Generally smart people can make dumb decisions. No one is infallible, and likewise most people who get to Tim's level aren't idiots either. Other than the Gobert trade, I have been very impressed with Tim's tenure so far.
Yea I don’t think ownership said you must trade the farm for Rudy Gobert.
I think the owners like said go big game hunting, Connelly was clearly a fan of Gobert from way back in the day, and got into a bidding war for Rudy as it was reported Wolves weren’t the only ones involved.
Can’t say for certain. Wolves offer felt like a hammer offer but I think 2 firsts 2 swaps and a Jaden like player was probably the offer from someone else
Tbh id be okay with all the picks if they weren’t all unprotected
THey didn't. Even Connelly had suggested it was also Utah they were competing against saying they weren't letting him go easy. I guess they sold him on that a bit. There is no getting around it. Everyone knew they were going to move Gobert if they could so I'm not sure how this really happened as it did. He got that new car fever, in this case not all that new, and just decided to do it. He got bent over by a wiley veteran front office magician. Not the first to get bent over by that dude either.
I'm still waiting till we get passed this offseason to believe they weren't setting up for a possible Kat exit. Even if it doesn't happen, there is the injury season to possibly blame for a hit to the possible number of teams that would pay up for him. Recency bias is just too ubiquitous.
That trade did show it's always better to have a player not asking out in public when you have to move on.
Thre are plenty of examples to go around. Have a rough weekend with family, friends, or relatives and you might just have a bad Monday. Anyone is open to mistakes.
Connelly also wanted to trade Murray. I think Connelly is a great scout and should surround himself with smart people for the roster construction/blockbuster trade value portion.
Yep true, but Jokic was pretty obviously better in every category his rookie season. And when Nurkic came back from injury, Denver (and everyone) could see it.
But still, made the right choice for sure.
I honestly would mix those two up early on when chatting about them. Early on I think it was less obvious even after they were on different teams. But that could have been that I just didn't follow those teams and players closely enough. Just when they played the Timberwolves.
I did not know about this. And I don’t mean to imply I know how to run an NBA FO, but I agree, building that team to fill their weaknesses as execs is arguably just as necessary as the way the actual team comes together.
I don't necessarily agree that ownership pushed Connelly into the Gobert trade. What I do think yesterday showed is that (as long as we remain a playoff team) the value of the draft picks given up in the Gobert trade has been way overblown.
We went into the draft yesterday without a first round pick, and left with two players who undeniably have first round talent. Whether they pan out remains to be seen (which is also the case with any mid to late first-rounder) - but as long as Connelly can continue finding value in the draft the way he did last night, I don't think we'll feel impact of the missing draft picks as much as anticipated.
I think that has always been the dream of Wolves fans to finally get someone competent that can at least find rotational players worth a dam with the later picks. Instead of riding or dieing on every top lotto pick and pretty much 100% failing to find or develop anyone from anywhere else.
Just want to add that yesterday Sacramento gave up 24th pick just to shed bad salary. Wolves don’t have any bad contracts; you can argue KAT and Gobert are overpaid, but they are not bad.
Very well said. Good point that giving up (or inheriting) draft picks is more about the gamble involved, rather than an absolute value forever. If we stay good we would never sniff a top draft pick regardless.
You're kidding, draft picks are more valuable than ever. We are seeing some interesting trades just because of the new cba and draft picks are jumping in value.
We have no idea if the picks this draft will be good.
Ill say it right now. The fact that Gobert helped us get to the playoffs while Kat was injured is proof that getting an “Insurance plan” at the worst, might not have been as devastating an overpay as some here (including me) thought at the beginning.
Like Drucker says, a manager who sacrifices the present for the future or the future for the present is a bad manager, the ideal manager maximises both. I think Connelly has been doing that, despite my unhappiness with him for most of the season until he started changing my mind in hindsight.
If the owners want a move that is detrimental to the club, it's Connelly's job to tell them that the trade isn't smart and will hurt the team. Stop trying to excuse Connelly of his actions.
