Tim Connley

[Q-is-here]

Things are going to be VERY interesting in the coming months. Connelly can take one of two approaches:

1) Keep his powder dry until the summer of '23 and simply try to build around the edges of the existing roster while letting DLO, PBev, and Malik expire, therefore freeing up a boatload of money next offseason. It also gives him a year to evaluate the rest of the roster up close.

OR

2) Start making big moves right away to really shake up the roster in an attempt to take that next step forward.

Personally, I don't think our current roster is a serious one if we want to become a top 4 Western Conference team.....Way too many holes in it, some of which can be shored up with internal improvement, but a lot that simply needs different player personnel. The question is do we try to tread water next season and see how much organic improvement and tinkering can impact our trajectory or do we start making those moves now?

[Monster]

Just in general I'm curious what Beasley and Connelly relationship is. Connelly has traded him once and offered him a solid contract but Beasley felt like he was worth more (he got more). Just an interesting side plot

Yes, an interesting subplot. My guess is that he sees Beasley as a valuable player who can help a team win with his three-point shooting and other abilities. But I also suspect he'll be open to moving Beasley for the right return.

As I remember it one of the reasons why Beasley was happy to come to the Wolves was a larger role and the role Beasley was likely to play for the Nuggets didn't align with a larger offer...plus Beasley wasn't exactly proven at the time. Connelly got some sort of value for a guy they likely would not have kept if he had hit RFA probably even if he had still struggled that season in Denver. Honestly depending on what happens in the next few weeks or months a similar situation could play out. What if the Wolves draft a promising guard? What if Connelly believes Nowell is a good player? How does he view Bolmaro? He could also think Beasley is valuable to this team now but it could again be mutually beneficial for Beasley to move to another team. Which team? That's tougher to say but these decisions are literally why Connelly is getting paid the big bucks!!!

[Coolbreeze44]

You have no idea how in-depth the discussions will be on every player. Finch and Connelly will meet exhaustively in the discussion of every player and every contract. I'm sure Connelly will have talks with the assistant coaches and trainers as well. And then he will have the final say in matters of personnel. He's being paid $8 million per to make those decisions and the buck will stop with him. It's going to be fascinating to see what happens between now and training camp. This is going to help the offseason go by quicker.

[Monster]

Connelly seems like a smart guy, so I'm guessing (and hoping) he will have a lot of discussions with Finchy about which players he wants to build around and best fit his coaching philosophy. I agree with the consensus here that KAT will be super maxed and Ant will be a major focus going forward. But I'm guessing one of the first questions he will have for the coach is why he didn't trust DLO enough to play him very much in the 4th quarter of an elimination game. How that conversation goes should have a lot to do with Connelly's off-season or trade deadline moves.

Yeah I hope the new POBO comes to his head coach with one of his first questions asking about a coaching decision he made in the playoffs. I would hope Connelly is more interested in finding out from Finch and other coaches how they can maximize the entire roster and by doing that he will have the more knowledge of the answers he is looking for.

[Monster]

Things are going to be VERY interesting in the coming months. Connelly can take one of two approaches:

1) Keep his powder dry until the summer of '23 and simply try to build around the edges of the existing roster while letting DLO, PBev, and Malik expire, therefore freeing up a boatload of money next offseason. It also gives him a year to evaluate the rest of the roster up close.

OR

2) Start making big moves right away to really shake up the roster in an attempt to take that next step forward.

Personally, I don't think our current roster is a serious one if we want to become a top 4 Western Conference team.....Way too many holes in it, some of which can be shored up with internal improvement, but a lot that simply needs different player personnel. The question is do we try to tread water next season and see how much organic improvement and tinkering can impact our trajectory or do we start making those moves now?

Q to me a significant question is: Are there actual roster shaking moves that can be made that makes it worth not having that salary cap next offseason? Maybe there are but if there isn't then either way it's sort of the same one route is tread water thing you mentioned or hoping shuffling the deck chairs is the answer. I'll be pretty surprised if he doesn't make some sort of move beyond just signing a free agent or 2 using the cap exceptions available.

