Tim Connelly officially joined the Timberwolves as president of basketball operations on Tuesday, saying "There's a real sense here this team can do something special, and I hope to be a small part of it."
Connelly was hired away from Denver, where he had the same job. He praised the Wolves organization and coach Chris Finch as he participated in a press conference with team owners Glen Taylor, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.
The 45-year-old was with the Nuggets for nine seasons, and made the jump to Minnesota for a contract that is for five years and $40 million, along with an equity stake in the team. Lore and Rodriguez purchased the team for $1.5 billion in a deal that was finalized in 2021. Taylor, who also owns the Star Tribune, will be the controlling owner until 2023.
Connelly noted he is familiar with many in the Wolves organization. He worked with Finch — who got a four-year contract extension in April — for one season in Denver before the Wolves coach left for a job with New Orleans.
"I wasn't looking for this — it was a unique opportunity," said Connelly, who first met with the Wolves brass at Lore's New York condo. "There were a lot of sleepless nights. As you have those sleepless nights, it makes you dig deeper internally.
"I'm not joining a team that's broken. It's trending in the right direction. It's made a ton of right decisions, including extending Chris."
The Wolves finished 46-36 and were the seventh seed in the Western Conference before losing a six-game playoff series to second-seeded Memphis. They have the 19th pick in the June 23 draft.
Connelly acknowledged the Wolves have draft preparation well under way, and added, "There's no exact science in basketball. We're not like engineers, where if we put this beam in the wrong place, the building falls. I enjoy the inexact nature of the draft.
"We use this term quite often, you guys will get sick of it — informed mistakes. We can't be governed by fear. We have to be aggressive."
Sachin Gupta ran the team for the past year after the team's previous president of basketball operations, Gersson Rosas, was fired on the eve of training camp.
