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Expansion winters: the Minnesota Timberwolves story

Franchise era

1989–90—1994–95

Expansion winters

Minnesota Timberwolves

The story in one sentence

The Timberwolves struggled through six losing seasons before a landmark draft delivered the player who changed the franchise.

01

The long search for a cornerstone

02

Tony Campbell, Doug West and Christian Laettner gave the era its recognizable core.

03

Its ending created the conditions for the kg years.

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. The foundation

    The franchise context

    Minnesota's story is a search for a sustainable contender around extraordinary homegrown stars: Kevin Garnett first, then Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.

  2. 1989–90—1994–95

    Expansion winters

    The Timberwolves struggled through six losing seasons before a landmark draft delivered the player who changed the franchise.

  3. After 1994–95

    What came next

    Garnett turned Minnesota into a yearly playoff team, won MVP and finally reached the conference finals with a veteran supporting cast.

The core

Faces of the chapter

Next era →The KG years1995–96—2003–04