Thoughts on the Timberwolves' 2024-25 schedule: Tough stretches, NBA cup, more

The Wolves' schedule is here. Let's go over some takeaways.

May 28, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and guard Anthony Edwards (5) celebrate during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks in game four of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center. / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Timberwolves' 2024-25 schedule has arrived. The biggest thing that stands out? 25 of Minnesota's 80 scheduled games are on national TV, including 18 on TNT or ESPN/ABC. That's a massive jump from last season.

The Wolves play on opening night against the Lakers, on Christmas against the Mavericks, and in a bunch of other marquee games against teams like the Mavericks, Nuggets, Celtics, Grizzlies, and Thunder. With Anthony Edwards leading the way, they're officially in the NBA spotlight.

Your Minnesota Timberwolves FULL 2024/2025 season schedule:

What will their record be? pic.twitter.com/S1zlpAOdJT

— Timberwolves Muse (@Wolvesmuse) August 15, 2024

Let's go over a few more thoughts on the schedule.

Tough stretches

At first glance, the toughest stretch the Wolves will face might come towards the very end of the season, when they go on a five-game road trip to Denver, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Memphis from April 1-10. That's a gauntlet that could matter quite a bit for playoff seeding.

From a November 24 matchup against the Celtics through a January 2nd rematch with Boston, 14 of the Wolves' 16 scheduled games are against teams who were .500 or better last season. One of the two who wasn't is the Spurs, who could take a leap forward with Victor Wembanyama this season.

It's just a tough schedule throughout. There are so many good teams in the Western Conference, between the 11 (including Minnesota) who won at least 41 games last year and the Grizzlies, who should return to contender status with a healthy Ja Morant.

In January, the Wolves get a New York-Cleveland-Memphis-Dallas-Denver stretch. And how about this one in February? Cleveland-Milwaukee-OKC-Houston-OKC-OKC-Lakers. Yes, that's three games against the Thunder in a 12-day stretch sandwiched around the All-Star break, which is a bit odd.

The Wolves are poised to be one of the best teams in the league, but they'll be tested quite a bit all year long.

Easy portions

One stretch on the softer side that stands out comes in November, when the Wolves go Spurs-Hornets-Bulls-Blazers-Heat-Blazers-Blazers. Cleaning up in those games will be key to getting off to a strong start to the season. There's another run in early February that looks pretty appealing as well.

NBA Cup

The 2024 NBA Cup should come with some excitement after the success of last year's inaugural event (then called the in-season tournament). The Wolves drew the Blazers, Kings, Rockets, and Clippers in West Group A. Those games will take place in November. Six group winners and the two best second-place teams will advance to the quarterfinals on December 10 and 11, followed by the semifinals on the 14th and the title game on the 17th.

Minnesota probably landed in the easiest of the three groups in the West. In Group B, OKC has to deal with the Suns, Lakers, Jazz, and Spurs. Group C is loaded with the Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors, and Grizzlies. It'll be fun to watch the Wolves try to get out of the group stage this year after going 3-1 and narrowly missing out on a quarterfinal berth last time around.