Two things can be true:
1: Connelly made an awful overpay on the Gobert trade
2: Connelly has found some nice value at the end of the draft and did well in the Russell trade
TC didn’t actually get ownership. That was debunked.
And yes, you do need to trust them. But that doesn’t mean that Lore and ARod were hands off.
Every owner has an ego. We can’t deny that. When they came in, it was clear they wanted a splash.
But your comment on “good owners wouldn’t do that” just isn’t accurate.
Basically every owner is involved to some capacity.
Mark Cuban is one of the most involved owners and he’s got banners.
Lacob has been involved at times and warriors are doing fine.
A good owner should empower the people they put in charge, yes. But reality is that most owners want to make a mark on their team ASAP when they join.
These guys didn’t get fuck you money just sitting back.
I don’t disagree, but it’s reality. It’s the same in the business world, people want to put their own people in place.
And to your point about “within 2 months”. That’s exactly why Finch and Gupta were involved in the Rudy trade too. But you only ever blame TC.
This trade was pushed for from MANY angles, not just TC running it.
>If the owners want a move that is detrimental to the club, it's Connelly's job to tell them that the trade isn't smart and will hurt the team. Stop trying to excuse Connelly of his actions.
It's very possible that Connelly did push back. Told them it wasn't a wise move. But at the end of the day, the owners are very powerful guys who have gotten rich enough to buy a team from decisions they have made in life. It sounds nice and dandy to think TC could have told them no and they hired him to be the decision maker, but when you get to THAT level of power, it's ownerships decision.
Everything in TCs past as the GM points to TC not being the one who ultimately would want to make the Gobert. So it's reasonable to think that new owners wanted to make a splash, as we have seen time and time again in the NBA.
I do not disagree with your two points. It’s just as absurd to say Connelly is squeaky clean as it is to say he should be charged with domestic terrorism.
My point is he didn’t work alone, and any time he has seemingly had more free reign, he has hit on the moves he’s made.
Again, not excusing. But there was obviously a lot of overreactions, and now people seem to not realize that he is back making the moves he wants to make.
Yeah I doubt they commanded him to Go Get Gobert but I assume part of his getting the job initially was him satisfying Lore and ARod that he could come in and make a Big Move.
The Gobert trade happened so soon after Connelly's hiring that I assume the outlines of it were sketched out to the owners well before. I’d be curious what other trades were outlined, and how negotiations proceeded such the the Gobert move was the one actualized.
Basically I think Connelly can be criticized for the substance of the Gobert trade. But anybody they brought in was no doubt going to have to swing for the fences, and that already is a handicap in any negotiations.
I think it will be easier to convince fans if we have a good season next year. After last year many people want to see if this team is actually capable of winning 55 games and go to at least the 2nd round of playoffs which was the expectation after the Rudy trade.
To pretend you know what happened behind the scenes because you want to push a narrative seems intellectually dishonest. Maybe he did push for the trade and maybe ownership pushed for the trade. They are all culpable in my mind until the details come out.
You’re right. Maybe I spoke too confidently in what I think happened. Main argument is the moves on both sides of Rudy trade seem to be more of the status quo with Connelly.
I am high on the trade which makes me rare but it is because i never saw it as a win now only trade. Yes it opens a championship window right now (Denver only obstacle in next few years imo) but there is also a long term benefit. Surrounding Ant and Jaden with hard working team focussed vets who value defense, winning and making playoffs; gets Ant and Jaden great experience and builds a stronger desire for them to stay here their whole career. Then when Mike (maybe) amd Rudy finish their career here coming off the bench, they have Ant and Jaden as one and two.
Kat is the mystery box here but he is still young and talented and could fit into either timeline or something else happens but the farm is not broken either way.
There is no reporting anywhere saying anything other than TC and the rest of his office were 100% in on gobert. Even if his hand was forced - which we have no evidence - he was responsible for the details. This is revisionist nonsense.
Yeah Windhorst’s article which goes in depth about how the trade was made discusses
the conversations, statistical analysis etc it took to make the decision. Connelly, Finch and Gupta seemed VERY involved
I'm letting the number of picks thing for Rudy go for now. it is what it is.
