The Tim Connelly Thread (prev./still Fire Him)

[TimberKat]

If Ingles is that important in culture, you can bring him in as a coach.

Not really. Coaches are not able to set and enforce the culture like the players do.

Well, as we know not every player is built to be a coach. Also I think coaches go it in a different way than players. I can use an example from IT. There is a lead engineer: hands-on, experienced, skillful. And there is a manager who communicate with owners of process, team and organize process. A good team should be a place where both roles are filled with great personalities and professionals. Both roles should be used to build a productive, yet toxic free culture. MIA culture has been great because of their scouting, player development, athletic programs that work hand in hand with great coaching. But management has let them down, and it directly affects them.

Except Ingles isn't that lead engineer but the Cobol guy that is trying to learn web development which the team only use him for running test cases.

[shrink]

Connelly got a ton of heat for moves like the Ingles one. But today, I'm reminded about how important team culture is. Ingles came in, likely expecting to be a rotation player in the Anderson role. Then the trade happened. Not once has Ingles put up a stink, when he easily could have pouted like guys like Nowell, Minott, etc have in the past. He's been a model veteran for this young group. At worst, I would call that a neutral signing.

This is a good point. We forget that decisions are made at the time, based on the info available then.

When free agency took place, the Wolves plan was that we were a deep team already, and we were going to be deeper as we tried to give Dillingham and Shannon a lot of minutes as well. Ingles was certainly a role player, on the brink of NBA retirement, but..

1. He had been an excellent three point shooter in Orlando when he got minutes (43.5%, 40.9% in MIL before)
2. He wasn’t a guard - MIN’s guard minutes left no room to ever see the court
3. He already knew how to feed Gobert, and he was already familiar with a three-man game with Mike and Rudy
4. We were losing Kyle Anderson because of price
5. If we couldn’t play him, Ingles was still a well-respected vet that would help a locker room even if he never played.

For a vet min, at that time, that’s not bad value. The later KAT trade worsened the signing, as new roster holes were created that Ingles didn’t fill. But with the plan at the time, Ingles was a reasonable, though unspectacular choice.

[minimus]

Not really. Coaches are not able to set and enforce the culture like the players do.

Well, as we know not every player is built to be a coach. Also I think coaches go it in a different way than players. I can use an example from IT. There is a lead engineer: hands-on, experienced, skillful. And there is a manager who communicate with owners of process, team and organize process. A good team should be a place where both roles are filled with great personalities and professionals. Both roles should be used to build a productive, yet toxic free culture. MIA culture has been great because of their scouting, player development, athletic programs that work hand in hand with great coaching. But management has let them down, and it directly affects them.

Except Ingles isn't that lead engineer but the Cobol guy that is trying to learn web development which the team only use him for running test cases.

I knew a guy who promoted Forth. His name was Mars

[shrink]

Think he’ll go back to Denver?

They have an opening

[Klomp]

Think he’ll go back to Denver?

They have an opening

They would have to really break the bank for him.

[BlacJacMac]

Think he’ll go back to Denver?

They have an opening

Did Kroenke sell the team?

[shrink]

Think he’ll go back to Denver?

They have an opening

Did Kroenke sell the team?

True, but do you think they learned their lessons?

They did finally go into the lux, they lost Connelly for being cheap, and they are probably paying some years left on Malone’s contract.

Or could this be a bidding war between Lore and Kroenke?

[BlacJacMac]

Think he’ll go back to Denver?

They have an opening

Did Kroenke sell the team?

True, but do you think they learned their lessons?

They did finally go into the lux, they lost Connelly for being cheap, and they are probably paying some years left on Malone’s contract.

Or could this be a bidding war between Lore and Kroenke?

Other than Joker, what's the appeal?

Murray has 4 more years. You'd have to pay to get off his deal.

MPJ has 2 more years, so he doesn't even have that mythical "expiring value" for another year.

I'm an Aaron Gordon fan, but he's hurt a lot, has 4 more years and really needs a very specific role.

