The Minnesota Timberwolves have named Tim Connelly as their new President of Basketball Operations. This was officially announced by the franchise on Monday. The commitment of the previous Nuggets boss can cost the Wolves a lot.
How among other things ESPN and The Athletic consistently report, Connelly has been given a five-year contract in Minnesota that should net the new strongman in the front office $40 million. This makes Connelly one of the highest-paid executives in the NBA.
Connelly’s move from the Nuggets to the Wolves had been hinted at in the past few days, and over the past week there have been several talks between him and the future team owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez and the current majority owner Glen Taylor.
Denver apparently made an attempt to persuade Connelly to stay with a pay rise, but the offer is said to be loud ESPN still be well below that of the Timverwolves. Part of the deal is said to include shares in the franchise.
Connelly has been part of the Denver front office since 2013, first as general manager and later as team president. In his nine years with the Nuggets, he earned a solid reputation as one of the league’s top executives. In Denver, apparently, GM Calvin Booth is said to be leading the organization.
Connelly now wants to build a similar success structure around the young core in Minnesota around Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards as with the Nuggets, who drafted the two-time MVP Nikola Jokic under him and recently reached the playoffs four times in a row.