[Q-is-here]

Things are going to be VERY interesting in the coming months. Connelly can take one of two approaches:

1) Keep his powder dry until the summer of '23 and simply try to build around the edges of the existing roster while letting DLO, PBev, and Malik expire, therefore freeing up a boatload of money next offseason. It also gives him a year to evaluate the rest of the roster up close.

OR

2) Start making big moves right away to really shake up the roster in an attempt to take that next step forward.

Personally, I don't think our current roster is a serious one if we want to become a top 4 Western Conference team.....Way too many holes in it, some of which can be shored up with internal improvement, but a lot that simply needs different player personnel. The question is do we try to tread water next season and see how much organic improvement and tinkering can impact our trajectory or do we start making those moves now?

Q to me a significant question is: Are there actual roster shaking moves that can be made that makes it worth not having that salary cap next offseason? Maybe there are but if there isn't then either way it's sort of the same one route is tread water thing you mentioned or hoping shuffling the deck chairs is the answer. I'll be pretty surprised if he doesn't make some sort of move beyond just signing a free agent or 2 using the cap exceptions available.

Good question. That depends on what other teams are looking to shake things up or start a rebuild and may be interested in expiring contracts. I'm sure there will be a couple of teams out there like that, but we don't know if they have anything we'd really be interested in.

[WildWolf2813]

Things are going to be VERY interesting in the coming months. Connelly can take one of two approaches:

1) Keep his powder dry until the summer of '23 and simply try to build around the edges of the existing roster while letting DLO, PBev, and Malik expire, therefore freeing up a boatload of money next offseason. It also gives him a year to evaluate the rest of the roster up close.

OR

2) Start making big moves right away to really shake up the roster in an attempt to take that next step forward.

Personally, I don't think our current roster is a serious one if we want to become a top 4 Western Conference team.....Way too many holes in it, some of which can be shored up with internal improvement, but a lot that simply needs different player personnel. The question is do we try to tread water next season and see how much organic improvement and tinkering can impact our trajectory or do we start making those moves now?

Q to me a significant question is: Are there actual roster shaking moves that can be made that makes it worth not having that salary cap next offseason? Maybe there are but if there isn't then either way it's sort of the same one route is tread water thing you mentioned or hoping shuffling the deck chairs is the answer. I'll be pretty surprised if he doesn't make some sort of move beyond just signing a free agent or 2 using the cap exceptions available.

Good question. That depends on what other teams are looking to shake things up or start a rebuild and may be interested in expiring contracts. I'm sure there will be a couple of teams out there like that, but we don't know if they have anything we'd really be interested in.

It's just a really bad FA class, so if FA in any way is an option, maintaining flexibility is key. Besides, I don't see many stars looking to make big time moves to go elsewhere.


If Connelly wants to make a mark, identify someone in round 2 who winds up in the rotation. Find us our Monte Morris. Yes, we need top end talent, but we also have to be able to find it before they become so expensive we have to overpay. That's what allows teams to be able to have a stacked roster AND be appealing to superstars. I love Ant, but as the #1 pick he makes $10.7 mil next year. Instead of wondering whether Taurean Prince can be retained to be a fringe rotation player at $7-$8 mil a year, let's find someone at 48 who could theoretically play the same role at the minimum. Rosas did alright with JMac, Naz and Nowell, but those deals are almost up. Gotta keep replenishing the team on the margins.

