Tim Connelly has been fully vindicated for his long-time Bones Hyland stance

When the Minnesota Timberwolves signed Bones Hyland, it was easy to make a connection to president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, who drafted him in 2021 with the Denver Nuggets. Connelly's connection to Hyland made the Wolves roll the dice on him at the end of last season and round out their roster with him late in the offseason. On media day, Hyland told a hilarious story about how he rapped in front of Connelly at the draft combine, which sparked this bond.

It was clear that Connelly believed in Hyland, and their history helped him find a home in Minnesota. However, outside of this being a cool story, not much was thought of this Connelly-Hyland connection. Given Connelly's keen eye for talent, though, this shouldn't have been the case.

Now that Hyland is playing real minutes and impacting the team at a high level, it's clear that Connelly's belief in him is paying off. After being out of the rotation since the very beginning of the season, Bones has emerged as a clear mainstay over the past three games.

Notably, the 6-foot-2 guard has earned two straight starts with Anthony Edwards injured and has scored 14-plus in his last two fully healthy games. Hyland's dynamic perimeter shot creation abilities fill a key need for the Wolves.

Connelly's track record is incredible

Popular NBA analyst Zach Lowe said it best.

"If Tim Connelly likes a player, you gotta pause and go okay, what am I missing? Because Tim Connelly's track record speaks for itself." Lowe said.

Connelly is the man who drafted Nikola Jokic in the second-round back in 2014, which will go down as the best value pick in league history. He also drafted Jokic's co-star, Jamal Murray, with the No. 7 pick and ultimately designed a championship-winning roster in Denver.

While Connelly hasn't had the same draft success in Minnesota, his bold trades for Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle have helped guide the Wolves to consecutive conference finals runs. Undoubtedly, Connelly is one of the best executives in the NBA. Similar to what Lows said, if Connelly believes in someone, that has to mean something.

Hyland is giving the Wolves a much-needed spark

Hyland wasn't expected to contribute much when the Wolves brought him back in September. He was a two-way player with the Wolves last season and fell out of favor with the Los Angeles Clippers. I'll admit I saw Bones as a pure depth piece when he was brought back, and that's why I don't work in an NBA front office.

Saying this now is purely hindsight, and as I said, Hyland's play has pleasantly surprised me, but his play shouldn't be all that surprising when you really think about it. With Denver, the former No. 26 overall pick, averaged 10.9 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.5 rebounds on 40.1/37.1/86 shooting splits.

Hyland looked like the next great energy scorer off the bench during his early career. Regardless, he only spent one and a half seasons with the Nuggets, and he often clashed with head coach Michael Malone. After being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, Bones never found his footing in a loaded rotation. Now with the Wolves, though, Hyland has the perfect blend of maturity and opportunity.

It's easy to forget what his career path looked like before the Clippers' trade, and clearly, everyone (except Connelly) did. In fact, Bones almost went overseas this offseason. Hyland's gifts as a three-level scorer were always clear, though.

For a Wolves team that needs bench scoring and perimeter scoring, it shouldn't be all that surprising that the 25-year-old Hyland is better equipped to fill this void than the 20-year-old Rob Dillingham.

Overall, Hyland's emergence could change the trajectory of the Wolves' season, and Connelly deserves a ton of credit for his unwavering belief in him.