As far as Draft Capital, Denver has traded their 2025, 2027 and 2029 1st rounders and ALL their 2nd rounders from 2025-2031. And they currently have no draft picks incoming over the next 7 years.

[Klomp]

I think it's more likely Connelly trades for MPJ than for him to go back to Denver

[shangrila]

Think he’ll go back to Denver?

They have an opening

No

[shrink]

True, but do you think they learned their lessons?

They did finally go into the lux, they lost Connelly for being cheap, and they are probably paying some years left on Malone’s contract.

Or could this be a bidding war between Lore and Kroenke?

Other than Joker, what's the appeal?

Friends and family in Denver?

I’m not saying it will happen, just that I wish Connelly wasn’t available.

[BlacJacMac]

Good luck to the next GM.

Marks: Because Denver is top heavy in salary (67% of the team's cap next season is tied up in Jokic, Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon), it has only the $5.6 million midlevel exception to use in free agency. In trades, the Nuggets are not allowed to take back salary because they are projected to be over the second apron. The Nuggets are also limited to what draft picks they can trade. They have a first and second-rounder in 2032 available to send in a trade.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44589547/nuggets-fire-michael-malone-calvin-booth-next-denver-jokic-playoffs

[minimus]

Read on Twitter

I need always remind myself that every draft is a lottery, and success is not guaranteed. There might be Wendell Moore, Minott. But also Jaylen Clark and TJ Shannon, and ongoing experiment Leonard Miller and Rob Dillingham.

[KGdaBom]

Just saw this on Wire Tap.

Tim Connelly Expected To Extend With Timberwolves
Apr 24, 2025 8:45 AM

Tim Connelly Expected To Extend With Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has an opt-out for next season. However, most around the NBA expect Connelly to extend his run with Minnesota with a new deal.

Now that Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are set to become the owners of the Timberwolves, the expectation is that they'll turn to keeping Connelly in charge of basketball operations. Minnesota could see competition for Connelly from the Atlanta Hawks or his former team, the Denver Nuggets.

Connelly took over the Wolves front office in late May of 2022. He's made several major trades, including acquiring Rudy Gobert in 2022. Connelly also traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks ahead of this season.

Marc Stein and Jake Fischer/The Stein Line

[younggunsmn]

Just saw this on Wire Tap.

Tim Connelly Expected To Extend With Timberwolves
Apr 24, 2025 8:45 AM

Tim Connelly Expected To Extend With Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has an opt-out for next season. However, most around the NBA expect Connelly to extend his run with Minnesota with a new deal.

Now that Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are set to become the owners of the Timberwolves, the expectation is that they'll turn to keeping Connelly in charge of basketball operations. Minnesota could see competition for Connelly from the Atlanta Hawks or his former team, the Denver Nuggets.

Connelly took over the Wolves front office in late May of 2022. He's made several major trades, including acquiring Rudy Gobert in 2022. Connelly also traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks ahead of this season.

Marc Stein and Jake Fischer/The Stein Line

Expected to extend his stay in Minnesota by staying on as Target Center janitor right?
Please tell me this article is satire.
I guess they need to keep him on so he can trade Ant to the Lakers for a 43 year old Lebron James in 3 years.

He must be part of the same Adam SIlver sleeper cell that Nico Harrison came from.

[minimus]

I’m really curious what the new ownership’s plan is for this offseason. Considering all the financial and operational constraints under the new CBA, I would expect them to reduce costs and continue reshaping the roster around Edwards.

My guess: they keep Tim Connelly for the next 3–4 years to stabilize the ownership–front office–coaching axis. Based on this year’s playoff experience, they try to re-negotiate new contracts for Reid, Randle, and NAW. If possible, they could explore sign-and-trade options for Randle and NAW to get some value back.

In the draft, the focus should be on cheap contracts and BPA (best player available) with the right mentality — most likely a big man and a big wing are incoming. Ideally, the team drops below the tax threshold. Then they can target an MLE-level free agent. Could TC convince Ty Jerome to come here as a starting PG for the full MLE? (CLE is already over the second apron.)

