Tim Connelly keeps his NBA pulse in a pretty unusual place.
The Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations doesn’t lean on social media for league updates, and he doesn’t fill his phone with the apps that can turn every rumor into a headache. According to a feature in The Athletic, the one site he does check is HoopsHype, the aggregation hub for major NBA news.
Jon Krawczynski wrote that Connelly avoids the noise that comes with the modern NBA information cycle. “Most executives say they don’t pay attention to social media criticism.
Connelly lives it. He does not have any social media apps on his phone.
The only thing he does peruse is HoopsHype, an aggregation site for major NBA news. One of his early mentors, former Washington Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard, would always tell him to do everything he could to block out the noise, words the Connelly family have lived by ever since,” Krawczynski wrote.
Joe Connelly, Tim’s brother and the Timberwolves’ vice president of player personnel, told The Athletic that his brother isn’t spending much time worrying about outside chatter. “Sometimes the noise could be as loud as you want it to be if you’re scrolling Twitter or watching the TV shows,” Joe Connelly told The Athletic. “But Tim doesn’t really put too much time or stock into those things.”
Now Connelly’s attention turns to a Timberwolves team with a different look heading into the new season. Minnesota has several new faces, including NBA All-Star-caliber guard Lamelo Ball.
The opener brings another revamped roster into the picture. The Timberwolves begin the season against the Miami Heat, who also added a major name in star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In Other News...
Joan Beringer Is Giving The Wolves One Big Reason To Worry
Joan Beringer has given the Timberwolves a useful preseason glimpse of what he might become, and the early returns are hard to ignore. In limited minutes, he has flashed real value around the basket, averaging 7.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks while giving Minnesota the kind of interior activity teams can lean on when the game gets physical.
The concern, though, is just as clear. Beringer is also averaging three fouls in about 17.6 minutes, and for a team that may need him more as Rudy Gobert gets older and potentially gets managed more carefully, that kind of whistle trouble can become a real issue. Minnesota does not have much room to spare in the frontcourt, so how quickly Beringer learns to defend without sending people to the line could shape how much trust he earns early on. [Read more 🡒]
Former Bulls Guard Now Faces A Brutal Question About His NBA Future
Rob Dillinghams path from highly regarded draft prospect to uneasy NBA afterthought has moved faster than anyone in Minnesota likely expected when the Timberwolves took him eighth overall in the 2024 draft. A standout at Kentucky, Dillingham arrived with real intrigue as a guard who could score and create, but the transition to the league has been rocky, with his size and defensive limitations making it difficult for him to carve out a stable role.
Now without an NBA contract after being traded twice and waived by three teams, Dillingham has become part of a larger leaguewide conversation about young guards who look better on the draft board than they do once the games count. NBA draft analyst Rafael Barlowe and other scouts have started revisiting whether the initial evaluation oversold his upside, or whether teams today simply have less patience for players who need time to develop, leaving Dillingham facing a much harsher question than he did on draft night. [Read more 🡒]
Tim Connellys Latest Wolves Swing Just Changed The Pressure On Everyone
Tim Connelly has made a habit of keeping the Timberwolves in motion since taking over as president of basketball operations in 2022, and this latest move fits the pattern. After a stretch that included headline-grabbing deals for Rudy Gobert and LaMelo Ball, Minnesota has continued to chase the kind of top-end talent it believes can keep the roster in the Wests upper tier. The Wolves made the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025, so the pressure around every Connelly swing has only grown louder.
The latest pivot came after Minnesota fell in the second round in 2026, pushing Connelly to rework the core again by moving Julius Randle and Naz Reid for Ball. With Jaden McDaniels drawing encouraging preseason attention, there is at least some reason to believe the framework around the new-look group can still hold up. Still, the bigger question now is whether this kind of constant reshuffling has finally raised the stakes for everyone in the organization, from the front office down to the players expected to make it work. [Read more 🡒]