D-Loser wrote:Camden wrote:We'll have to agree to disagree on that particular point. Like I've said repeatedly, I wouldn't have made this trade, but Tim Connelly agreeing to such a deal is no easy decision. I don't understand how you both think that he took the easy way out.
For starters, it's extremely difficult to acquire elite talent in the NBA. There has to be the right circumstances for both teams and meeting in the middle, in terms of price, is always a challenge. Furthermore, Connelly has always relied on the draft and had great success in doing so. Do you really think it was easy for him to pull the trigger on losing four future first-round picks? I certainly don't. And with a deal of this magnitude there's always increased discussion and speculation about the man who pulled the trigger and what his fate will be if it goes south. Connelly has essentially put his reputation and future career in jeopardy with this trade because if it indeed doesn't work out to ownership's liking he could be without a job. The easy thing to do would have been to keep everything as it was and simply rely on internal growth, which most of us would have been fine with. Going all-in takes guts. It takes confidence. Confidence in his star players. Confidence in his current accumulation of young talent and depth. And perhaps most importantly, confidence in himself and the front office he's assembled to continue to find young talent as well as role-playing veterans through more difficult avenues. If anything, this was the much harder road to go, but one that gives Minnesota the best chance at a championship.
I totally disagree that this was the harder road for him. TC essentially borrowed someone else's chips to go all in with. If we win a title or even make a finals and another WCF, he's the hero. But if this deal goes completely south (injuries, chemistry issues, bad fit on the court or just general underperformance), he's gone by 2025 and doesn't have to deal with a potentially mediocre team missing 3 of its next 5 first round picks, along with a pick swap on the 4th. This was a low risk/high reward move TC personally, and apparently there's no one else in the organization (owners or business side) that wanted to hold him accountable.
Uhh, you're contradicting yourself here. If this deal goes south, Tim Connelly likely doesn't have a job here anymore, which you even acknowledged. How do you find that to be "low risk" for him? Putting your career on the line isn't risky?
Also, as I already mentioned, it's Connelly who will be operating without those first-round picks. He's the one who's going to have to be creative in adding supplemental talent. He's going to be held responsible for replenishing the roster with young talent despite having less resources to do so (because he spent them on Rudy Gobert). Again, that's a calculated risk by him and the front office he assembled that they'll be capable.
In one breath you're suggesting that Connelly took the easy road -- that he took a low-risk, high-reward move, personally. And in another you acknowledge that if it doesn't work out he'll be fired, essentially ruining his golden reputation because of this singular trade. In reality, it's a high-risk, high-reward move for Connelly despite Gobert's steady greatness as a player. If it works out, he's a stud and will receive the credit. If it doesn't, then he's the fool and will likely be fired.
