Should the Suns vs. Bucks NBA Finals matchup give Wolves hope?
Five years ago, the mid-market Milwaukee Bucks had a young Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton to go with several spare roster parts. They won just 33 games and missed the playoffs  part of a trend that had seen the Bucks either miss the playoffs or lose in the first round in every season since 2001. Two years ago, the Phoenix Suns won just 19 games. That was after seasons of 23, 24 and 21 wins. The franchise looked hopeless, even if Devin Booker was emerging as a scoring threat. There were realistic aspirations of a franchise swooping in and trading for Booker  maybe even the Timberwolves, where his buddy Karl-Anthony Towns plays. But fast-forward to this season, and, well, the story is obviously completely changed for both franchises. The Suns are on an accelerated timeline compared to the Bucks, who had to grind through some playoff disappointment to get here. but both have arrived at the NBA Finals as unexpected but not out-of-place competitors. When Game 1 tips off Tuesday, one thing local NBA fans might want to ask themselves  and something Patrick Reusse and I mused about on Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast  is how much the trajectories of these two franchises should give the Wolves hope about the path they might be on. If you don't see the podcast player, tap here to listen. Here's what I would say: Each individual team is different, so it's hard to draw direct 1 to 1 comparisons without overstepping some boundaries. But I do think there is a little "why not us?" feeling that a Wolves fan could get from seeing these two teams meet in the finals. The Suns were awful for four straight years and didn't even make the postseason last year despite improving. They had a mix of good role players, the internal development of Booker and the key veteran signing of Chris Paul. Combine that with a Western Conference that was suddenly wide open and everything fell into place. The Bucks are not exactly a destination franchise, but they have been able to retain Giannis and Middleton while building a better base around them. Once they started winning, they pushed all-in with a trade for Jrue Holiday to provide what they felt was the missing piece. That pushed them over the edge in a winnable Eastern Conference, particularly once the Nets were doomed by injuries. If your only comeback is that "well, it's the Wolves. They're doomed to fail," that's the easy way out. Low-hanging fruit. Teams change their narratives all the time. If you are concerned that the core of Towns and Edwards  plus D'Angelo Russell as a third piece  isn't close to enough and that acquiring more talent without a draft pick and with limited cap space isn't happening this offseason, that's valid. But those obstacles are not impossible to overcome, particularly with another year beyond this to reshape the roster. Bottom line: Nobody would have imagined the Suns in the NBA Finals two years ago, or even last year. There was legitimate skepticism that the Bucks could keep their star players, let alone finally get over the hump in the playoffs. Now they're both here. If that doesn't give a Wolves fan at least a hint of optimism that it could happen here, then I'm not sure what will.