Tim Connelly came to Minnesota as the President of Basketball Operations after nine seasons as the lead executive for the Denver Nuggets, the same Denver Nuggets that are now the number one seed in the Western Conference and just bounced the Wolves from the playoffs in five games.
Connelly came in with the goal of building upon last season’s loss to Memphis in round one, and his big offseason move was to bring in center and three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert, mortgaging a large chunk of future assets to do so.
That move was not a success in 2022-23 and long-term the jury is still out, but now, there are rumors Connelly might be thinking of moving on, a move that would leave the Wolves with a lot of large (and soon to be large) contracts with very little wiggle room. The rumors have him exploring a similar job with the Washington Wizards.
A week ago, at the team’s season-ending press conference, Connelly kept the narrative alive, saying he is “pretty committed” to the Timberwolves - and on Friday, talking to WCCO's Chad Hartman, Connelly said again he is committed, but also left some room for interpretation.
“I’m just totally focused on the Timberwolves, trying to make us better,” Connelly said. “We didn’t do better than last year. Just left the office watching draft videos, so, all eyes are on the Timberwolves and how we can make this team better.”
Hartman pushed back on Connelly saying he didn’t necessarily answer the question. In response, Connelly said that is his plan, without totally closing the door on the alleged move.
“That’s why we came here and moved here,” explains Connelly. “We have a lot of unfinished business, it’s been a really fun year both on and off the court, and we’re fully committed to being a Timberwolf.”
The Wolves are heading into an offseason with a lot of questions, including how to build on Anthony Edwards' ascension last year and how to make Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns a less mismatched pair.