I thought this was pretty interesting...

[purplefaithful]

When the Minnesota Timberwolves finished their playoff run, focus immediately turned to the 2024 NBA Draft and the offseason. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly knew he would have limited resources, due to their 2nd apron luxury tax reality, but he still had some tricks up his sleeve.



Derek Falvey and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah join Tim Connelly in Minnesota Timberwolves draft room

Despite being arguably the most successful president of basketball operations that the Minnesota Timberwolves have ever had, Tim Connelly doesn’t operate with a ‘smartest man in the room’ complex. He’s known for his ability to value, and appreciate informed opinions, where he can get them.

While neither Falvey or Adofo-Mensah have intimate knowledge of NBA Draft prospects, they do think analytically and have an understanding of valuations. Not only that, but this was the first year that the NBA used a two-day draft process, another major reason why he wanted them in the room.

The Vikings traded up twice during their recent draft, and while draft trades aren’t straightforward for Major League Baseball, Falvey understands how Sean Johnson (vice president of amateur scouting) evaluates potential picks.

A front row seat to the Minnesota Timberwolves madness

The way in which an NBA Draft works is substantially different than either the NFL or MLB. Tim Connelly had significantly less time to operate between picks, and his sport encompasses the full process in just two rounds. With the NFL going seven rounds and MLB being spread across 20, each sport is a different animal.

Falvey noted it was “wild” to see how fast Connelly’s brain was working. The Major League Baseball Amateur Draft is largely a groupthink process that Falvey overseas, but differs to Johnson and those he has in place to make such decisions.

Despite having just the 27th overall pick last night, Connelly was able to trade into the top ten and land Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham with the 8th overall selection. He also held onto his 27th overall pick and grabbed Terrence Shannon Jr. Adofo-Mensah has experience moving around the draft, and could have been consulted on the value proposition of acting in such a manner. For Falvey, the maneuvering had to be a wild process to see up close.

The trio working together is a pretty significant advancement in the world of cross-sport collaboration. With the Twins currently successful, and Vikings transitioning into a new era, all three local teams being on the precipice of something special is plenty exciting. It remains to be seen if this becomes some sort of standard practice going forward, but more knowledge and potential ideas from smart people is hardly ever a bad thing.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/tim-connelly-had-head-execs-from-other-local-teams-helping-in-timberwolves-draft-room/ar-BB1p1w40?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=59e87e84b51e40ecb1a02f3caac52c70&ei=57

[Tyr]

I am sure they had no say on draft night, but I think they could have had some valuable conversations about the draft strategy and how roster development work in the NBA, NFL, & MLB. They are all doing the same job, but working off of different realities and baseline assumptions, but there's still this high level knowledge that they would share or understand. It's the same if I talk to other software engineers who use different languages, tools, etc. than I do. I may not be familiar with the nitty gritty implementation details, but a lot of the problems we solve, processes we follow, & concepts we work with are the same & we can have really fruitful conversations. I won't say it's revolutionary, but I think it's a useful thought experiment to go through and it's always fun to see the local teams support eachother.

[StickierBuns]

I always like when I read about other sports organizations in the same city helping and rooting for each other to succeed. Its great for the town.

[MaroonBells]

"Despite being arguably the most successful president of basketball operations that the Minnesota Timberwolves have ever had, Tim Connelly doesn’t operate with a ‘smartest man in the room’ complex. He’s known for his ability to value, and appreciate informed opinions, where he can get them."

It's surprising to me that there are leaders in the world of sport, business and politics who don't solicit opinions from their teams and still operate with a "smartest man in the room" complex. History shows it's a recipe for failure and most of them have been run out of town.

[Greylock]

The drafts in those three sports are so different form each other, I'm sure Falvey and Kwesi enjoyed just watching and not having the clock ticking on their pick.

One thing I really don't understand and think is weird and dumb but when an NBA team trades a pick the pick is still announced as the original team at that pick. You see the players all excited and they put on the team hat of the original team at that pick only to find out later they have already been traded.