05-23-2022, 10:18 PM
I hope so...So want Glen Taylor to get the heck out of MN sports too.
Tim Connelly will be Timberwolves president of basketball operationsThe Denver Nuggets executive finalized a deal to run the team on Monday
Not long after they joined the Timberwolves ownership last summer, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez made it their mission to find a top-tier executive with a proven track record of building a franchise to run the organization when they are set to become controlling owners in 2023.With the help of current controlling owner Glen Taylor, the Wolves reeled in that high-profile target: Tim Connelly.
Connelly, who spent the past 10 seasons building Denver into a Western Conference contender, agreed Monday to become the new Wolves president of basketball operations, NBA sources confirmed.
Connelly met with a contingent from the Wolves on Saturday at Taylor's home in Mankato, and spent some time mulling over his decision since then. He finally agreed to a deal after having an extended courtship in recent weeks with Lore and Rodriguez.
The contract is for five years and $40 million, with Connelly getting an equity stake in the team that will raise the value of the package.
Lore and Rodriguez purchased the team for $1.5 billion in a deal that was finalized 2021. Taylor will be the controlling owner until 2023.
Connelly's hiring represents the end of a long process for the new owners to find a top-tier executive with a proven track record to run the basketball side of the franchise for years going forward and come eight months after the team fired President Gersson Rosas in September.
Connelly helped build a perennial contender in Denver around two-time MVP Nikola Jokic since joining the Nuggets as general manager in 2013. He was later promoted to president.
The Nuggets reached the Western Conference finals in 2020 as Jokic blossomed in the years after Connelly drafted him 41st overall in 2014. In 2016, Connelly drafted Jamal Murray, the burgeoning guard who spearheaded that 2020 run alongside Jokic. Murray has been out since April 2021 after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Denver hasn't advanced past the second round in the two playoffs since.
Connelly oversaw the drafting of Michael Porter Jr., who was out most of this season because of a back injury, and promising rookie Bones Hyland, who simply tweeted "Damn ..." shortly after the news broke Monday.
Connelly also drafted two significant contributors on the current Wolves roster — guard Malik Beasley and forward Jarred Vanderbilt. Rosas traded for the pair before the deadline in February 2020
https://www.startribune.com/tim-connelly...600175784/