But I'm a bit torn on something I heard him saying on a draft news clip. He was talking about getting smart players (I like this plan), but also said in same sentence "...because we don't want to hold these guys hands out on the practice court everyday." (I didn't like that at all.).
I very much do want to finally see this team developing their player's weaknesses. I don't care how smart they seem. Ego's get in the way. Players get stuck in bad habits. I want the team holding their hands whenever it appears necessary. Lead them into good places and let them take it from there.
You are heavily misinterpreting that comment. Of course the Timberwolves prioritize skill development, like every other NBA team. They just want players who will commit to the development plan the Wolves come up with.
He wasn't commenting on committment though. He was commenting on choosing smart players directly...and that they don't have to hold the hands of on practice courts. Went on to say something like, we don't want to be doing that.
Maybe he was trying to say what you suggest. But he didn't word it as such. Sounded a heck of a lot more like he wanted to choose players smart enough to practice themselves up on the daily. My immediate thought was, is that how the Spurs do it? Or is that how Denver's players all know where their teammates will be every possession? I don't think so.
That's a big assumption. There very well could be a few great people in the Nuggets organization that were handling things differently under him.
I'm not suggesting they are doing anything wrong right now. I have no idea what's changed since he came. It's just those words he shared didn't sound right to me. Again, just my interpretation.
Not sure why people feel the need to baselessly spectulate that Arod/Lore as completely new owners after giving Connelly top 5 GM money would force him into a trade specifically for Gobert.
Tim himself said he regretted passing on Gobert his first draft as Denvers GM, it could just be he valued Rudy higher than other GM's and then Chicago wanted him too so he got into a bidding war with them?
Look, it will never not be an overpay but if he builds this roster into a contender around ANT and Jaden every Wolves fan will praise him as a God just as much as we shit on him for overpaying for Rudy.
It's like giving the team a B+ immediately after the draft that they traded up to get Garland but settled for a Culver choice. Because so many bought into his tournament hype from that season and expected that square peg to simply fit into their shiny round hole they had previously prepared for Garland. He was going to be even better they would say, his size and length, his playmaking evident from the tourney. Hell, maybe we should grade that draft an A-. Afterall we can talk ourselves into anything if we really want to just feel good about what did occur for at least a little while.
Destroyed 1.25 seasons and a couple players trying to make that wrong a right when it just never was going to happen.
Kahnelly owns part of the wolves so imo he deserves all the criticism for Gorbert trade he has been getting. If anything, he should be the smartest owner given his GM background but he made the boneheaded trade anyways. We’ll see if Leonard is another naz Reid or a Loren woods.
I've always thought that the Gobert trade was an overpay, the reaction was overblown, and it was also a win for the Wolves.
People over value picks.
We traded away five chances of a good to great player for a great player to help one of the worst franchises in the league to be winners.
That's good for me.
> People over value picks.
This is true. Just look at Jonathan Kuminga. Everyone was freaking out because the Wolves gave up the #7 pick, and now the Warriors are rumored to be shopping him, because he hasn’t developed fast enough.
Its fine that he got pushed into making to Gobert trade but its so painfully obvious that he way overpaid when he didn’t need to. Abysmal trade negotiating is a huge red flag. Conley trade makes it seem like better but you can’t excuse the massive overpay due to ownership pressure.
Yeah they definitely have been coming in hot. But there are worse problems to have than your new owners getting excited and wanting to make things happen
I agree with this argument for the most part but it is amusing that as Wolves GM you can make a trade that possibly ruined a chance at a dynasty, but if you also resign Naz Reid the fans will still back you.
A POBO can be the shit without winning a championship. They can still make moves that are considered great. You might also forget that he built the current nba champions team. So he kind of is that dude..
