Tim Connelly: Timberwolves need to be 'creative as possible' with roster
It's fair to say Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly's default position is not to stand pat.
In February 2023, he moved D'Angelo Russell for Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker - two key parts of the Timberwolves' eight-man rotation that just reached the Western Conference finals for the second straight year.
Last October, Connelly shipped four-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo - two more key pieces in that eight-man rotation.
So, with the NBA draft and free agency fast approaching, what might Connelly have in store in order to get the Timberwolves to their first NBA title?
"I mean, you're always just guessing," Connelly said. "I mean, I don't know. I mean, until you win it all, you've got to be very self-critical and look for areas where you can improve upon.
"This time of year is especially active because the draft free agency, so it's really one of the biggest transactional windows we have. We feel very happy with the core we have. We don't feel like there's a tremendous pressure to do much. But, you know, until you're raising the trophy, you've got to be active and creative as possible to try to get to a point where, at some point, you're the final team."
Presuming Connelly wants to bring back every member of that eight-man rotation that went 27-12 over the final three months of the regular season and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 and the Golden State Warriors 4-1 in the playoffs, he's going to have to do some financial gymnastics.
Minnesota led the NBA in total cap allocations in 2024-25 at $237,156,897. Hypothetically, the Wolves could live well above the cap again, but forwards Julius Randle and Naz Reid are veterans who get to decide whether to accept a contract option for next season or become a free agent. Meanwhile, Alexander-Walker is an unrestricted free agent.
"The goal is to keep everybody," Connelly said.
But if any or all three move on, the Timberwolves have the Nos. 17 and 31 picks in the NBA draft. They also have three youngsters who just completed their first season - wing Terrence Shannon Jr., guard Rob Dillingham and forward Jaylen Clark - who could warrant more minutes next year.
At the same time, the current group lost the Western Conference finals in five games to the Oklahoma City Thunder - an organization loaded with enough younger players and first-round picks that it ought to contend for several more years.
"I think team grew together as it got to know each other, so I don't know if there's a ton of certain skillsets we need," Connelly said. "I think it's more kind of collective maturity - to be able to play different ways and have... you know, every night we're not going to be able to be super-productive. So how do we win those games kind of in the mud?
"You know, we've got a bunch of guys who have these huge roles that are starting to get a little bit older. So you always want to have people behind them. So I think there's some positions that potentially could be more of need because of how the present roster is set up."
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