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Anthony Slater: ere’s an update from Tim Connelly on Anthony Edwards’ knee surgery. Not a meniscus issue. Team is calling it an arthroscopic procedure. He said imaging was of greater concern than previous problem Edwards has managed. “It’s not something we are concerned with long-term.”
"We weren't the best version ourselves last year in the playoffs, but we also know how high the bar is in the Western Conference," Wolves president Tim Connelly said at the team's media day. "We're very aware of what we have to overcome and how difficult that task will be. And we think we're more prepared than ever." The Wolves recognized their need to lessen Edwards' ballhandling duties, and he has been more than happy to welcome the help. "I feel like I'm a natural two guard at heart," he said. "I never thought I could develop any point guard skills. I know Finchy [coach Chris Finch] harps on me passing the ball, but now we got LaMelo, so I'm happy."
Bill Duffy of WME Basketball is involved with representing both players (McDaniels is also represented by Nima Namakian of Innovate Sports), so getting this deal done certainly can’t hurt things when it is time to open up extension talks for Edwards next summer. The two sides negotiated the deal for weeks, sources said. New Timberwolves owners Marc and Elisa Stad, co-owner Alex Rodriguez and president of basketball operations Tim Connelly all emphasized to McDaniels just how much they wanted him in Minnesota. They believe McDaniels can make another leap in his development, and he has looked sharp so far in the preseason.
Some have worked. Others have not. In an industry often plagued by rabbit ears and thin skin, Connelly, the Wolves’ president of basketball operations, has made one polarizing move after another with no regard to social media analysis or fear for his long-term job security. “If it doesn’t work and it’s my job, I’ll get fired,” he said. “That’s fine. But I don’t ever want to be in a position where we’re reluctant to take big swings.”
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. “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 said. “But Tim doesn’t really put too much time or stock into those things.”
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Over the last week, top decision-makers around the league have taken to microphones across the country during their team’s media days, and while the NBA waits to see how these rules play out in reality and not just on paper, general managers and team presidents seem to think the new lottery rules will have a significant impact on this upcoming season. “I think it’ll be the most competitive league we’ve seen, maybe ever,” Minnesota Timberwolves team president Tim Connelly said. “From top to bottom, there’s no one who is incentivized to lose, which is great for the NBA.”
Tim Connelly: "Anthony's best chance to be the best player in the world is to be the best two-way player in the world. His competition is so good and so talented to be in that mix of the top four or five guys to be an MVP candidate. I think he'd be the first to tell you at times last year, and some of it was our fault, we put him in positions where he had to do so much offensively. We think a lot of the ball-handling stuff will be out of his hands now with more traditional point guards next to him. But he's got to be a two-way player. He's got to be a lead on both ends."
Tim Connelly: "Donte (DiVincenzo) looks great. As you guys all know, Donte attacks everything like he attacks the court. I thought our medical staff and his agents did a great job of quickly getting it addressed. He was under the knife 24 hours after the surgery. He looks as good as we'd hoped. We don't want to put any added pressure on him, but we're cautious and optimistic that we're going to see Donte this season and we know how much he brings to our team."
Connelly is one of the most respected front-office leaders in the game. He is entering the final season of a five-year deal that he signed in 2021 when the Timberwolves lured him away from Denver. The two sides have had discussions about a contract extension, but there has yet to be a resolution. “I’m super happy here,” Connelly said. “We had our third kid here. We feel really part of this Minnesota community. Just focused on continuing to build and continuing to win games.”
Connelly lamented that his contract situation has become a public discussion point but reiterated that he has never engaged with other teams who have come calling to check on his availability. This summer, limited partners Marc and Elisa Stad agreed to purchase some of Marc Lore’s shares in the franchise, elevating them to the majority owners of the Wolves and WNBA’s Lynx. The NBA still has to approve the transaction, which will be the third configuration of controlling ownership — starting with Glen and Becky Taylor before moving to Lore and Alex Rodriguez last year and now the Stads and Rodriguez — Connelly has had in his five years in Minnesota.
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Jon Krawczynski: Tim Connelly says he’s “super happy” in Minnesota. He is entering the last year of his deal but notes he’s had opportunities to move and has stayed. Says he’s focused on winning here.
Wolves GM: Matt Lloyd: "The opportunity came up to sign Jonathan Kuminga, which again was the product of many, many phone calls and a lot of time investment. My wife asked me at one point, how many times has he called you? She was referencing Jonathan Kuminga's agent. How many times have you been on the phone with him since the middle of July? So I said, okay, I will look, and we went through my phone and we had 94 phone calls between July 15th to the day we signed Jonathan. Anthony Edwards was really instrumental in recruiting him to come here. We had several conversations with him, his representatives, and from Chris Finch to Tim Connelly to Alonzo Gee, who is on our staff, everything just came together."
Jim Souhan: "So is Marc Lore still involved?" Jon Krawczynski: "He is still involved though, he is still a limited partner with this group he's not leaving entirely, he's just taking a step back and so we'll see sort of like how much more comes to light on who he and Alisa are and and and how they move and how they operate. But, you know, Marc Stad was the number three investor with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in this ownership group. He's been very quiet and under the radar for his tenure with the Wolves and really for the way that he conducts business in general. If you look online and try to find any really public information about Marc Stad, there's not a ton of it out there and that's all by design. He's a very private person, he wants to stay behind the scenes, but talking to people with the Timberwolves over the last couple of years, Marc Stad has been involved in what has been going on in decisions that are made and kind of meeting and talking with Tim Connelly, discussing with Alex Rodriguez and Mark Lore the kind of the visions for arena, for the business side of the operation, for the basketball side of the operation."
Jon Krawczynski: They had to get into a bidding war, a recruiting battle with the Los Angeles Lakers for Jonathan Kuminga's services. The Lakers were offering a possible starting spot, the Wolves were offering a possible starting spot, the Lakers were offering more than $12 million per season, the Wolves could only get to six, and yet with a huge recruiting push from Marc Stad, Marc Lore, and Alex Rodriguez, and Tim Connelly, and Anthony Edwards, and a bunch of Timberwolves teammates, they were the ones that outmaneuvered the Lakers in free agency for a player both teams coveted.