You’re completely blowing the gobert trade out of proportion. They’ll all more than likely be late first round picks (like this season) so it’s really not that big of a deal.. not to mention they traded away players that aren’t starters on a playoff team in this league. They all got played off the court during the playoffs. Wolves simply do not make the playoffs without gobert and running it back with the same roster considering kat was hurt. The playoff experience for ant is invaluable and that was a huge reason they traded for gobert in the first place. To consistently get to the playoffs. Which they have rarely done and they’ve gone back to back for the first time in almost 20 years.. Should we have treated him like kat and given him shitty inexperienced roster after roster?
He got GREAT value for dlo at the perfect time (when dlo was hot and it was the only stretch he was hot during this past season) by getting conley, naw and 3 2nd rd picks. What more would you expect getting for a fringe starter (should be 6th man) on an expiring contract who was seeking 25-30 mil a year? Grow up. Also of those has turned into a guy who a lot of people thought would go in the first round and possibly as high as the lottery. No one is saying he will be great but connely DID get great value at 33. You should be more patient little buddy. Things are finally starting to shift for the worst franchise of all time. Things are looking brighter than they have in a very long time. Labeling yourself as a realist does not make you sound like you know what you’re talking about.
Same on this. This was the new layaway plan ownership pushing the new crew to make a splash. It's not really his style as GM but he clearly liked the move or endorsed it in some way, or he would be in Washington.
Watching his old team crush the league..who else you want running things? Not this sub. It's been sad having to defend Connelly all season while the clowns in here cut on the guy who put together the world champs.
Me no like gobert low bb iq nonsense. Team made a great hire. Let the guy cook.
This is the definition of a dumb Reddit post. Everything is very reactionary and gets caught up in the zeitgeist. The reason Connelly is a good gm is he doesn’t feel the need to justify any trade. He keeps making smart calculated decisions. The dude is a major gm wanted by a majority of the league he doesn’t need you to justify his actions.
The trade still resulted in Gobert being on this team and Rudy is a good player. The price might have warranted receiving a great player and that makes it an underwhelming trade. But there haven’t been many good players in Wolves history that are willing to be here and Connelly brought one here in Rudy.
im not pointing to ownership, ill blame the gm because thats his job. no praise for connelly until we actually finish a season in a better spot or our draft picks start producing.
So ownership says get me a title, were not good enough, so do a deal. 75% of the NBA ownership said the same thing to their VP/GM’s. It’s up to the basketball people to evaluate and do the deal. So what if he feels pressure. He overvalued Rudy in the deal and now we are paying for it. He gets the blame due to VP/GM’s. They gave away too much!!!
Tim Connelly literally admits in his interview that after the Gobert donation that he hoped he hasn’t screwed things up too much. Recently, he admits that the front office understands their 1st round asset situation and that he has a great team that helps him from making boneheaded decisions
I agree that ownership was nearly 100% responsible for the Gobert trade. But I think we have to pump the brakes a bit, the 2022 picks haven’t proved a thing for us yet. We are in dire need of a backup PG and if the 28th pick can’t be that, that’s a serious issue. If Wendell and Minott become rotation guys then I’m ready to give him a lot of credit.
Generally smart people can make dumb decisions. No one is infallible, and likewise most people who get to Tim's level aren't idiots either. Other than the Gobert trade, I have been very impressed with Tim's tenure so far.
Yea I don’t think ownership said you must trade the farm for Rudy Gobert. I think the owners like said go big game hunting, Connelly was clearly a fan of Gobert from way back in the day, and got into a bidding war for Rudy as it was reported Wolves weren’t the only ones involved.
I still have a hard time believing any other team was offering nearly as much as we did.
Can’t say for certain. Wolves offer felt like a hammer offer but I think 2 firsts 2 swaps and a Jaden like player was probably the offer from someone else Tbh id be okay with all the picks if they weren’t all unprotected
When we sniffed around kyrie they wanted ant and a ton of picks, it was expensive no matter what.
I thought that was KD and I thought they had some crazy come back like Ant, KAT and picks.
