The 2004–05 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 16th season competing in the National Basketball Association. After appearing in the Conference Finals the previous season, the Timberwolves played at around .500 for the first half of the season. However, the team began to struggle further into the season, losing six straight games between January and February and slipping below .500. After a 25–26 start, longtime head coach Flip Saunders was fired and replaced with general manager Kevin McHale for the remainder of the season. The Timberwolves improved under McHale's management, but finished the season in third position in the Northwest Division. With a 44–38 regular season record, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1996. Kevin Garnett led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists, as he was selected for the 2005 NBA All-Star Game. Following the season, Latrell Sprewell retired after turning down a contract extension, Sam Cassell was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, and McHale was fired as coach. This marked the beginning of over a decade of futility for the Timberwolves. From 2005 to 2018, they failed to make the playoffs.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 30 Forfeited pick 2 58 Blake Stepp PG Gonzaga

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Player statistics

Ragular season PlayerPF82 82 3,121 1,108 466 121 112 1,817 38.1 13.5 5.7 1.5 1.4 22.2SG82 51 2,068 219 128 30 30 541 25.2 2.7 1.6 .4 .4 6.6SF 81 37 2,558 303 191 40 16 1,253 31.6 3.7 2.4 .5 .2 15.5SF 80 79 2,450 254 179 53 21 1,021 30.6 3.2 2.2 .7 .3 12.8PG 79 32 1,729 105 283 27 6 691 21.9 1.3 3.6 .3 .1 8.7SG 76 0 1,272 181 85 50 15 437 16.7 2.4 1.1 .7 .2 5.8PF 70 0 1,492 453 53 23 118 527 21.3 6.5 .8 .3 1.7 7.5PG 66 12 742 69 161 35 18 181 11.2 1.0 2.4 .5 .3 2.7C 62 34 1,215 324 29 15 56 368 19.6 5.2 .5 .2 .9 5.9PG 59 38 1,522 157 301 36 14 799 25.8 2.7 5.1 .6 .2 13.5C 46 23 410 113 6 7 13 73 8.9 2.5 .1 .2 .3 1.6C 44 8 521 97 17 15 13 111 11.8 2.2 .4 .3 .3 2.5C 41 14 601 128 18 7 14 88 14.7 3.1 .4 .2 .3 2.1SG 2 0 54 16 1 1 1 27 27.0 8.0 .5 .5 .5 13.5

Awards and records Kevin Garnett, NBA All-Defensive First Team

References