Could Tim Connelly really leave Denver for Minnesota?

Tim Connelly, the Nuggets’ president of basketball operations who drafted Nikola Jokic 41st overall in the 2014 draft, selected Jamal Murray 7th overall three years later, and built an NBA Championship contender in Denver from scratch, is a being pursued by the Timberwolves who want to hire him for the same role in Minnesota.

The news was first reported by Shams Charania at The Athletic, and yes, it’s very real. The most significant news around the pursuit of Connelly may have come from Wolves reporter and insider Dane Moore, who tweeted Wednesday night that Minnesota is willing to give Connelly an ownership stake. It true, that would be tough for anyone in any front office, in any city, and in any organization to pass up, even someone who’s wired as different as Connelly is.

A key negotiation factor in the Timberwolves trying to attract Tim Connelly to be the new president of basketball operations is a stake in ownership, sources say.

Connelly has been on the Wolves list of “top 5” POBO candidates dating back to last summer, sources say. https://t.co/sw2bNWLMXj

— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) May 18, 2022

It’s not the first time Connelly has been pursued by another team. In 2019, the Wizards, Connelly’s hometown team that he worked for from 1996-2009, tried to hire him as their president of basketball operations. Connelly declined Washington’s offer and ultimately returned to Denver, and I don’t think he was ever as close to taking that job as reports indicated. I also thought running the Wizards would maybe be the only job Connelly would leave the Nuggets for.

Why? Mostly because Connelly isn’t like other presidents or general managers. He’s not one to jump at a flashier job that gives him a moderate pay bump like many executives around the league would. He’s more grounded and has different priorities than most of his peers. I believe he truly wants to finish what he started in Denver, with the superstar he drafted and just partied with in Sombor after a second-straight MVP, and many of the same people within the organization who have been by his side throughout much of his tenure.

But an ownership stake? That’s different. That’s generational wealth and something that NBA teams just don’t regularly throw out there to lure in executives.

Losing Connelly would be a massive blow, and this organization would have a dramatically different feel to it if he was to leave. Besides the obvious — that Connelly’s responsible for the tight-knit and connected culture that’s been fostered over the last 5+ years and the long-term vision and organizational direction that’s led the Nuggets to this point — his departure would change the spirit of the franchise.

Connelly is different than any other lead executive that I’ve met during my seven years covering the NBA. He’s the opposite of pretentious. He’s direct with everyone within the organization but also down-to-earth, humble, and most of all, real. He comes off as just one of the guys. Players really respect him for that and the way he conducts business.

If Connelly was to leave, I’d bet on GM Calvin Booth becoming the lead executive and decision-maker. It didn’t go unnoticed that Booth, a 10-year NBA player who retired in 2009, was hired as the Nuggets’ assistant general manager in 2017 and then promoted to general manager in 2020, held an exit interview with the media following the season when he didn’t in years past. If Booth does take over, he’ll have huge shoes to fill.

Connelly is a scout by trade, and even with a president’s title, talent evaluation is still at the core of his job. By now, Connelly has a rep as the best drafter in the NBA. His hits were massive: Jokic, Murray, and Michael Porter Jr. at 14, which is still a great pick (maybe not the best contract) even with Porter’s ongoing injury concerns. Before those finds, Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic. Malik Beasley at No. 19. Monte Morris at No. 51. Jarred Vanderbilt, who’s now a starter in Minnesota, at 41 overall in 2018. Connelly’s latest find? Bones Hyland at the 26th pick last season.

He has his misses two, like Emmanuel Mudiay seventh overall and the 2017 first-round debocle that landed the Nuggets Tyler Lydon. Juancho Hernangomez was a disappointment for a 15th overall pick although that draft was extremely weak. Other than that, it’s hard to find too many faults in Connelly’s draft record. Trades for the likes of Will Barton in 2015 and Aaron Gordon in 2021 have also helped turn Denver into a contender.

The Wolves’ new ownership group of Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore want to make a splash. They want a big name. I’ve heard they’ve poked around about other top-tier executives too, but that Connelly specifically could be had because of the type of money he’d be offered from Minnesota. It sounds like it would be a massive step up from what he’s making in Denver and that this new Wolves ownership might be willing to do whatever it takes to land a big fish.

But here’s a thought: There’s some doubt circulating that the Wolves’ soon-to-be owners Rodriguez and Lore can even offer Connelly an ownership stake right now considering they don’t currently have full control over the team and won’t until 2023. It feels like a bit of a murky situation that maybe Connelly will sniff out. Or maybe Rodriguez and Lore find a way to give him the godfather offer they want to.

Again, the Nuggets would have a totally different feel and vibe if Connelly leaves. I don’t think the change of leadership at the top would signal drastic changes to how the Nuggets are run, but I’d anticipate Denver being more willing to part with some of its current rotation players if Booth, not Connelly, was calling the shots. I don’t anticipate Jokic being so upset by Connelly’s departure that he won’t sign the supermax this summer either. I don’t know that for a fact, but that’s just my feel for the situation.

We’ll likely know Connelly’s decision soon. I don’t expect this decision to drag out for too long.