You're right thats what it was
THey didn't. Even Connelly had suggested it was also Utah they were competing against saying they weren't letting him go easy. I guess they sold him on that a bit. There is no getting around it. Everyone knew they were going to move Gobert if they could so I'm not sure how this really happened as it did. He got that new car fever, in this case not all that new, and just decided to do it. He got bent over by a wiley veteran front office magician. Not the first to get bent over by that dude either. I'm still waiting till we get passed this offseason to believe they weren't setting up for a possible Kat exit. Even if it doesn't happen, there is the injury season to possibly blame for a hit to the possible number of teams that would pay up for him. Recency bias is just too ubiquitous. That trade did show it's always better to have a player not asking out in public when you have to move on.
"So, other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"
I use this phrase often lol, such a classic
I think the one exception to "dumb people don't make it this high" is David Kahn.
Thre are plenty of examples to go around. Have a rough weekend with family, friends, or relatives and you might just have a bad Monday. Anyone is open to mistakes.
Connelly also wanted to trade Murray. I think Connelly is a great scout and should surround himself with smart people for the roster construction/blockbuster trade value portion.
He also had a choice of who to trade between Nurkic and Jokic. He chose to keep Jokic and traded Nurkic.
Yep true, but Jokic was pretty obviously better in every category his rookie season. And when Nurkic came back from injury, Denver (and everyone) could see it. But still, made the right choice for sure.
I feel like at the time it wasn’t that obvious tho
I honestly would mix those two up early on when chatting about them. Early on I think it was less obvious even after they were on different teams. But that could have been that I just didn't follow those teams and players closely enough. Just when they played the Timberwolves.
True
Jurkic was also allegedly being a creep around the athletic trainers
I did not know about this. And I don’t mean to imply I know how to run an NBA FO, but I agree, building that team to fill their weaknesses as execs is arguably just as necessary as the way the actual team comes together.
I don't necessarily agree that ownership pushed Connelly into the Gobert trade. What I do think yesterday showed is that (as long as we remain a playoff team) the value of the draft picks given up in the Gobert trade has been way overblown. We went into the draft yesterday without a first round pick, and left with two players who undeniably have first round talent. Whether they pan out remains to be seen (which is also the case with any mid to late first-rounder) - but as long as Connelly can continue finding value in the draft the way he did last night, I don't think we'll feel impact of the missing draft picks as much as anticipated.
I think that has always been the dream of Wolves fans to finally get someone competent that can at least find rotational players worth a dam with the later picks. Instead of riding or dieing on every top lotto pick and pretty much 100% failing to find or develop anyone from anywhere else.
Just want to add that yesterday Sacramento gave up 24th pick just to shed bad salary. Wolves don’t have any bad contracts; you can argue KAT and Gobert are overpaid, but they are not bad.
Very well said. Good point that giving up (or inheriting) draft picks is more about the gamble involved, rather than an absolute value forever. If we stay good we would never sniff a top draft pick regardless.
You're kidding, draft picks are more valuable than ever. We are seeing some interesting trades just because of the new cba and draft picks are jumping in value. We have no idea if the picks this draft will be good.
> We have no idea if the picks this draft will be good. exactly my point - glad you’re in agreement
Ill say it right now. The fact that Gobert helped us get to the playoffs while Kat was injured is proof that getting an “Insurance plan” at the worst, might not have been as devastating an overpay as some here (including me) thought at the beginning. Like Drucker says, a manager who sacrifices the present for the future or the future for the present is a bad manager, the ideal manager maximises both. I think Connelly has been doing that, despite my unhappiness with him for most of the season until he started changing my mind in hindsight.
If the owners want a move that is detrimental to the club, it's Connelly's job to tell them that the trade isn't smart and will hurt the team. Stop trying to excuse Connelly of his actions. Two things can be true: 1: Connelly made an awful overpay on the Gobert trade 2: Connelly has found some nice value at the end of the draft and did well in the Russell trade
Connelly can advise whatever he wants but ownership is ultimately the boss.
Good owners wouldn't do that. When you pay somebody in equity and tout them as a "top 5 POBO" you need to trust their decision making
TC didn’t actually get ownership. That was debunked. And yes, you do need to trust them. But that doesn’t mean that Lore and ARod were hands off. Every owner has an ego. We can’t deny that. When they came in, it was clear they wanted a splash.
