The Minnesota Timberwolves open their 2025-26 NBA regular season on the road Wednesday, October 22 at Portland. Here's what some say about the Wolves' chances this year:
CHRIS FINCH, Minnesota Timberwolves HC - "One of the things we know we have to get better at is our second unit or our non-Rudy [Gobert] defense. I do believe that a 42 and 40 record in the West might be really, really good, depending on how it shakes out. Every year it just feels like it gets a little harder or a little deeper."
KENDRICK PERKINS, ESPN NBA Analyst - "Every single game, every matchup in the Western Conference in the regular season is going to give us playoff-type basketball. It's going to be extremely hard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that went to the conference finals back-to-back years. But I never doubt Anthony Edwards; he's one of my favorite players in the league."
CHINEY OGWUMIKE, ESPN NBA Analyst - "One of the most exciting teams of the last few years. We're looking for the steps of growth, the steps of maturation. I think the West is completely stacked. We have great expectations, but we also understand the reality that the path is going to be harder than it was the last two years."
TIM CONNELLY, Timberwolves president - "We're not going to duck anybody, and we can't wait to see where we stand up in this kind of historically stacked Western Conference. We hopefully have a team that has enough diversity to its roster that you can play against anybody."
TIM LEGLER, ESPN NBA Analyst - "There's no doubt they're in the mix. I'm excited for Minnesota."
Cream joins the team
Veteran college basketball coach turned analyst Tom Cream this season will join the Minnesota Timberwolves broadcast team as a pre- and post-game show analyst, and will split duties with current Minnesota Lynx Assistant Coach and five-time WNBA champion Rebekkah Brunson.
As a college coach, Cream coached at separate times two future NBA stars, Timberwolves All-Star Anthnony Edwards at Georgia and Dwyane Wade at Marquette.
"I was never surprised he was going to have success," said Cream of Wade, a three-time NBA champion, multiple All-Star, member of the NBA 75 Anniversary team, and now a Hall of Famer. "I don't think any of us would see it at that level early on."
On Edwards, who only played one season for Cream at Georgia before he left for the NBA as a top overall pick, "We knew we couldn't have him very long. The first two years in Minnesota for him were excellent and helped him to be the player he is."
How to know where to go
NBA fans will need a bingo card to find where games are being broadcast this season: ABC, ESPN, TNT, NBC, Prime Video, Peacock, and regional sports networks for local games.
When asked last week, ESPN Senior Vice President of Sports Production Tim Corrigan told reporters, including the MSR, "I think that's going to be a real priority for all of us is just making sure that people know where to go... There's 40% more national games than last year, but people have to know where to get them.
"That's going to be a big responsibility on all three of the partners, as well as the league to beat that drum and make sure people know where to go to get this, because the additional over-the-air [telecasts] on ABC and NBC is a big deal... We need to drive folks and let them know where to go."