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10 greatest Timberwolves in franchise history, ranked

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By James Salmon | Last updated Apr 5, 2025 1:35 PM ET

Life hasn’t always been easy for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Since joining the league in 1989, they’ve made it past the first round of the NBA Playoffs on just two occasions, losing at that stage 10 times.

But while that lack of success – and the fact that they’ve only been in the league since ’89 – has contributed to this list of their Top 10 players having a little less depth than those of many other teams, the Timberwolves have still had a number of very good players come through their doors.

Without further ado, this is the list of the Top 10 Timberwolves in franchise history, ranked.

10. Al Jefferson

Al Jefferson’s time in Minnesota isn’t the most memorable of his career. But while he only spent three seasons with the team, he was a force to be reckoned with. Jefferson came in as a replacement to Kevin Garnett, and though he was unsurprisingly unable to live up to the lofty standards set by his predecessor, he did a pretty good job.

In those three years he averaged 20.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists to establish himself as one of the better players to have donned the Minnesota jersey.

9. Ricky Rubio

In seven seasons with the Wolves, Ricky Rubio didn’t do a whole lot of scoring, but he was a great facilitator and defender. He is second in Wolves history in assists and steals.

He played for the Wolves from 2011-12 through 2016-17 and then returned for 2020-21 as part of the trade that also included Jaden McDaniels. Rubio also was runner-up for NBA Rookie of the Year in 2011-12 and made the All-Rookie Team.

8. Rudy Gobert

Rudy Gobert has been a rather polarizing figure for Timberwolves fans. Minnesota traded for Gobert in July 2022. They gave up five players and five first-round draft picks to acquire him. In nearly three seasons, Gobert has averaged 13.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game.

The 7’1 center was named the 2023-24 Defensive Player of the Year, the fourth of his career, as he helped the Wolves earn the third seed in the Western Conference and reach the Western Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history.

Despite his limited time in Minnesota, Gobert is already sixth in total rebounds, blocks, and win shares in franchise history, according to Basketball Reference. Gobert also is the franchise leader in field-goal percentage by a wide margin at .660.

7. Andrew Wiggins

Many Timberwolves fans don’t have particularly fond memories of Andrew Wiggins’ tenure in Minnesota. Over the course of his six seasons there, it became apparent that he wasn’t going to be the savior that they’d hope he was when he was drafted with the first pick in 2014 and then subsequently traded to the Wolves.

But expectations aside, he was a solid player for a number of years for the team. In his time there, Wiggins won the Rookie of the Year Award and averaged 19.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. He might not have fulfilled fans’ lofty expectations, but Wiggins was a decent player on a struggling team in Minnesota.

6. Tom Gugliotta

With any recency bias now out of the way, let’s head back to the ’90s. In a relatively long career, Tom Gugliotta only spent four seasons with the Timberwolves, but they were some of the most productive of his career and saw the team drag themselves out of the doldrums of the NBA standings and back into the playoffs.

He was an NBA All-Star in one of his seasons with the team, and in his time there averaged 18.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

5. Wally Szczerbiak

Former Minnesota Timberwolves player Wally Szczerbiak waves to fans after being introduced during a timeout in the first half against the Toronto Raptors at Target Center. Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Wally Szczerbiak was drafted by the Timberwolves with the sixth pick in the 1999 draft, and would go on to have a seven-season career with the team that has him among the top players in franchise history.

A dependable scorer and lethal shooter (he maxed out at 45.5% from three-point range in his third season), Szczerbiak’s tenure in Minnesota has seen him file himself away in the Top 10 for many statistics; he’s seventh in games and points scored and 10th in assists, numbers which confirm his spot among the franchise’s greats.

4. Anthony Edwards

Speaking of potential saviors, Anthony Edwards was on the receiving end of the same expectations placed upon Wiggins when the Wolves drafted Edwards with the first pick in 2020, but he looks a lot more likely to fulfill them than his predecessor.

He’s only been there for five years, but Edwards’ explosive athleticism and continually developing ability to read the game has him poised to be one of the game’s best players for many years to come.

Already he’s helped lead the Timberwolves back into the playoffs over the past couple of years and past the first round for just the second time in team history. He’s a three-time All-Star and made the 2023-24 All-NBA Second Team. So far in his career, he’s averaging 23.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game, and he’s improved his scoring every season of his career.

Edwards already is the franchise leader in made three-pointers as well as points per game. He’s not yet 24, and he already is third in total points in franchise history as well as fourth in steals, sixth in assists, and ninth in rebounds.

3. Kevin Love

The Wolves drafted Kevin Love with the fifth pick in 2008, with the team no doubt hoping he would become the best Kevin to ever wear a jersey – a feat which would take a whole lot of doing. He didn’t quite get there, but during Love’s six seasons with the Timberwolves, he was one of the most potent offensive players in the league.

By his fourth season in the NBA, Love was averaging a whopping 26.0 points and 13.3 rebounds, enough to earn him the NBA Most Improved Player Award and a spot on the NBA All-Star Team.

He added a couple more of those to his trophy cabinet while with the Timberwolves as well as a couple of All-NBA Second Team spots, etching his name into the annals of Minnesota history as one of the greatest to don the jersey.

2. Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns was on the receiving end of plenty of criticism, and though a lot of it was justified, there’s no doubting the prodigious talent that this man has. One of the greatest shooting big men in history, the 7’0 tall Towns is a career 39.5% shooter from long range, and his deft touch led him to five seasons averaging more than 24 points per game in his first eight in the league.

His ninth season finally translated to the success for which Timberwolves fans so desperately yearned, helping to lead the Wolves to the Western Conference Finals for just the second time in team history in 2024. Then the Wolves shocked their fans by trading Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.

KAT ended up second in points, blocks and rebounds, and fifth in assists for the Wolves franchise. At the time of the trade, he was easily the second-best player in Wolves history, although Edwards could very well move past him when all is said and done.

1. Kevin Garnett

There’s plenty of debate about the greatest ever player for many franchises in the NBA. The Minnesota Timberwolves are not one of them.

By the end of his career, Garnett had put together 14 seasons in Minnesota, and the list of accolades he received during those years speaks for itself; the MVP in 2004, a 10-time All-Star, three times voted to the All-NBA First Team, three to the Second Team and a couple to the Third Team, as well as a six-time member of the All-NBA Defensive First Team.

Unsurprisingly, he leads virtually every historic stat of note for the team, and it’s not close. He’s the best player to ever don the jersey and just so happens to be the longest tenured, too, making him unequivocally the greatest Timberwolves player in history.

With Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore finally completing their purchase of the Wolves, the hope is that they will be able to mend fences with Garnett and finally retire his number.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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