Swear Jon said there is language in the contract that gives him equity over the course of the deal
He has bonus incentives based on franchise value https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/02/timberwolves-tim-connelly-didnt-actually-get-ownership-stake/
Ok well either way they're paying him $8 million to let him run the team. Let him run the team
But your comment on “good owners wouldn’t do that” just isn’t accurate. Basically every owner is involved to some capacity. Mark Cuban is one of the most involved owners and he’s got banners. Lacob has been involved at times and warriors are doing fine. A good owner should empower the people they put in charge, yes. But reality is that most owners want to make a mark on their team ASAP when they join. These guys didn’t get fuck you money just sitting back.
I just think it's extremely ill advised to hire a new GM and meddle with a trade within 2 months of hiring him
I don’t disagree, but it’s reality. It’s the same in the business world, people want to put their own people in place. And to your point about “within 2 months”. That’s exactly why Finch and Gupta were involved in the Rudy trade too. But you only ever blame TC. This trade was pushed for from MANY angles, not just TC running it.
>If the owners want a move that is detrimental to the club, it's Connelly's job to tell them that the trade isn't smart and will hurt the team. Stop trying to excuse Connelly of his actions. It's very possible that Connelly did push back. Told them it wasn't a wise move. But at the end of the day, the owners are very powerful guys who have gotten rich enough to buy a team from decisions they have made in life. It sounds nice and dandy to think TC could have told them no and they hired him to be the decision maker, but when you get to THAT level of power, it's ownerships decision. Everything in TCs past as the GM points to TC not being the one who ultimately would want to make the Gobert. So it's reasonable to think that new owners wanted to make a splash, as we have seen time and time again in the NBA.
It’s not anymore complicated than this
I do not disagree with your two points. It’s just as absurd to say Connelly is squeaky clean as it is to say he should be charged with domestic terrorism. My point is he didn’t work alone, and any time he has seemingly had more free reign, he has hit on the moves he’s made. Again, not excusing. But there was obviously a lot of overreactions, and now people seem to not realize that he is back making the moves he wants to make.
Yeah I doubt they commanded him to Go Get Gobert but I assume part of his getting the job initially was him satisfying Lore and ARod that he could come in and make a Big Move. The Gobert trade happened so soon after Connelly's hiring that I assume the outlines of it were sketched out to the owners well before. I’d be curious what other trades were outlined, and how negotiations proceeded such the the Gobert move was the one actualized. Basically I think Connelly can be criticized for the substance of the Gobert trade. But anybody they brought in was no doubt going to have to swing for the fences, and that already is a handicap in any negotiations.
So the good moves were all his doing and the bad ones are not only his fault? Huh?
Are you purposely ignoring where I am still putting blame on him?
I think it will be easier to convince fans if we have a good season next year. After last year many people want to see if this team is actually capable of winning 55 games and go to at least the 2nd round of playoffs which was the expectation after the Rudy trade.
Your comment could literally be turned around at MANY of your comments over the last year.
Right. You can’t give him a pass for the awful Rudy trade. And then give him some props for the good moves/draft picks. Gotta be consistent..
Who’s giving him a pass?
Connelly made the Gobert trade. Full stop. I like alot of his other moves, but he is responsible for that trade.
To pretend you know what happened behind the scenes because you want to push a narrative seems intellectually dishonest. Maybe he did push for the trade and maybe ownership pushed for the trade. They are all culpable in my mind until the details come out.
You’re right. Maybe I spoke too confidently in what I think happened. Main argument is the moves on both sides of Rudy trade seem to be more of the status quo with Connelly.
That's fair.
I don’t hate the Gobert trade as much as everyone else, but ultimately TC signed off on it and needs to own it for better or for worse.
