How Timberwolves' Ownership Change Affects Tim Connelly's Future in Minnesota

Last week, a surprising bit of news broke as Marc Lore sold his majority stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, just a year after gaining full control of the franchise from Glen Taylor.

Unlike other recent sales of NBA teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers twice, this sale of the Wolves and Lynx does not project to come with a high-level of disruption and is closer to a reorganization of the ownership structure than a full-on regime overhaul.

The new buyer, Marc Stad, is a San Francisco-based investor who founded Dragoneer Investment Group. Stad was previously a minority investor in the Wolves and Lynx and has been working alongside Lore and fellow minority owner Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez himself will be increasing his own investment in the team and will remain governor of the Lynx. Lore, while decreasing his percentage of the team to focus on his food delivery company Wonder, is still a minority investor in the team and remains a key part of the Wolves and Lynx ownership structure.

Among many questions facing the new Timberwolves ownership group, one of the largest ones how does this affect Tim Connelly's future with the team given he only has one year left on his contract.

Looking at Tim Connelly's status after Timberwolves' ownership change

Lore and Rodriguez hired Connelly in May of 2022 when they were still minority owners. They pushed Taylor to make the team's next President of Basketball Operations and inked him to a five-year, extremely lucrative contract that is set to expire after this upcoming season.

Connelly has brought the Wolves to the playoffs each of his four seasons in Minnesota, including a total of five playoff series wins and a pair of trips to the Western Conference Finals.

Connelly has made many numerous seismic moves including trade four first round picks for Rudy Gobert and sending out franchise legend Karl-Anthony Towns after the team's best season in 20 years. Connelly's latest pivot saw him sending out all of the Wolves' remaining draft capital, along with Julius Randle and Naz Reid, for LaMelo Ball.

The optics of a team's general manager trading away every first-round pick available to him while having only a single year left on his contract are not great. Connelly, for his part, has said that he plans to stay in Minnesota.

"We're super locked in in Minnesota, couldn't be more excited," Connelly said last month on the Jon Krawczynski Show podcast. "We've had some opportunities elsewhere, but this is kinda home, and we think this team is going to be special, and I think the organization has been fantastic."

Lore and Rodriguez have had a great partnership with Connelly these past four seasons. The hope is that with both Lore and Rodriguez remaining as minority owners, the connection between ownership and the lead of the front office team will remain moving forward.

"Our ownership is just committed to winning," Connelly said of Lore and Rodriguez. "This place has been awesome and hope we're here for a long time."

Connelly's counterpart on the Lynx side, head coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve, gave her feelings about the new Wolves and Lynx ownership team and her relationship with them before a game on Monday.

"I’m really excited about the conversation I had with Marc Stad," Reeve said on Monday. "Really excited about the way he feels about Elisa, his wife, and the position that she’ll take. I think there’s a lot of alignment in Marc’s way he’s conducted his life and his business that parallels the WNBA and how the Lynx have cared about some of the women’s empowerment."

"This is actually a really good, happy-for-each-other type of evolution to the ownership group, and I’m excited," Reeve added, noting that there isn't the drama this time that there was when Lore and Rodriguez took over for Taylor.

Reeve's comments are a positive sign that the new Stad ownership group, along with Rodriguez, is not likely to parachute in and create a ton of change. They appear to be in alignment with Lore and Rodriguez's previous vision, and the most likely outcome is that Connelly will sign a long-term contract with the team this summer.

Still, it is notable that the owners who brought in Connelly just a few years ago, Lore and Rodriguez, are no longer in majority control. It is possible that the Stads decide to go in a different direction, or Connelly himself could decide to play out the final year of his deal and move on after that.

The big test is where Connelly's contract status sits at the start of the season in October. If his contract gets renewed, Connelly will be set to stay in Minnesota for a long time. If not, the Timberwolves may be in for even more change at the top of their leadership structure.

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