Timberwolves Tim Connelly tantalizes with draft day cliffhanger

The Minnesota Timberwolves made quite a splash during the 2022 NBA Draft, converting a single Round 1 draft pick into two Round 1 picks is no easy feat. But the Timberwolves managed to pull off that minor miracle, that to some shrewd draft gyrations and maneuvers from Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations, Tim Connelly.

This year, the Timberwolves are not armed with a handful of picks, nor does this team hold any picks in Round 1. After the 2022 NBA Draft, the Timberwolves traded four first-round picks and five players to the Utah Jazz in exchange for All-Star veteran center Rudy Gobert.  This year’s first-round pick is the first of four installment payments for that trade.

Still, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a strategy, and like any great tactics, we will know what that is after it happens.  We all knew that the Timberwolves were targeting a rim-protecting center to give Karl-Anthony Towns help on defense. What nobody guessed was the fact that the Timberwolves were trading for the best in the NBA at that role.

Just as today, everyone sees that Connelly is interested in trading into Round 1 of the 2023 NBA Draft. But will the team do that?  Nobody can know until after the fact:

And that is the fun of the 2023 NBA Draft, right? A year ago on the eve of the draft, there were no clues that the Minnesota Timberwolves roster would be gutted, and a new third of the team would be introduced after the draft. But that is how it happened.

Now, it seems as though all of the seismic activity is over for this Timberwolves roster. But is it? If the Timberwolves have an opportunity to improve the team, do they take it? And what does an upgrade for the Timberwolves look like at this point in time?

As with all great cliffhangers, the answers to all of these questions have the same answer: Stay tuned . . .