The Timberwolves have been knocking on the door for Western Conference supremacy but haven’t been able to break it down.

Over the last three years, they’ve reached the conference finals twice, with the Mavericks and Thunder, respectively, preventing them from reaching the Finals. Last season, they fell to the Spurs in the conference semifinals.

It hasn’t been for a lack of trying. Prior to the 2024-25 season, they dealt Karl-Anthony Towns and his enormous contract to the Knicks and essentially replaced him with Julius Randle. Towns got his ring but his former teammates are still striving for theirs.

This offseason, they dealt away Randle as part of a major four-team swap. They also gave away another key frontcourt player, Naz Reid, and most of their draft capital to acquire dynamic but oft-injured point guard LaMelo Ball.

They also made news last week by agreeing to sign forward Jonathan Kuminga. Last offseason, Kuminga and the Warriors had a lengthy standoff during his restricted free agency before Kuminga signed a short-term deal. Kuminga was dealt to Atlanta in mid-season and entered the free agent market once again before settling on a team-friendly deal with Minnesota.

Whether Minnesota finally gets over the hump is largely predicated on how the backcourt pairing of Ball and Anthony Edwards meshes. They should rival the Lakers’ duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as the highest-scoring backcourt in the league. Ball is an obvious upgrade over an aging Mike Conley and the other point guards that the Timberwolves have utilized in recent seasons. By making this move in the offseason, Ball and Edwards have a full regular season to build chemistry and continuity before the playoffs.

Rudy Gobert is still around to anchor the defense, joined up front by Jaden McDaniels, a versatile defender and much-improved 3-point shooter. Kuminga could round out the frontcourt lineup unless the coaching staff chooses to go with Ayo Dosunmu at the small forward spot. Dosunmu was productive after being acquired from Chicago last season and was rewarded with a five-year deal from the front office in free agency.

The remainder of the rotation will be sorted out during training camp with big man Joan Beringer and 2024 first-rounder Terrence Shannon Jr. likely to carve out roles.

That brings us to today’s topic: Do you think the offseason acquisitions of LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga will put the Timberwolves over the top in the Western Conference race? Or will they fall short once again?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.