No NBA front office hits on every swing. Draft picks miss, trades flop, free-agent bets go sideways - that’s the league. What matters is whether the person in charge is willing to push for more than safe, incremental improvement.
That’s been the defining trait of Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly. He doesn’t operate like someone trying to protect his record. He operates like someone trying to raise the ceiling, even if it means living with the consequences.
Marc Stein recently described how people around the league view Connelly, and the word that came up was blunt: “They’re saying Tim Connelly is a gunslinger.” Stein pointed to the Gobert trade, saying, “The Gobert trade…we’re still talking about to this day, how many picks he threw at that.
That forced them to trade KAT because of Gobert’s contract, and now KAT is a champion. Also, Connelly only has 1 year left on his deal, I think the Wolves want to extend him.
That was certainly the talk all spring.”
“Gunslinger” can sound like a criticism, but in Minnesota’s case it has also meant ambition. Connelly has shown a clear willingness to make the kind of major roster changes that can change a franchise’s trajectory.
The Gobert deal was initially viewed almost everywhere as an overpay. Instead, it helped shape a defensive identity that pushed the Timberwolves to heights the franchise had never reached before with Rudy anchoring the middle.
The Towns move looked different once the Knicks won a title with him, and Connelly didn’t hesitate to keep working after that. He flipped the centerpiece from that deal, Julius Randle, to create the financial space needed to address a glaring hole at point guard. That search ended with LaMelo Ball.
Not every move has landed cleanly. Rob Dillingham was a miss.
But Connelly has also brought in Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Mike Conley, and Ayo Dosunmu, with those last two described as hits. It’s been a lot of movement in a relatively short span, especially for someone who has only been with the team for about four years.
There’s been some pushback to the Ball addition, but the Wolves clearly needed to do something at point guard. Ball’s shot selection has improved, and the Hornets became a more talented team with those changes to his game.
For a roster built around Anthony Edwards, that’s the bigger point: you don’t maximize a star by standing still. Connelly has chosen the harder road, and that’s a positive.
In Other News...
Timberwolves Suddenly Linked To A Rumor That Changes Everything
Minnesotas roster already looks different after the front office moved on from Julius Randle and Naz Reid while bringing in LaMelo Ball, and the latest wrinkle only adds to the sense that this group is still being shaped. The Timberwolves have spent the summer reworking the pieces around Anthony Edwards, and any star-level addition would naturally change the conversation around what this team can be in the West.
A report from Sam Amick of The Athletic has now put a far bigger name into the mix, though the idea remains very much in rumor territory. For a franchise trying to keep climbing, even the hint of interest in a player of that stature is enough to turn heads, but the gap between speculation and something real is still wide enough to leave this as more intrigue than certainty. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Early Free Agency Move Says A Lot About Their Priorities
Minnesota moved quickly to bring back Bones Hyland in the opening stretch of free agency, another sign that the Wolves want to keep a certain kind of depth intact while they sort through the rest of their roster. Hylands one-year minimum deal keeps a useful bench scorer in place after he gave the team 8.5 points and 2.6 assists a night last season, and his speed gives the second unit a different look when Minnesota wants to push the pace.
The early return also comes with a wider roster question still hanging over the Wolves. Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson remain unsigned, leaving two familiar rotation pieces in limbo as the front office weighs its next steps, and Minnesota still has a clear need to address at power forward if it wants the group to feel complete. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Bombshell Could Quietly Change Everything For The Timberwolves
LeBron James latest career pivot has immediate ripple effects across the Western Conference, even if Minnesota is not in position to chase him. The Lakers star has told Los Angeles he intends to keep playing in 2026-27, but he wants to do it elsewhere, and that alone changes the backdrop for every team watching the West, including a Timberwolves club still shaping its own roster around salary constraints and future flexibility.
For Minnesota, the bigger takeaway may be what James leaving does to the Lakers rather than any fantasy of landing him. If Los Angeles loses that kind of centerpiece, its margin for error gets a lot thinner, which matters for a Wolves team trying to climb higher in the conference. Minnesota still has roster work to do, including a need at power forward, but it also has reason to believe that internal growth and bargain hunting can keep pushing it forward while a rival in the West deals with a major void. [Read more 🡒]