7 Biggest Threats to the Celtics' Chances to Repeat as NBA Champions

4. Minnesota Timberwolves

The 2024 NBA playoffs featured an odd debate for about a week that became the dominant talking point of the second round: is Anthony Edwards better than Jayson Tatum?

What made it odd was that the argument pitted an established star in his seventh postseason against a younger player in his first season past the first round. Despite his inexperience, however, Edwards completely owned the moment and took the league by storm. His 25.9 ppg during the regular season was impressive enough, but it was his postseason performance that elicited comparisons to Michael Jordan. He had a trio of 40-point performances, including two against Nikola Jokic and the defending champion Denver Nuggets.

It was Edwards' demeanor and knack for big shots that impressed people more than any statistics. When facing some of the stars such as Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic, he looked like he belonged right with them. His fearless mentality coupled with his newly-acquired playoff experience makes him a player with the potential to become the face of the league and one any team should be scared to face.

The Wolves notably lost their longest-tenured star in Karl Anthony-Towns (more on him shortly) in a blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks which will be a massive loss. Towns' size and scoring ability will be missed, but the playoffs showed that Sixth Man of the Year, Naz Reid might be able to fill that gap to an extent alongside lockdown defender Rudy Gobert. Minnesota picked up Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in return for Towns, players with a lot of boom or bust potential.

After his standout performance in the 2018 Final Four for Villanova, DiVincenzo struggled to firmly establish himself as a major player in the league until last year when he posted career highs in ppg (15.5) and 3pt% (.401). Randle has shown star potential, particularly in his stellar 2020-21 season when he carried New York back to the playoffs with a second-team All-NBA season but he has been plagued by injuries that limited him last season and it is unclear if he will return to form.

The Timberwolves will need them to play to their full potential as well as needing Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniels to become bigger contributors than they have been. Minnesota is a team that can be dangerous if everything goes right, but that may be a bigger 'if' than people realize.