Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves finished 49–33 and made a second straight Western Conference finals, where the Oklahoma City Thunder ended the run in five. The franchise has still never won an NBA championship.
The Wolves went through a big change a year ago when they traded Karl-Anthony Towns in a deal that brought in Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The theme this offseason was continuity. The frontcourt runs through Randle; the identity still flows through Anthony Edwards on the ball and Rudy Gobert at the rim. Veteran Mike Conley is under contract for another year and is there to steady the tempo, while Naz Reid is also back. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is gone, but Terrence Shannon Jr. is around to soak up his minutes.
Edwards has already tilted a series. The next phase is playing more consistent ball on both ends of the floor and making an MVP push. Jaden McDaniels gives him the cleanest star-wing partner in the West, and Gobert’s screens still free the first step. The formula works when 3-pointers hit; last season, Minnesota shot 37.7 percent, fourth-best in the league.
The Timberwolves won’t look much different, but the NBA on TV will this season. Watching it will also cost more than ever before. The league has new broadcast partners (plural) for the first time since 2002. Cable network TNT is out; subscription services Prime and Peacock are in. That expands the NBA’s total reach, but it also brings new restrictions and additional apps to the weekly TV rotation.
Wolves fans should be focused on pressing issues like, “Can the offense scale without dulling a top-10 defense?” and “Is this the team that finally makes it to the NBA Finals?” Any confusion around the viewing process itself should be cleared up by the end of this guide.
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All times listed below are ET. All prices are updated as of October 2025.
You can watch in-market and nationally televised NBA games on Fubo (Stream Free Now). Out-of-market viewers can stream regional games with NBA League Pass.
Pay TV base
It begins, as things do, with eyeballs and an internet connection. Here are the most common options for cable, satellite and streaming:
- Fubo
- Hulu Live TV
- YouTube TV
- DirecTV’s “Choice” package
- Dish’s “America’s Top 120+” package
- Xfinity’s “Sports & News” TV + internet plan
- Verizon Fios’ “More Fios” plan
- Sling’s “Orange & Blue” plan with its “Sports Extra” add-on, or single-day access passes
Average monthly cost: $85-100.
Covers: ABC, ESPN, NBA TV, NBC and most regional sports networks.
FanDuel Sports Network North
Each NBA team has its own regional sports network, or RSN. For Minnesota, it’s FanDuel Sports Network North, which will carry 65 regular-season Timberwolves games.
Michael Grady is the team’s usual play-by-play announcer, except when he’s called into national TV duty. When that happens, Alan Horton takes over. Longtime analyst, and Minnesota native, Jim Petersen is back to provide color commentary.
Local households will get all the Wolves’ FanDuel Sports Network games with one of the aforementioned pay TV carriers. For the far-away fans, out-of-market regional games are included on NBA League Pass. The only events blacked out on League Pass are prime-time national spots and in-market RSN broadcasts. League Pass has different viewing options for home and away presentations, plus an in-arena feed that shows the JumboTron misadventures instead of commercials (if you get the premium version).
What you’ll need to watch these games: A pay TV package if you’re in the area, and NBA League Pass if you’re not.
Additional monthly cost for out-of-market fans: $9-14 ($109.99/season on one device, $159.99/season for up to three devices).
Got it? Good. Now, let’s prepare for the main-stage action. With the Wolves having a team-record 28 games on national TV, here’s how the network rotation looks this season:
- Sunday* — ABC/ESPN and NBC/Peacock
- Monday — Peacock
- Tuesday — NBC/Peacock
- Wednesday — ESPN
- Thursday* — Prime Video
- Friday — Prime Video and ESPN*
- Saturday* — ABC/ESPN and Prime Video
* starts midseason
ESPN
This is the home of Mike Breen’s “bang!” call, which has punctuated basketball’s biggest moments across the 21st century. ESPN’s other play-by-play options are Ryan Ruocco, Mark Jones and Dave Pasch. In a convoluted move emblematic of the current broadcast business, “Inside the NBA” with Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson has been licensed to the Walt Disney Company. Starting this season, the Chuck-Shaq-Jet-Ernie studio show will still be produced by TNT Sports but air on ESPN and ABC.