In this case, I like the idea of trading picks 17 and 31 as part of a NAW sign-and-trade to move up in the draft and get specific players. For example, let’s say TC signs and trades NAW along with picks 17 and 31 to ORL for picks 16 and 25. Then drafts Thomas Sorber and Carter Bryant.

Rotation could look like this:

Gobert / Sorber / Miller
Reid / McDaniels / Minott
McDaniels / TJ / Bryant
Edwards / DDV / Clark
Jerome / Rob / Conley

If Reid’s new salary starts around $23M (the only big variable here) and Ty Jerome takes the full MLE at ~$14M AAV, the total roster salary would land around $180M — just below the tax.

[KGdaBom]

Just saw this on Wire Tap.

Tim Connelly Expected To Extend With Timberwolves
Apr 24, 2025 8:45 AM

Tim Connelly Expected To Extend With Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has an opt-out for next season. However, most around the NBA expect Connelly to extend his run with Minnesota with a new deal.

Now that Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are set to become the owners of the Timberwolves, the expectation is that they'll turn to keeping Connelly in charge of basketball operations. Minnesota could see competition for Connelly from the Atlanta Hawks or his former team, the Denver Nuggets.

Connelly took over the Wolves front office in late May of 2022. He's made several major trades, including acquiring Rudy Gobert in 2022. Connelly also traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks ahead of this season.

Marc Stein and Jake Fischer/The Stein Line

Expected to extend his stay in Minnesota by staying on as Target Center janitor right?
Please tell me this article is satire.
I guess they need to keep him on so he can trade Ant to the Lakers for a 43 year old Lebron James in 3 years.

He must be part of the same Adam SIlver sleeper cell that Nico Harrison came from.

I have no problem at all with Connelly.

[Rookie-Mistake]

Silence in here?

Sent from my SM-G991B using RealGM mobile app

[Klomp]

I can't really find specific posts, so that's why I'm bumping this thread to make my point.

I've read many times that Connelly does not get any credit for this team's success because Anthony Edwards was already on the roster when he took over. So does that mean all credit for the Chicago Bulls dynasty goes to Rod Thorn because he's the one who was in charge when Michael Jordan was drafted?

Tim Connelly may not have been here in 2020 when core pieces were drafted. Sure, he inherited Edwards, McDaniels and Reid, just as Jerry Krause inherited Michael Jordan. But then what? Connelly has correctly identified the core tenets of the organization and built around them. He didn't cast his building blocks aside as Tom Thibodeau did, or trade them altogether as Nico Harrison did.

Obviously, trade values can be debated. But the on-court results cannot. The excitement around the community cannot. The "vibes" cannot. Connelly was integral in making a similar turnaround in Denver, and he has done the same here.

[Note30]

I can't really find specific posts, so that's why I'm bumping this thread to make my point.

I've read many times that Connelly does not get any credit for this team's success because Anthony Edwards was already on the roster when he took over. So does that mean all credit for the Chicago Bulls dynasty goes to Rod Thorn because he's the one who was in charge when Michael Jordan was drafted?

Tim Connelly may not have been here in 2020 when core pieces were drafted. Sure, he inherited Edwards, McDaniels and Reid, just as Jerry Krause inherited Michael Jordan. But then what? Connelly has correctly identified the core tenets of the organization and built around them. He didn't cast his building blocks aside as Tom Thibodeau did, or trade them altogether as Nico Harrison did.

Obviously, trade values can be debated. But the on-court results cannot. The excitement around the community cannot. The "vibes" cannot. Connelly was integral in making a similar turnaround in Denver, and he has done the same here.

But without Ant this team is not even a play-in team. You're going from 70 to 90.

You're pretending as if we had multiple guards like Ant cycle through here.

We haven't. He is definitely the best player we have by a longshot.

To have that gifted to you makes your job significantly easier.

Anyone can make a large splashy trade. It takes time and skill to draft multiple players and assets that feed your core.

Rosas with all of his flaws did more for this team than Connelly has. TC definitely achieved more but he also didn't have to go as far.

Rosas had to go from 0-70. Ant, Jaden, Naz, retaining KAT, that was all Rosas.