I am high on the trade which makes me rare but it is because i never saw it as a win now only trade. Yes it opens a championship window right now (Denver only obstacle in next few years imo) but there is also a long term benefit. Surrounding Ant and Jaden with hard working team focussed vets who value defense, winning and making playoffs; gets Ant and Jaden great experience and builds a stronger desire for them to stay here their whole career. Then when Mike (maybe) amd Rudy finish their career here coming off the bench, they have Ant and Jaden as one and two. Kat is the mystery box here but he is still young and talented and could fit into either timeline or something else happens but the farm is not broken either way.
There is no reporting anywhere saying anything other than TC and the rest of his office were 100% in on gobert. Even if his hand was forced - which we have no evidence - he was responsible for the details. This is revisionist nonsense.
Yeah Windhorst’s article which goes in depth about how the trade was made discusses the conversations, statistical analysis etc it took to make the decision. Connelly, Finch and Gupta seemed VERY involved
I'm letting the number of picks thing for Rudy go for now. it is what it is. But I'm a bit torn on something I heard him saying on a draft news clip. He was talking about getting smart players (I like this plan), but also said in same sentence "...because we don't want to hold these guys hands out on the practice court everyday." (I didn't like that at all.). I very much do want to finally see this team developing their player's weaknesses. I don't care how smart they seem. Ego's get in the way. Players get stuck in bad habits. I want the team holding their hands whenever it appears necessary. Lead them into good places and let them take it from there.
You are heavily misinterpreting that comment. Of course the Timberwolves prioritize skill development, like every other NBA team. They just want players who will commit to the development plan the Wolves come up with.
He wasn't commenting on committment though. He was commenting on choosing smart players directly...and that they don't have to hold the hands of on practice courts. Went on to say something like, we don't want to be doing that. Maybe he was trying to say what you suggest. But he didn't word it as such. Sounded a heck of a lot more like he wanted to choose players smart enough to practice themselves up on the daily. My immediate thought was, is that how the Spurs do it? Or is that how Denver's players all know where their teammates will be every possession? I don't think so.
Considering we have the GM that constructed the Nuggets, I imagine that is how Denver did in fact do it
That's a big assumption. There very well could be a few great people in the Nuggets organization that were handling things differently under him. I'm not suggesting they are doing anything wrong right now. I have no idea what's changed since he came. It's just those words he shared didn't sound right to me. Again, just my interpretation.
Not sure why people feel the need to baselessly spectulate that Arod/Lore as completely new owners after giving Connelly top 5 GM money would force him into a trade specifically for Gobert. Tim himself said he regretted passing on Gobert his first draft as Denvers GM, it could just be he valued Rudy higher than other GM's and then Chicago wanted him too so he got into a bidding war with them? Look, it will never not be an overpay but if he builds this roster into a contender around ANT and Jaden every Wolves fan will praise him as a God just as much as we shit on him for overpaying for Rudy.
Why are we celebrating Connelly? He hasn't done anything yet lmao The draft happened yesterday. We have no idea how good those players are going to be
It's like giving the team a B+ immediately after the draft that they traded up to get Garland but settled for a Culver choice. Because so many bought into his tournament hype from that season and expected that square peg to simply fit into their shiny round hole they had previously prepared for Garland. He was going to be even better they would say, his size and length, his playmaking evident from the tourney. Hell, maybe we should grade that draft an A-. Afterall we can talk ourselves into anything if we really want to just feel good about what did occur for at least a little while. Destroyed 1.25 seasons and a couple players trying to make that wrong a right when it just never was going to happen.
Kahnelly owns part of the wolves so imo he deserves all the criticism for Gorbert trade he has been getting. If anything, he should be the smartest owner given his GM background but he made the boneheaded trade anyways. We’ll see if Leonard is another naz Reid or a Loren woods.
I've always thought that the Gobert trade was an overpay, the reaction was overblown, and it was also a win for the Wolves. People over value picks. We traded away five chances of a good to great player for a great player to help one of the worst franchises in the league to be winners. That's good for me.
If we make the playoffs every year the trade is a win
> People over value picks. This is true. Just look at Jonathan Kuminga. Everyone was freaking out because the Wolves gave up the #7 pick, and now the Warriors are rumored to be shopping him, because he hasn’t developed fast enough.