Timberwolves games on ESPN
- Wednesday, Oct. 29: vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 5: at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 26: at Oklahoma City Thunder, 7:30 p.m. (NBA Cup)
- Thursday, Dec. 25: at Denver Nuggets, 10:30 p.m. (Christmas Day game also airing on ABC)
- Friday, Jan. 16: at Houston Rockets, 9:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Feb. 8: vs. LA Clippers, 3 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 20: vs. Dallas Mavericks, 7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 25: vs. Houston Rockets, 9:30 p.m.
ABC
The other home of Breen’s “bang,” since ABC and ESPN are intertwined under Disney. ABC games can generally feel a bit bigger and more glamorous, because they draw a bigger audience over the air and because they fall on weekends. This is also where the NBA Finals go down. Of note, the network demoted (and then extended) Doris Burke, while Tim Legler got called up to the finals team with Breen and Richard Jefferson.
Timberwolves games on ABC
- Thursday, Dec. 25: at Denver Nuggets, 10:30 p.m. (Christmas Day game also airing on ESPN)
- Saturday, Jan. 24: vs. Golden State Warriors, 5:30 p.m.
- Sunday, March 1: at Denver Nuggets, 3:30 p.m.
- Sunday, March 15: at Oklahoma City Thunder, 1 p.m.
What you’ll need to watch these games: ABC is free over the air. ESPN comes with a pay TV package, or a subscription to ESPN Unlimited ($29.99/month).
NBC
It’s the return of “Roundball Rock.” This might be the best theme music in all of sports broadcasting. It has inspired rap samples and “SNL” skits and … this remix with Kawhi Leonard’s laugh.
NBC last aired NBA games in a dozen-year stretch between 1990 and 2002. It aligned with the religious experience that was Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, and it built legends around Marv Albert and Bob Costas. Mike Tirico leads the new play-by-play crew; he also does “Sunday Night Football” for the network. Other commentators for this NBC reboot include Noah Eagle, Terry Gannon and the Timberwolves’ own Michael Grady.
NBC has “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” doubleheaders on TV, with late-night tipoffs for viewers in the Eastern and Central time zones. NBC games can also be streamed on Peacock.
Timberwolves games on NBC
- Tuesday, Jan. 6: vs. Miami Heat, 8 p.m.
- Tuesday, Jan. 13: at Milwaukee Bucks, 8 p.m.
- Tuesday, Feb. 24: at Portland Trail Blazers, 11 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 10: at Los Angeles Lakers, 11 p.m.
- Sunday, March 22: at Boston Celtics, 8 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 7: at Indiana Pacers, 8 p.m.
Peacock
Like ABC, NBC gets picked up for free with a broadcast antenna (rabbit ears never went out of style). But NBCUniversal is also trying to maximize Peacock, its over-the-top subscription service already building out a presence in college football and Premier League soccer. This season’s Peacock games are on Mondays, and most weeks have two or three exclusives stacked up to start the week.
Timberwolves games exclusively on Peacock
- Monday, Oct. 27: vs. Denver Nuggets, 9:30 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 3: at Brooklyn Nets, 7 p.m.
- Monday, Jan. 26: vs. Golden State Warriors, 9:30 p.m.
- Monday, Feb. 2: at Memphis Grizzlies, 9:30 p.m.
What you’ll need to watch these games: NBC is free over the air. Peacock subscriptions that include live sports start at $10.99/month with ads.
Additional monthly cost: $11-17 for the Peacock exclusives.
Prime Video
It was only a matter of time, really. The Amazon live broadcast team already snapped up NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” and a round of WNBA games. Its basketball buy-in starts this fall. Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan are two of the best, most recognizable voices in both basketball and football. They’ll do the lead play-by-play assignments, along with Eric Collins (the Charlotte Hornets guy!) and hey look, it’s Grady again (he’s a busy guy).
Prime has the knockout rounds of this year’s NBA Cup, plus the play-in tournament and select playoff games. Prime users can also link their NBA League Pass to use in the app and local viewers can sign up for FanDuel Sports Network as an add-on subscription.
If Edwards makes a run at the MVP award, Randle sustains his creation and the defense stays strong, Minnesota can land a top-three seed in the West. If the half-court stalls and whistles dry up, this could be another 50-win team that needs Edwards to solve May.
Franchise leaders entering 2025-26
- Points — Kevin Garnett
- Rebounds — Kevin Garnett
- Assists — Kevin Garnett
- Steals — Kevin Garnett
- Blocks — Kevin Garnett
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