The goal wasn't necessarily ever about competing this year, despite the Minnesota Timberwolves' hot start to begin the year. It's why the Wolves let veteran players like Taj Gibson, Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague and others go.
Ryan Saunders, Gersson Rosas, and company know what they want to build and they've completely scrapped everything to the point of Josh Okogie and Karl-Anthony Towns being the only players that have been on the team for more than a year.
One of the underrated parts of what the brain trust of the Wolves has done is find talent from nowhere, similar to the way the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors seem to find those players.