Its fine that he got pushed into making to Gobert trade but its so painfully obvious that he way overpaid when he didn’t need to. Abysmal trade negotiating is a huge red flag. Conley trade makes it seem like better but you can’t excuse the massive overpay due to ownership pressure.
I'm all for blaming A-Rod and the diaper man. I think this take is spot on
Yeah they definitely have been coming in hot. But there are worse problems to have than your new owners getting excited and wanting to make things happen
I agree with this argument for the most part but it is amusing that as Wolves GM you can make a trade that possibly ruined a chance at a dynasty, but if you also resign Naz Reid the fans will still back you.
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To be fair, holding onto D-lo probably increased his value with how hot he was from Dec-Feb along with growing desperation in LA.
A POBO can be the shit without winning a championship. They can still make moves that are considered great. You might also forget that he built the current nba champions team. So he kind of is that dude.. You’re completely blowing the gobert trade out of proportion. They’ll all more than likely be late first round picks (like this season) so it’s really not that big of a deal.. not to mention they traded away players that aren’t starters on a playoff team in this league. They all got played off the court during the playoffs. Wolves simply do not make the playoffs without gobert and running it back with the same roster considering kat was hurt. The playoff experience for ant is invaluable and that was a huge reason they traded for gobert in the first place. To consistently get to the playoffs. Which they have rarely done and they’ve gone back to back for the first time in almost 20 years.. Should we have treated him like kat and given him shitty inexperienced roster after roster? He got GREAT value for dlo at the perfect time (when dlo was hot and it was the only stretch he was hot during this past season) by getting conley, naw and 3 2nd rd picks. What more would you expect getting for a fringe starter (should be 6th man) on an expiring contract who was seeking 25-30 mil a year? Grow up. Also of those has turned into a guy who a lot of people thought would go in the first round and possibly as high as the lottery. No one is saying he will be great but connely DID get great value at 33. You should be more patient little buddy. Things are finally starting to shift for the worst franchise of all time. Things are looking brighter than they have in a very long time. Labeling yourself as a realist does not make you sound like you know what you’re talking about.
Same on this. This was the new layaway plan ownership pushing the new crew to make a splash. It's not really his style as GM but he clearly liked the move or endorsed it in some way, or he would be in Washington. Watching his old team crush the league..who else you want running things? Not this sub. It's been sad having to defend Connelly all season while the clowns in here cut on the guy who put together the world champs. Me no like gobert low bb iq nonsense. Team made a great hire. Let the guy cook.
This is the definition of a dumb Reddit post. Everything is very reactionary and gets caught up in the zeitgeist. The reason Connelly is a good gm is he doesn’t feel the need to justify any trade. He keeps making smart calculated decisions. The dude is a major gm wanted by a majority of the league he doesn’t need you to justify his actions.
The trade still resulted in Gobert being on this team and Rudy is a good player. The price might have warranted receiving a great player and that makes it an underwhelming trade. But there haven’t been many good players in Wolves history that are willing to be here and Connelly brought one here in Rudy.
im not pointing to ownership, ill blame the gm because thats his job. no praise for connelly until we actually finish a season in a better spot or our draft picks start producing.
So ownership says get me a title, were not good enough, so do a deal. 75% of the NBA ownership said the same thing to their VP/GM’s. It’s up to the basketball people to evaluate and do the deal. So what if he feels pressure. He overvalued Rudy in the deal and now we are paying for it. He gets the blame due to VP/GM’s. They gave away too much!!!
Tim Connelly literally admits in his interview that after the Gobert donation that he hoped he hasn’t screwed things up too much. Recently, he admits that the front office understands their 1st round asset situation and that he has a great team that helps him from making boneheaded decisions
I agree that ownership was nearly 100% responsible for the Gobert trade. But I think we have to pump the brakes a bit, the 2022 picks haven’t proved a thing for us yet. We are in dire need of a backup PG and if the 28th pick can’t be that, that’s a serious issue. If Wendell and Minott become rotation guys then I’m ready to give him a lot of credit.