Mavs' Front Office Search Reportedly Centers on Tim Connelly

Is Tim Connelly in his last months as the Wolves' president of basketball operations? If the Dallas Mavericks owner has his way, then yes, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. That said, Connelly bolting for Dallas is a long shot, it appears.

Speaking on the Howdy Partners podcast, MacMahon said the Mavs' search for a new president of basketball operations/general manager features Dallas owner Patrick DuMont "aiming high." Dallas is looking for a new person to run their basketball operations after firing Nico Harrison, who traded away star guard Luka Doncic to the Lakers less than a year after making the NBA Finals.

Now, with likely Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg developing into a generational talent, the Mavs are looking to hire a big name to build a roster around their new franchise cornerstone. The number one name on that list, according to MacMahon, is Connelly.

"Tim Connelly is the primary target for the Dallas Mavericks. Tim Connelly is obviously an outstanding executive. He helped build the championship team in Denver. The Wolves, a franchise that had been out of the first round of the playoffs one time in their existence, has gone to back-to-back conference finals with the roster that he constructed. Great candidate," MacMahon said.

There's only one problem, as MacMahon points out: Connelly is currently under contract with Minnesota. After opting into the final two years of his initial contract last offseason, Connelly's contract runs through the end of the 2026-27 season.

Minnesota initially poached Connelly from the Nuggets in May 2022. Since taking over in Minnesota, Connelly has made numerous big trades to reshape the Wolves into perennial contenders. Just months after taking over, he traded five picks and five players to acquire Rudy Gobert. Then, just days before training camp ahead of the 2024-25 season, Connelly completed a blockbuster trade that sent longtime Wolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks in return for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. At the 2026 trade deadline, the Timberwolves acquired guard Ayo Dosunmu from the Bulls.

There was speculation last offseason that Connelly could leave the organization due to an opt-out in his deal ahead of the 2025-26 season. In August, Connelly opted in, which locked him into the final two years of the five-year, $40-million deal he signed back in 2022.

"The Mavericks would need to get the Wolves' permission to even talk to him, much less hire him," continued MacMahon. "At this point, I don't know what the likelihood of that is. That's not the kind of thing that you find out while a team is in the playoffs. Frankly, the Mavericks want to make this hire by mid-May."

Connelly's name popping up as part of the Dallas search isn't entirely surprising. Since building the Nuggets into a title-winning team and developing the Wolves into a contender, Connelly has been a popular name thrown about when openings arise across the league. However, there is also a personal connection with the Dallas search.

Former Wolves CEO Ethan Casson is now the president of the Dallas Mavericks. Casson and Connelly worked together in Minnesota for three years before Casson stepped down following the completion of the franchise sale to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore in June 2025.

Along with Connelly, Oklahoma City's Sam Presti and Boston's Brad Stevens have also been named as part of the Mavs' wish list for their next general manager. Speaking to SiriusXM NBA Radio earlier in April, NBA insider Chris B. Haynes said one of the guys on Dallas' wish list "would listen." Haynes didn't clarify at the time who it would be that would listen, but it certainly is interesting that Connelly's name was mentioned a couple of weeks later by MacMahon.

"I don't want to say it's Tim Connelly or bust because I don't know what Plan B is and I'm not sure they know what a Plan B is at this point," said MacMahon.

This could be a storyline to monitor this summer.

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