Timberwolves executive is high on his team this season.
Tim Connelly, the president of basketball operations of the Minnesota Timberwolves, has had a busy offseason with his team trading Julius Randle and Naz Reid in an effort to get back to the Western Conference Finals and reshape how the team plays.
LaMelo Ball and Jaden Hardy are the new additions, bringing a new excitement to Minnesota, with some believing they now have the best backcourt in the league with Ball and Anthony Edwards.
Minnesota has been one of the best playoff teams in the last two years, making the Western Conference Finals in 2024 and 2025, and going six games with NBA finalist San Antonio Spurs in 2026.
Tim Connelly Speaks
Speaking on The Jon Krawczynski Show, Timberwolves executive Tim Connelly discussed his team’s title chances for the upcoming season.
“Why not us? Every year it’s been a different champion for a long time now. I really thought, if we went one and one versus Dallas I thought we had a chance to win the championship. And then we're down 20 versus Denver in Game 7 so it's not linear. It’s can you win enough in the Western Conference, is brutal. It's going to be a top six team. Hopefully we're a top four team.”
There have been eight different champions over the last eight seasons, and though Minnesota has yet to reach the Finals, they have been right there with the best teams in the West, giving themselves a shot at reaching the Finals.
The Western Conference is defined by the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, but Minnesota is in the same tier as the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Houston Rockets.
Connelly pointed out that he believes his team has a great home court advantage, which speaks to him wanting to be one of the top four seeds this season.
Just A Chance
Connelly continued to assess his team’s chances, saying, “It's match-ups and injuries, right? I mean we saw it every year it's are you healthy enough? Are you resilient enough to win it all? I think we have a real chance and there's only five or six teams in the league that really think they have a chance, and we're one of them.”
We see it every season when it comes to injuries. The team that ends up raising the Larry O’Brien trophy is the one that managed to stay healthy or at least managed injuries to the point that players could get through the playoffs.
Minnesota lost Donte DiVincenzo in the first round, and Edwards was dealing with a knee injury going into the second round last season. Both of those injuries put them in a compromising position against a healthy Spurs squad.
If Minnesota makes the playoffs and gets the right breaks in injuries and matchups, they have a shot, given how the league has gone since 2019.
