Who are Timberwolves' biggest threats in the West this season?

The Western Conference figures once again to be a beast.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) reacts in front of Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) during the second half in Game 6 of the second round of the playoffs at American Airlines Center in Dallas on May 18, 2024. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Timberwolves appear poised to contend in a Western Conference chocked full of quality teams coming off their first appearance in the conference finals since the 2004 season. 

Anthony Edwards is a budding superstar coming off a gold-medal run with Team USA. The rest of the starters around him — Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Jaden McDaniels and Karl-Anthony Towns — all return. Key reserves Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker return, too, and the Wolves added a pair of first-round picks in Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. and they also signed knockdown shooter Joe Ingles in free agency to fill the void of Kyle Anderson. 

There’s certainly plenty of reason to be excited about the Wolves heading into the 2024-25 season, but they also have no shortage of competition in a truly brutal Western Conference. 

Here’s a look at who we believe are the five biggest threats to the Wolves in the West:

5. Memphis Grizzlies 

The Grizzlies are coming off a terrible season in which they went 27-55, but they played most of the season without star guard Ja Morant, who underwent shoulder surgery during the season. Morant, 25, will return this year, and he changes the Grizzlies’ outlook pretty dramatically. 

Before last year, the Grizzlies had made the playoffs the previous three seasons and had back-to-back 50-win seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Notably, they knocked the Timberwolves out of the playoffs in their 2021-22 Western Conference first-round series. While the Wolves are a much different team than they were then, the Grizzlies still could have another run in them, too.

In addition to Morant, the Grizzlies feature a pair of standout defensive guards in Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart, a dynamic power forward in Jaren Jackson Jr. and they recently drafted 7-foot-4 Zach Edey of Purdue, who was the most dominant player in college basketball last year. 

Should the Wolves and Grizzlies run into each other in the playoffs again in 2024-25, the Wolves would almost certainly be favored and they should come out of that series with a victory. But Morant’s return makes the Grizzlies a very interesting team that could make some noise this year. 

4. Phoenix Suns

The Timberwolves had no problem handling the Suns in the postseason this year, sweeping them in a first-round series. While there's no reason to believe the Wolves couldn't beat them again, the Suns have gotten significantly better by the virtue of adding one player: former Wolves guard Tyus Jones.

Jones, an Apple Valley, Minn., native, provides the Suns exactly what they were missing last year: a true and capable point guard. Jones is consistently one of the league leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio, and he's coming off the best season of his career in which he averaged career highs in points (12.0), assists (7.3), rebounds (2.7), field-goal percentage (48.9%) and 3-point percentage (41.4%).

The Suns will also still feature their big three of Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, the latter two who were teammates with Edwards on Team USA. While that trio didn't mesh well in its first season together last year, the addition of Jones will invigorate the team's ball movement.

3. Denver Nuggets

The Wolves were also able to dispatch the Nuggets in the playoffs last season, but Denver is a team that will always be a threat so long as they have Nikola Jokic on the roster. Jokic is a three-time and reigning MVP and makes plays that no one else can, particularly as from the center position.

That being said, the Nuggets have taken a lot of hits this offseason. They lost starting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency, and their first-round pick, DaRon Holmes II, underwent what's likely season-ending Achilles surgery this summer. They did add Russell Westbrook in free agency, but they certainly don't appear to be a team that improved from a season ago.

Still, they return Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, and again, they still have Jokic, which will always make the Nuggets a difficult team to contend with.

2. Dallas Mavericks

Wolves fans certainly haven't forgotten which team took them out of the playoffs last season. Their magical run came to an end in the West finals at the hands of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Those two proved doubters wrong and fit really well together down the stretch of last season. They also added Klay Thompson in free agency, which addresses one of their primary issues of not having enough shooting around Doncic and Irving, who really carried the load for the Mavs last postseason.

The idea of having a lockdown shooter like Thompson around Doncic and Irving makes Dallas extremely difficult, if not impossible, to defend, especially for a team like the Wolves that features a pair of 7-footers in the starting lineup in addition to a center being their top reserve player.

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder surprised by winning the top seed in the Western Conference last season despite being an incredibly young team. They return four of five — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren — of their young starting lineup from a season ago, and their fifth starter, Josh Giddey, they traded for Alex Caruso, a veteran presence who's arguably a better fit for the team.

The Thunder also made one of the biggest free agent splashes of the offseason by signing center Isaiah Hartenstein, who averaged 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks last season for the New York Knicks. Hartenstein was primarily a starter last season for New York, but he could come off the bench for the Thunder. Hartenstein gives OKC better ability to defend the Wolves' two-big approach.

With last season's MVP runner-up, a young dynamic roster and the reigning Coach of the Year in Mike Daigneault, the Thunder appear to be the Wolves' biggest competition not just for this upcoming season, but for years to come. Don't be shocked if it's a perennial playoff battle between the two.