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May 24, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch talks to the media after the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder after game three of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

'This s*** never ends well': 7 most striking things Chris Finch said about the Wolves

Originally posted on Minnesota Timberwolves on SI
By Joe Nelson | Last updated May 29, 2025 3:38 PM ET

With fatigue and frustration from the season-ending loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder still evident on Chris Finch's face, the Minnesota Timberwolves' head coach met with reporters on Thursday to review the season and look ahead to what's next for a franchise that has been pummeled in back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances.

1. What next season's roster could look like

"I'm sure the front office will be in contact with everybody, myself include, about their strategy and what they intend to do. It's our intention to keep everybody here," Finch said. "We've also made a trade on the eve of training camp, so going away and doing a lot of planning, it doesn't feel like it's necessarily...yeah."

"We have eight starter-quality players. We just do," he added. "But again, we don't know what the roster will look like so I'm not really going to get into forecasting what our starting lineup is going to look like in October right now, so we'll just have to see."

The biggest questions are with Julius Randle, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Randle and Reid have player options and Alexander-Walker will become an unrestricted free agent if he's not re-signed before July 6.

2. Where Anthony Edwards needs to grow to take another step

"Just going to be along the think-the-game route," Finch said. "I think he's got to also figure out a bit of a closing package, and we have to help him there. What shots and places on the floor can he repeatedly get to? Foul drawing. You see right now in the league, you see what gets rewarded and you need to kind of lean into that a little bit even though it's not necessarily how he likes to play. But it seems to be effective."

He was clearly suggesting that Edwards needs to start grifting for fouls the way Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and some of the league's other stars do.

3. Rob Dillingham, Mike Conley and the point guard situation

"The first thing that Rob has to realize is there's a great opportunity in front of him. I think Mike can still be a super high level contributor for us, but we're going to have to continue to manage his minutes and his workload overall. That creates a great opportunity for Rob or somebody to step in there. That should be an incredible motivating factor," Finch said.

"I think Rob has a good feel now for what the NBA is like and what we need him to do. I liked his defensive growth more than anything. I think offensively he's gotta figure out how to simplify his game. He's got the ability to get to the heart of the defense and create pace and make plays from those spots on the floor. We desperately need that."

Finch said Dillingham needs to be more decisive and do less dribbling, while also perfecting his shot because he's going to get a lot of catch-and-shoot opportunities when playing with Edwards.

4. Finch downplays the suffering Timberwolves fans have endured

"It wasn't an incredibly fun season for me at times and I don't think it was for our guys. But we always found a way to figure it out and get better. That was the rewarding part," Finch said.

"Listen, being in sports long enough, you guys follow sports, this s*** never ends well. It don't matter if you lose by 40 or you lose at the buzzer, there's only one way it ends well. So to sit here and ruminate about how the season ends or how much it hurts a fan base or how much it hurts a player or some long-suffering franchise.... every city, every sports team goes through the same stuff. You should've been an Eagles fan in the '80s, it wasn't fun."

5. Jaden McDaniels is a "legitimate two-way player"

"Jaden's growth is one of the highlights of the season. He's a legitimate two-way player now. But what we need from him is some more playmaking," Finch said. "Now he's getting the touches, now the shot attempts are up. He's one of the guys who can find Rudy, he can find Ant. That's a dimension I think would really help us."

6. Terrence Shannon Jr. can be a great defender

"He has all the raw tools to be a great defender. No doubt about it," said Finch. "For him, his biggest area of growth this offseason and into next season is really shoring up his defense. He should be destructive, be able to blow up a lot of stuff. Has a body to contain. Like most young players, what trips him up a little bit at the moment is the awareness that things are happening so fast and just getting a feel for that. That's just repetition."

7. OKC defenders were allowed to dislodge Julius Randle

"Even when you have a guy who's really good in the post like Julius is, you have a hard time getting to that just because the way they allow smaller players to guard bigger players. They just kind of mitigate their advantage. Julius' advantage is power. They were just being more powerful back and he wasn't allowed to do or get position, even if he was being dislodged from his spot. It's hard," he said.

Finch was clearly upset with the way the officials allowed OKC players to defend with physicality compared to the soft whistle Gilgeous-Alexander frequently received on the other end of the floor.