Top 5 Basketball Players in Minnesota Timberwolves History

Top 5 basketball players in Minnesota history Timberwolves

The short but curious history of the "wolves" of Minneapolis offers us many interesting names

The Minnesota Timberwolves are one of the youngest teams in the National Basketball Association. Existing since 1989, the franchise does not have a particularly rich history in the league, but it can boast of a number of famous basketball players who put the team of "wolves" from Minneapolis. In this material, we will rank the five best players to ever be a part of the Timberwolves, and we will also mention some players who did not make the list, but made a significant contribution and will always be remembered by the team's fans.

#1 – Kevin Garnett

Undisputed number one is the 211 cm giant Kevin Garnett. Selected at number 5 in the 1995 draft, Garnett made history with Minnesota, where he spent 12 seasons before heading to the Boston Celtics in 2007 to become an NBA champion. After two campaigns with the Brooklyn Nets, he returned to the Wolves to end his career after the 15/16 season. In 927 games during his first stint, he finished with averages of 20.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 blocks and made 10 All-Star teams. His most notable achievement was the 2004 NBA MVP award, when he led Minnesota to the Western Conference Finals, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2020, Garnett became part of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

#2 – Karl-Anthony Towns

Only 26, and already in the top two of the best basketball players in the history of Minnesota! This is Karl-Anthony Towns. The center, selected number one in the 2015 draft, continues to impress in his seventh year in the NBA. And in 2022, he was selected for the All-Star game for the third time. Karl-Anthony can also boast of the fact that he was chosen as the best rookie in 2016. With over 20 points, over 11 rebounds and nearly 3 assists per game average, he's looking to unseat Kevin Garnett from the top spot soon. For this purpose, however, he must remain until the end of his career in Minneapolis.

#3 – Kevin Love

There will certainly be Wolves fans who disagree with this choice. The reason is that Kevin Love left the team in 2014 and became a leading figure in the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom he also won the NBA title in 2016. In his years in Minnesota, however, he was among the most impressive and quite successfully filled the hole left by Kevin Garnett. It was a season after Garnett's departure that Love was selected with the fifth pick in the draft. In his third season with the Timberwolves, he was named MVP and made his first All-Star game, where he played for four more years - two with Minnesota and two with the Cleveland franchise. The 203-centimeter player played in 364 games for the team, finishing with averages of 19.2 points and 12.2 rebounds. He's also fourth all-time in Minnesota history in three-pointers, second in rebounds, fifth in points and first in rebounds per game, though Towns is relentlessly chasing him.

#4 – Andrew Wiggins

And if Minnesota fans have something to regret that their team gave Kevin Love to Cleveland, it was Andrew Wiggins, the Cavaliers' number one pick in the 2014 draft, headed to Minneapolis. The light winger spent six seasons at the Target Center and showed that he could become one of the big stars in the association. Since 2020, he has been part of the Golden State Warriors and only in 2022 was he among the players who will participate in the All-Star game. In his years with the Wolves, however, he was voted the best rookie in the NBA, managed to score an average of about 20 points and grab 4.3 rebounds per game to catch the eye of the Warriors.

#5 – Sam Mitchell

The last train for our ranking catches a basketball player from the slightly more distant past compared to the positions between second and fourth. It's about Sam Mitchell, who has two stints in Minnesota. The first was between 1989 and 1992. After three years with the Indiana Pacers, however, he returned for seven more campaigns in Minneapolis. One of the main reasons he made the list is, aside from his long career and many points he scored for the team, the fact that he became a mentor to a number of young players on the Timberwolves, including Kevin Garnett. Mitchell never shone with his indicators, but he is one of the basketball players who gave the beginning of Minnesota's road to the NBA. Mitchell impresses with his defensive play, with the organization of the team and above all with the love he receives from the fans.

There are a number of other names that deserve a place in the ranking. Among them is the two-season Sam Kessel, who averaged 19.8 points and 7.3 assists in the 2003/04 season, in which Minnesota came so close to the NBA Finals, but an injury stopped one of the team's leaders for the series with the Lakers. Wally Scherbiak is another one of those names that we can regret not being in the top 5. He is one of the most productive players in history, and in his first year, 1999, he was a top five rookie. In 2002, he made it to the All-Star Game and was one of Kevin Garnett's favorite teammates. It is also worth mentioning Al Jefferson, who in the seasons between 2007 and 2010 spent his strongest years in the NBA precisely in Minneapolis and with averages of 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, definitely makes fans think that there is someone to replace the Boston Celtics Garnett. Tom Gugliotta also spent his best moments in the NBA in the three seasons between 1995 and 1998 with the Wolves, and in the second of them he was part of the All-Star Game.

Not to be outdone are the names of basketball players like Stephan Marbury, Ricky Rubio, and even if Minnesota fans disagree, Jimmy Butler. They also have a serious mark in the history of the team, but rather they are even outside the top 10.

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