The Minnesota Timberwolves play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center on Wednesday evening.

The Timberwolves made a splash in the offseason by picking up defensive specialist, Rudy Gobert. The front court pairing of Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns could quickly become one of the most feared in the league, as they now have both an offensive and a defensive superstar to dominate the paint. D'Angelo Russell averaged 18.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.0 steals last season, but he was hampered by injuries, making the fresh start this season even more exciting. The Timberwolves also look forward to another step in the right direction for their budding superstar, Anthony Edwards, who put the league on notice last season, averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Timberwolves added good depth by picking up Kyle Anderson, who can provide solid defense and leadership off the bench.

On the other side, the Thunder are returning mostly the same lineup, as they look to continue developing their young core. Unfortunately, second-overall pick, Chet Holmgren (foot) picked up an injury in the offseason and is expected to miss the entire 2022-23 season. With Holmgren's absence, the Thunder will need to look to Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Darius Bazley to fill in extra minutes in the frontcourt. Aleksej Pokusevski is also in line to see a significant boost in playing time, as he showed an ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor, averaging 7.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 20 minutes per game last season. Josh Giddey, Luguentz Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remain the go-to core for the Thunder, as they have proven their ability to carry the team on various nights.