Миннесота Тимбервулвз бүрэлдэхүүнээ эрс өөрчилж, шинэ улирлын өмнө томоохон сорилттой тулгарлаа

There is some audacity in the way that Tim Connelly has assembled the Minnesota Timberwolves roster.

It is as if he has spent most of his time as president of basketball operations systematically combing the NBA for the players who elicit the most debate and strongest reactions and tried to get them all on one team.

A center who has won as many Defensive Player of the Year awards as any player in league history but also has some very noticeable offensive shortcomings? Let’s trade five players and four first-round picks to get him.

An electric point guard who has struggled to stay healthy and has driven more traditional observers crazy with his shot selection? Here’s the most beloved player we have and all of the remaining draft capital we have to give for him.

And oh, you’re sick of hearing about the contract negotiations for a lottery pick who played in a total of 36 games last season and did not see eye-to-eye with one of the most respected coaches in the league? Well, let us introduce you to our new starting power forward.

In his five years in Minnesota, Connelly has been one of the league’s busiest front-office leaders, and this summer has been no exception. After the team took a step back with a second-round exit in the playoffs, Connelly traded Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets and Naz Reid to the Charlotte Hornets. Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson left in free agency.

When the Wolves open the season in Miami on Oct. 21, LaMelo Ball will be the starting point guard, and Jonathan Kuminga is expected to be in Randle’s spot next to Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt.

With Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels on the wings, the Wolves have shifted their identity from a team that leaned on size and muscle in the half court to a leaner group suddenly defined by its bounce. Edwards, McDaniels and Kuminga are high flyers. Ball’s game pulses with euphoric energy.

The early vibes have been encouraging. But when it comes time to get on the court for real, all of that energy will have to be harnessed and directed in the right way.

Edwards is one of the league’s elite scorers and is looking forward to transitioning back to his more natural shooting guard position, which will have him hunting buckets as he does best. Ball is one of the league’s best passers, but he is also used to having the ball in his hands. Both stars had usage rates above 30 last season.

McDaniels took a big step forward as an offensive threat last season, vanquishing the Denver Nuggets with 32 points in the Game 6 clincher in the first round of the playoffs. One of the benefits of moving Randle, in the Timberwolves’ eyes, was that it opened more shots for McDaniels, who could often get lost in the half-court offense while Edwards and Randle took turns.

Kuminga took half as much money as the Los Angeles Lakers offered to come to Minnesota, where he saw a better basketball fit. He also has the flexibility to re-enter the free-agent market next season. During the recruitment process, Edwards told him that on nights when Kuminga has a matchup advantage, they are going to let him go to work. The more that happens with success, the better it is for Kuminga as he looks to repair his value.

It doesn’t stop there. Gobert is the proud veteran who has always wanted a bigger role in the offense. Ayo Dosunmu is now fully vested as a Timberwolf after coming over in a midseason trade, stamped with a five-year, $112 million contract. Terrence Shannon Jr. showed coach Chris Finch what he was capable of when the ball was put in his hands in the playoffs.

The kitchen is filling up with cooks, and it will take some deft guidance from Finch and the coaching staff, as well as an ego-less approach from the players, to make this work.

One of the biggest surprises of last year’s team was how disjointed the offense often felt. The Wolves returned nearly every player from their second straight Western Conference finals run. Randle and Reid had new deals, and almost everyone had the peace of mind of a multiyear contract. But there was always just a little something missing from the collective last season that translated to a ho-hum sixth-seed finish in the regular season. When they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round, they could easily point to injuries to Donte DiVincenzo, Edwards and Dosunmu as reasons why they could not make a third straight conference finals.

The changes Connelly made this summer indicate that the team felt there was more to address than just player health.

The way these Wolves have been moving this summer makes them look like a more connected group. Edwards and Ball were seen working out at the team’s practice facility in Minneapolis for most of August. The players also organized a team trip to Paris for workouts in Gobert’s hometown.

That momentum will have to carry into training camp at the end of this month and into the season, where the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder await.

Finch is entering his sixth full season on the job. This is, perhaps, his most physically gifted roster, full of players with size, speed and trampolines in their calves. For the first time in his tenure, Finch has a point guard capable of both scoring 30 points and dishing out 15 assists. Edwards is showing all the signs of emergence as the vocal leader needed amid the exits of Conley, Anderson and Joe Ingles.

But for all of this to work, for this collection of polarizing players to show their legion of doubters that they can win at the highest level, they are going to have to set aside their individual pursuits in favor of the collective. That may sound trite, but there is a reason a cliché becomes a cliché.

How will Edwards and Ball share control of the offense? Can Ball tailor his unbridled game just enough to better fit the precision needed on a contending team? Will Gobert be more of a threat on offense with a point guard who can throw the lob pass? Does Kuminga have the wherewithal to commit fully to rebounding and defense over being a top-two option on the offensive end?

The early signs are promising. A snarky social media post went up in the days after he agreed to terms, asking Kuminga who was going to tell him that Edwards, Ball and McDaniels would all get shots before him. Kuminga was ready.

“That’s just fine bro,” he posted. “You can impact winning doing some(thing) else, too, if you didn’t know that.”

That is the kind of maturity and perspective that is often visible in the summer but can be harder to see when the temperature dips and the stats start counting. This collection of talent will test everyone involved, coaches and players.

But it is hard not to be intrigued by the possibilities. Edwards and Ball spearheading a dynamic offense. Gobert, McDaniels and Kuminga building an overpowering defense. Dosunmu, Shannon, Bones Hyland, Joan Beringer and Jaylen Clark giving them the depth they need.

These Timberwolves will play an entirely different style from the one that pulled them out of the gutter and thrust them into contention over the last four years. So much of what they need to contend is right there at their fingertips. Whether or not that translates to real success on the court is entirely up to them.