Before the Timberwolves' preseason game against the New York Knicks Monday night, head coach Chris Finch laid out what had clearly become one of the largest storylines of training camp: the vibe in the Timberwolves' locker room is different.
Finch described the difference as trading "moodiness for giddiness." Last season, the Wolves struggled to keep their energy consistent, especially when adversity hit, but so far this preseason, that has been replaced with a feeling of joy and excitement.
— Kris Pursiainen (@krispursiainen) October 12, 2026Chris Finch on LaMelo Ball acquisition:
"We've been a moody team in last few years...has gotten in our way...we've traded moodiness for giddiness, so, we've gotta get to some sort of happy medium"
The quote went viral across social media, with fans quick to point at Julius Randle as the moody player Finch was talking about. While Randle certainly was as big a culprit in the Wolves' shortcomings last season as anyone, putting all of the locker room cohesion on him would be unfair.
Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert, and even Naz Reid could be described, on some level, as moody players. It was a team-wide issue, and almost every player on the roster deserved some level of culpability.
While they've made changes aimed at this issue and spirits appear to be high as a result, there's also the concern, which Finch noted, about letting the good vibes distract them from what's necessary to win a championship.
Timberwolves can't let good vibes take away from their championship drive
This summer, the Wolves correctly identified that as a flaw of their team and made it a focus to change it. The trade for LaMelo Ball did exactly that and quickly brought the entire team closer together.
Immediately, the trade for Ball changed the interpersonal vibes of the Wolves' roster. Edwards and Ball quickly got along extremely well. Off the court, they planned a trip to see Gobert in France, and on the court, the two were in the gym together all summer in Minnesota.
Once the preseason games began, the chemistry between the Wolves' two best players off the court immediately translated onto the court. Ball's playmaking and shooting abilities have opened up the floor for both Edwards and McDaniels, who have been scoring hyper-efficiently so far this preseason.
Ball's energy on and off the floor has breathed new life into a Timberwolves roster that had grown stale last season. Both players and staff didn't seem excited to come to work every day, and for nearly all of the regular season, everyone was just waiting around for the playoffs.
The energy between teammates in the locker room before and after games is unmistakble. While last season's team got along fine enough and never had any specific issues, they never truly came together as one unit. That meant when areas of a game started to go arwry, the Wolves were slow to turn it around.
However, the key for the Wolves over the next few months is to find the right balance between the two extremes. They need to have both of Ball's fun-loving, go-lucky attitude that has made training camp fun, but they will also need to find the seriousness and commitment to find every little edge that is often necessary to win the championship.
The Wolves absolutely made the right move, choosing giddiness over moodiness, as Finch put it. The added energy and excitement will likely carry the Wolves through any and all growing pains they see early in the year. Just because the Timberwolves' front office made quality moves, though, doesn't mean the organizational work is over.
When difficult stretches inevitably hit, it will be up to the coaching staff and the players themselves to turn everything around in time. Last year, they let problems fester, which turned a single bad loss into a weeks-long losing streak. They would also have stretches of incredibly high-caliber play, but they were never sustainable for more than a few games at a time.
The stakes for this season are obvious. The Timberwolves have no remaining draft capital, and the veteran leaders, Mike Conley, Joe Ingles, and Kyle Anderson, whom they so often relied on, moved on in Free Agency.
It is time for the Wolves and their best players to take the next step forward in their NBA journeys. While the Wolves are not championship-or-bust just yet, the reality is that there are no more guardrails for this young Timberwolves roster.
This Wolves team will either sink or swim on their own.
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