Tim Connelly: Timberwolves should be ‘artistic as potential’ with roster

In February 2023, he moved D’Angelo Russell for Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker – two key elements of the Timberwolves’ eight-man rotation that simply reached the Western Conference finals for the second straight 12 months.

Last October, Connelly shipped four-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo – two extra key items in that eight-man rotation.

So, with the NBA draft and free company quick approaching, what would possibly Connelly have in retailer with the intention to get the Timberwolves to their first NBA title?

“I mean, you’re always just guessing,” Connelly mentioned. “I imply, I do not know. I imply, till you win all of it, you have to be very self-critical and search for areas the place you possibly can enhance upon.

“This time of year is especially active because the draft free agency, so it’s really one of the biggest transactional windows we have. We feel very happy with the core we have. We don’t feel like there’s a tremendous pressure to do much. But, you know, until you’re raising the trophy, you’ve got to be active and creative as possible to try to get to a point where, at some point, you’re the final team.”

Presuming Connelly desires to deliver again each member of that eight-man rotation that went 27-12 over the ultimate three months of the common season and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 and the Golden State Warriors 4-1 within the playoffs, he’ll must do some monetary gymnastics.

Minnesota led the NBA in whole cap allocations in 2024-25 at $237,156,897. Hypothetically, the Wolves might stay nicely above the cap once more, however forwards Julius Randle and Naz Reid are veterans who get to resolve whether or not to simply accept a contract choice for subsequent season or turn out to be a free agent. Meanwhile, Alexander-Walker is an unrestricted free agent.

“The goal is to keep everybody,” Connelly mentioned.

But if all or any three transfer on, the Timberwolves have the Nos. 17 and 31 picks within the NBA draft. They even have three kids who simply accomplished their first season – wing Terrence Shannon Jr., guard Rob Dillingham and ahead Jaylen Clark – who might warrant extra minutes subsequent 12 months.

At the identical time, the present group misplaced the Western Conference finals in 5 video games to the Oklahoma City Thunder – a corporation loaded with sufficient youthful gamers and first-round picks that it should contend for a number of extra years.

“I think team grew together as it got to know each other, so I don’t know if there’s a ton of certain skillsets we need,” Connelly mentioned. “I feel it is extra type of collective maturity – to have the ability to play alternative ways and have… you realize, each evening we’re not going to have the ability to be super-productive. So how can we win these video games type of within the mud?

“You know, we’ve got a bunch of guys who have these huge roles that are starting to get a little bit older. So you always want to have people behind them. So I think there’s some positions that potentially could be more of need because of how the present roster is set up.”

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