![\"Memphis](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/stp-z-kyleanderson-0228-02.jpg\")
Memphis Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson reacts in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo\/Brandon Dill)<\/p>\nAfter news broke of Kyle Anderson\u2019s impending return to the Timberwolves nearly two years after his free agency departure, teammates got on the horn.\u00a0Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards were all on the phone.<\/p>\n
The center of the conversation: It was time to finish what they started.<\/p>\n
Memphis Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson reacts in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo\/Brandon Dill)<\/p>\n
All four, and a few others on the current roster, were a part of one of the two greatest teams in Timberwolves history, which reached the first of two consecutive Western Conference Finals in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely exciting,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n
Anderson has been welcomed with open arms by those in the building who know him best. He developed close bonds with many teammates in his first stint in Minnesota. He vacationed with his then former teammates during the 2025 all-star break in Mexico. He hangs out with Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid in the summertime.<\/p>\n
Gobert, with whom Anderson had a public, in-game spat in the regular season finale of the 2022-23 campaign, became a close friend and dinner buddy the following year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are my guys,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n
And this is his coach.<\/p>\n
This is Anderson\u2019s 12th NBA season. He has played for six teams in that span, including some of the NBA\u2019s most legendary bench bosses \u2014 Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, Steve Kerr. Yet Anderson said Timberwolves coach Chris Finch is the one who has most understood his game and skillset.<\/p>\n
As a whole, Minnesota values the versatile forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a big part of what we do,\u201d Gobert said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to help us on and off the court. I think he\u2019s a smart player, he\u2019s a tough player, he\u2019s an unselfish player, and also he\u2019s someone who is a winner.\u201d<\/p>\n
That type of belief matters for a player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen that first-hand. Just playing for a few teams where I feel like they didn\u2019t see it, it sucks,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI was with a lot of young guys in Utah and in Memphis, and they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, I could be in another situation.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018The grass ain\u2019t always greener.\u2019 So, wherever you\u2019re loved, you\u2019ve got to make the most out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what he intends to do with this opportunity. On the surface, Anderson figures to slot into the end of Minnesota\u2019s rotation with minutes as either the team\u2019s eighth or ninth man. But he\u2019s making no such presumptions, nor demands, regarding his role.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m willing to come in and do whatever,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s not play at all, play a little bit, if I play a lot \u2014 whatever it is, I just want to contribute the best I can and I\u2019ll go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Make no mistake, the 32-year-old forward remains confident in his game. While opportunities to play were sporadic over the past two seasons, largely due to circumstance \u2014 he spent much of this season on a Utah team prioritizing lottery balls over victories \u2014 Anderson still feels he\u2019s \u201cin my prime, ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s clearly making an early effort not to step on toes. While many of the faces remain the same, times have changed. Anderson was a vocal leader for two years in Minnesota, but this is a different locker room. He hasn\u2019t been a part of the last year and a half.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t want to hear it,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201c(They\u2019d be like) \u2018You haven\u2019t been here all year. Shut up.\u2019 When I can pitch in, I\u2019ll do my part, but obviously the dynamic is a little different.\u201d<\/p>\n
He knows Minnesota reached the West Finals again last year without his assistance, and is in a position to do something similar this spring. His only goal is to aid in those efforts in any possible way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think these guys are doing a great job. Like, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m coming in to save the day or do too much,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cHowever I can contribute and however me and Finchy see fit when we sit in his office, then that\u2019s how it would go. But I\u2019m not coming in expecting to play 30 minutes and taking all the ball handling responsibilities right away to save the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever I see I can help, that\u2019s how I\u2019m gonna do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After news broke of Kyle Anderson\u2019s impending return to the Timberwolves nearly two years after his free agency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3782],"tags":[375,7,2026,307,152,3954,6,373,66,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-637444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-anthony-edwards","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-chris-finch","11":"tag-minnesota","12":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","13":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-rudy-gobert","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-timberwolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116167418784071527","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}