RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Don't forget about the Minnesota Timberwolves . The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs will enter the 2026-27 regular season as co-title favorites. But the third-most successful team in the Western Conference over the last two years feels like it's being overlooked.
Anthony Edwards recently told ESPN that he believes the Timberwolves are capable of beating both the Thunder and Spurs. The NBA superstar has always been confident about his wildcard team. Even more now after they had one of the summer blockbusters of acquiring LaMelo Ball in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets .
"Against those two teams, I think we're going to beat them," Edwards said.
The Timberwolves have had two Western Conference Finals in the last three years. They've earned the benefit of the doubt with streaky regular-season records. It feels like Edwards and friends are a classic example of a team that only takes things seriously at the biggest stage.
But Minnesota went through fundamental changes this offseason. It acquired Ball after Charlotte dealt him at the peak of his trade value. He's fresh off a career year as the Hornets were one of the surprise teams last year. Clearly, though, they don't feel confident about him staying at that high level for an extended period of time.
Finally, the Timberwolves added a dynamic backcourt partner for Edwards. Opposing teams have been able to double Minnesota's NBA superstar with little trade-off. Now, that strategy won't be viable as Ball has been a 20-point scorer his whole career who loves to put up wacky outside jumpers. The Edwards-Ball backcourt has a chance to be one of the best in the league.
Then again, the Thunder and Spurs are in a tier of their own. First off, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama are frankly better than Edwards. They're also proven 60-win regular-season machines who don't experience the same lows as the Timberwolves. We also don't know how well the Edwards-Ball era will go. There's definitely excitement and potential, but let's see them gain a rapport first before we go with pie-in-the-sky ambitions.
I don't mind Edwards being confident about the Timberwolves. His blunt personality and humor have won over plenty of the NBA world. In fact, Minnesota has had a few deep playoff runs in the last three years to back up his hubris. But important to remember they're going through serious changes as they go from a three-headed frontcourt monster to just Rudy Gobert. Julius Randle and Naz Reid were traded elsewhere.
The Thunder and Timberwolves will face off four times in the 2026-27 regular season. Every matchup will be on national TV.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Anthony Edwards ready to face Thunder: 'I think we're going to beat them'
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