Tim Connelly speaks on KAT, Gobert and Timberwolves' plans this offseason
The Minnesota Timberwolves are entering an important summer and president of basketball operations Tim Connelly provided a backdrop during an interview with KFAN's Dan Barrerio on Friday afternoon.
Connelly addressed several topics in the 45-minute interview from the status of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert to the Timberwolves' plans this offseason. Without their first-round pick, it will be interesting to see what moves are made, but here are some takeaways from Connelly's conversation.
"The plan is" for KAT to return
One of the biggest rumors heading into the summer is whether the Timberwolves will trade Karl-Anthony Towns. The 27-year-old has been connected to several teams in trade rumors, but Connelly said that Towns is expected to return to the Wolves next season.
"That's the plan," Connelly said. "Karl's an elite player. I always joke with anybody I meet to make these proclamations that 'I will never trade you,'...I would never say that as there are countless players out there, but I don't think there's any real expectation that our team can be much different. ... Guys like [Anthony Edwards] and Karl and [Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels], you don't trade these guys unless your socks are absolutely knocked off. ...They're just elite, elite players and awesome."
Towns' future came into question after a tumultuous season where he dealt with an illness before the season and then suffered a Grade 3 calf strain in November. While Connelly said he was concerned that Towns' could have been out for the season initially, he also said the timeframe for Towns' recovery was constantly changing.
"Our whole goal was to just be certain that KAT was back when he was healthy," Connelly said. "The timeframe was constantly evolving and changing. It was superfluid. So we were never really in a position where we thought it was responsible to put a timeframe out. We never want to put our guys in tough situations. We want to share as much information as we know but the information that we had was changing sometimes on a weekly basis. It was certainly complicated."
Connelly has high hopes for Gobert's second year with Wolves
One of the reasons for a potential trade involving Towns is his fit with Gobert. The Timberwolves acquired Gobert in a massive trade last summer that sent five players and five first-round draft picks to the Utah Jazz but his performance tailed off, averaging just 13.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots in 70 games.
"Rudy will be the first one to tell you, it was not one of his better years," Connelly said. "There's a handful of areas where we think he can get better at."
Connelly went on to attribute playing in the European Championships last summer and the transition to a new city as reasons for Gobert's tough first season in Minnesota. But despite the growing pains, Connelly saw positives in Gobert's performance.
"We thought Rudy was really good but we just hold him to such a high standard," Connelly said. "...I think a lot of what Rudy does is subtle. It's not always obvious but we're a really, really good defensive team when he's on the court."
Connelly also noted that the Timberwolves didn't have adequate time to acclimate to Gobert as multiple players including Towns missed significant time due to injury. After spending so much to acquire Gobert, all of these comments are to be expected, but it sounds like the experiment between him and Towns will last at least one more season.
"Those two have a really nice chemistry but it was disrupted by the injuries," Connelly said. "I think [Rudy] would be the first to tell you by his standards that he wasn't where he wanted to be and where we all know he can be."
Connelly remains high on Chris Finch
Another name that could be on the hot seat to begin next season is Chris Finch. While the Wolves have made the playoffs in each of the past couple of seasons, it felt like Finch lost control at times, seeing his team blow several double-digit leads and failing to make adjustments in critical moments.
Still, it feels like Finch's job isn't in danger as Connelly complemented the job of his head coach during the interview.
"Finch and I talk daily about everything," Connelly said. "There's no topic that we don't talk about relative to specific X's and O's. I have full faith in Chris. He's one of the smartest guys I've ever been around. I think he does a great job of adjusting within the game and I think he does a wonderful job of putting guys in positions to succeed. I think he's one of the brightest coaches in the NBA. and as we win more and I think we have some posted success, I think he'll be more recognized for being such a great coach."
The Timberwolves need to work on their maturity
Overall, Connelly believed that the Timberwolves had a good year but also thought they missed a lot of opportunities. One of the key reasons was the Timberwolves' lack of maturity, losing to sub-.500 teams and becoming their own worst enemy at times.
"We lost a lot of games against teams that respectfully, we've probably gone into thinking we were going to get an easy W," Connelly said. "We haven't won enough to be that team. As the year progressed, we saw how important those wins and losses were."
Connelly went on to say he believed the Timberwolves should have avoided the play-in tournament had they not lost some of those games and could have avoided a first-round matchup with the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets had they not blown a late lead against the Los Angeles Lakers.
"What does our matchup look like in the first round if it's not the team that went 16-4?" Connelly asked. "I think what's neat and I think what we can be pretty optimistic about is the margins we need to clean up. I think we have a wonderful foundation. We have a fantastic coach and we can't have that record [against losing teams] to take yourself seriously. You can't go into the last two weeks of the season sweating every game to just make the playoffs. We have to hold ourselves to the highest standards and there are some areas we have to clean up."
One of the areas Connelly mentioned was the Timberwolves' maturity. Minnesota led the NBA in technical and flagrant fouls last season and had the issue come to a head when Gobert punched Kyle Anderson on the sideline and Jaden McDaniels broke his hand after punching a wall during the regular season finale against the New Orleans Pelicans.
"We had so many moments where emotionally, we were not locked in and it hurt us," Connelly said. "It hurt us both on and off the court. ... That can't happen again. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard."
What's next for the Timberwolves?
The disappointing season leads to an interesting prelude to this summer. With the league's new collective bargaining agreement issuing stiffer penalties for teams in the second apron of team spending, some believe a big move is imminent as the Wolves also have to pay a supermax salary to Gobert and agree to lucrative contract extensions with Edwards and McDaniels this summer.
But Connelly pointed out the willingness of Timberwolves ownership to build a contender which could allow the team to spend what it takes to create a winning roster.
"We have pretty aggressive ownership," Connelly said. "I think a lot of your budgets depend on how far you can go as a team and how much you win. I don't think there's one clear line [that] if you win at a high level often times that comes with a bigger bottom line and more expensive salaries. But in a way, it's a good problem. You're paying good players. It's a huge credit to the front office to have all these homegrown guys and you can't keep everybody, but we're going to see how far this team can go and build off that success. Then we'll have a pretty good roadmap about what we can do and not do initially."
Connelly also noted the need to look for skill sets that can help the team including finding more shooting.
"I think shooting is one of those skill sets, but we're looking for certain types of competitors and guys and...we don't have a box on our depth chart right now. But I think we've identified some characteristics that this team could really use."
