Tim Connelly is the type of president of basketball operations every NBA team and their fans dream of. He's not afraid to take big swings; he's never roster-complacent, and he has a clear direction he steers his franchise toward. The Minnesota Timberwolves are fortunate to have someone of his caliber running the show.
On Monday, Timberwolves reporter Jon Krawczynski hosted a live episode of his podcast, The Jon Krawczynski Show, bringing Connelly on as a special guest, along with GM Matt Lloyd. They dove deep into numerous topics, including the LaMelo Ball trade, building offseason chemistry, and their favorite breweries in Minnesota.
However, one under-the-radar topic stood out: Connelly's future in Minnesota. With Connelly's contract expiring after this year, there was some natural speculation about his future with the team, but thankfully, Connelly made it clear he wants to stay.
"We're super locked in in Minnesota; we couldn't be more excited. We've had some opportunities elsewhere, but this is kind of home. We think this team is going to be special; the organization has been fantastic. I've been super lucky," Connelly said.
Hopefully this means an extension is on the way.
Tim Connelly has completely changed the Timberwolves franchise
With the amount of success the Wolves have had under Connelly, it would be detrimental to see him running another organization. Fortunately for the Wolves and their fans, it seems like that's extremely unlikely. As long as Connelly is running the ship, sustained success is the standard, and that's a welcome sight compared to what the pre-Connelly era was.
From basically the moment Connelly got hired from Denver, he wasted no time transforming the Wolves roster. He saw how badly the Wolves got bullied on the glass in the Memphis Series in 2022, and immediately traded for one of the three best rebounders and rim protectors in the NBA, Rudy Gobert.
He then saw the writing on the wall with D'Angelo Russell not being a good fit and being in the last year of his contract, and traded him at the deadline for Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and second-round picks, a deal that seemingly made all of the mainstay pieces fit together better.
The next season, they won 56 games, two off the franchise record, and advanced to the conference finals, with Gobert winning his fourth DPOY. Unfortunately, that offseason, the second apron forced the Wolves' hand, and Connelly traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and the pick that turned into Joan Beringer.
Obviously not the best trade in hindsight, but the Wolves had to make the move for salary purposes, and they still made the conference finals the following year with Randle. Fast forward to this past year, and it was up and down; the Wolves made the playoffs again but lost in the second round to the Spurs.
It was clear that Randle didn't fit here anymore, so Connelly pulled some magic out of his hat and dumped Randle into Brooklyn's cap space, making room to then trade Naz Reid for star point guard LaMelo Ball, and going into next season, the vibes seem higher than ever.
Has Connelly been perfect with every move? No, but he's always looking for ways to improve the team, and he never settles for mediocre. That's the kind of POBO all teams want to build a foundation with, and the Wolves couldn't be luckier that he wants to be here long-term.
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