[Lipoli390]

In my view, the scenario that Wild offered up seems closest to what we can expect from Connelly based on his track record. He's never been a blockbuster trade, shoot for the moon or major shakeup guy. That's not the way he rolls. He builds incrementally and does so primarily through the draft as well as relatively unassuming or seemingly minor deals and free agents signings. That's the way you build a sustainable winner in the League, especially if you're not in one of the few glamour markets. And that's how Connelly built the Nuggets into the perennial winner they've been during his tenure there. He drafted Jokic, Murray, Porter Jr., Hyland and Morris. He made a relatively modest deal exchanging Afflalo for the younger and what appeared at the time to be the inferior Will Barton. He went for the first few years of Denver's success with his draft pick, Gary Harris.

Connelly has made only three trades that can be reasonably characterized as pretty blg, but none of them are what I would call blockbusters: (1) trading Nurkic for Plumlee, (2) trading Harris, Hampton and a 2025 top-five protected 1st for Aaron Gordon, and (3) trading Beasley, Juancho and Vanderbilt for Napier, Bates-Diop and a Houston 1st-round pick. It's worth noting that only one of those trades (Aaron Gordon) worked out well for the Nuggets, although that wasn't a huge shake-the-ground deal. If anything, I would think a smart guy like Connelly will look back at those deals and realize that his key to success is relying on his ability to spot young talent in the draft or being underutilized or undervalued in the League. I would think his past learnings would make him less inclined to make a major roster-changing move this summer.

Connelly is on a five-year deal. He's probably going to extend KAT for 5 years. He's taking over a roster that has a young budding 20-year old superstar in Ant who is going to be around a long time. That roster also has a 21 year old named McDaniels with tremendous upside. I think Connelly play to his strengths and use his 4 draft picks and the pool of undrafted players to add more young talent to the Wolves roster. I'm not suggesting he'll add 4 new picks to the roster. But I think he'll use all his draft chips to land one or two players in the draft he's really excited about. I see that as his main focus. Then I think he'll use his cap exceptions to bolster the roster with a Hartenstein, Jalen Smith or Andre Drummond.

I certainly believe he'll see what he can get for DLO and/or Beasley as well as Naz. But I think he'll be relatively cautious about making big deals that substantially change the roster and possibly tie up the major cap space he'd other wise have next summer.

Now watch. He'll trade DLO and Beasley for Russell Westbrook. :)

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Under Tim Connelly, the Nuggets also traded a top-10 protected first-round pick for Jerami Grant after he had his breakout campaign with Oklahoma City. Remember, that came before he made a comparable trade for Aaron Gordon, as Lip detailed above. Both of those trades should be considered successful and they illustrate a willingness from Connelly to trade a valuable pick if the fit, talent, and situation deem it worthy.

Combine those two deals with the trade that sent out Arron Afflalo and brought back Will Barton and a first-round pick, and the deal that recouped value in a first-round pick for an expiring Malik Beasley, and I think Connelly's "weaknesses" as it pertains to trades might be a bit exaggerated.

Edit: Connelly also turned Timofey Mosgov and a second-round pick into two protected first-round picks from Cleveland back in 2015 when the Cavaliers were ring-chasing. Pretty good.

[Lipoli390]

Under Tim Connelly, the Nuggets also traded a top-10 protected first-round pick for Jerami Grant after he had his breakout campaign with Oklahoma City. Remember, that came before he made a comparable trade for Aaron Gordon, as Lip detailed above. Both of those trades should be considered successful and they illustrate a willingness from Connelly to trade a valuable pick if the fit, talent, and situation deem it worthy.

Combine those two deals with the trade that sent out Arron Afflalo and brought back Will Barton and a first-round pick, and the deal that recouped value in a first-round pick for an expiring Malik Beasley, and I think Connelly's "weaknesses" as it pertains to trades might be a bit exaggerated.

Good points, Cam. I forgot about the Jerami Grant deal. It's probably fair to say that even his "weakest" area isn't bad to say the least. Bottom line is he has an eye for young talent - whether it's lower draft picks or young players like Jerami Grant and Will Barton were when Connelly acquired them. But he doesn't strike me as a swing-for-the-fences guy. He's not a gambler. He's not a Daryl Morey. And that's a good thing. :)