the NBA Playoffs, the T-Wolves proved to be no match against Oklahoma City, as they were bounced by way of a gentleman's sweep (4-1) and were a -21 in the series as a whole.
Now, with one of their more crucial contributors out of the picture, Schlecht believes the Wolves are heading for a regression season, which, in turn, would make them one less title threat the Thunder need to worry about as they chase the league's first repeat championship since 2018.