The NBA media landscape is smattered with consensus takes that the Minnesota Timberwolves are in complete disarray. This animosity has seeped into the veins of the fanbase, causing widespread panic and vitriol toward any move the new general manager makes. Contrary to what talking heads at ESPN and The Ringer would tell you, Tim Connelly has a clear plan that should set the team up for success.
While it is difficult to see the vision at times through lopsided losses and Rudy Gobert‘s poor early-season showings, the sky isn’t completely falling. After the acclimation period, the recent move to acquire Mike Conley from the Utah Jazz will have a ripple effect on the rest of the roster. His playstyle will complement Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns and will be key in unlocking their best abilities. However, the Wolves have brought Conley to Minnesota to establish a culture of leadership and wisdom that has been absent since they drafted Edwards in 2020.
Donovan Mitchell remains the most obvious comparison to Edwards in terms of development. Connelly and the Denver Nuggets drafted Mitchell in 2017 before trading him to the Jazz. It was a clear mistake by Connelly. He had to watch Mitchell ascend to stardom while Trey Lyles and Tyler Lydon languished in mediocrity. Connelly had to sit there and see Utah, of all places, put high-IQ and character guys around Mitchell for the entirety of his young career as he blossomed into a perennial All-Star.
Ricky Rubio and Conley were Mitchell’s mentors for this time of growth. Rubio arrived in Utah after leaving an increasingly toxic situation under Tom Thibodeau. In Minnesota, Rubio established his willingness to take young players under his wings, and the Jazz wanted to ensure that their budding young talent would grow under the right direction. What Rubio lacked as a dynamic scorer, he made up for as a great decision-maker and team player. These traits were passed down to Mitchell before the Phoenix Suns acquired Rubio for the same reason.
That is what allowed Conley to enter the fray.
Conley’s reputation as a certifiably “good guy” was well-known in Memphis before he went to Utah. He’d won the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award and was named the Teammate of the Year with the Grizzlies in 2019, making him the obvious choice to replace Rubio. Conley was a bit older, but his stability was valuable for a team looking to unlock Mitchell and fully increase his effectiveness alongside Gobert. Mitchell had his first five seasons in the Jazz backcourt alongside proven stable forces, which allowed him to blossom. The Timberwolves have tried to do this same thing with Edwards, but it has not worked.
Rubio’s one-year return to Minnesota was marred by organizational dysfunction and dissatisfaction with his role. Gersson Rosas brought Rubio back to mentor Edwards, but Rubio could not fully commit to the role. The team constantly lost under Ryan Saunders; Rosas replaced him with Chris Finch and had Rubio competing for playing time with a newly-acquired D’Angelo Russell. Given the uneasy tensions all-around, they traded Rubio for Taurean Prince. Prince is a valuable locker-room leader but cannot fill the direct role of a backcourt-partner mentor. The Wolves had to look elsewhere.
This is where Patrick Beverley entered the mix. Beverley was quite the vocal leader for the team and helped guide the Timberwolves to a rugged identity and playoff berth. As good as that was, Beverley was not the best at decision-making on the court, and his “never back down” mentality was good to a point. It was perhaps best to leave that as a one-year rental, especially considering they expected Russell to be a mentor.
Believing in Russell also proved to be a failure. While the Reddit post outlining Russell’s dissatisfaction with Gobert was greatly exaggerated, he still carried a poor mentality that was beginning to seep into the psyche of Minnesota’s young core. As if the poor shot selection, defensive effort, and entitlement from one player weren’t bad enough, it was worse to see players like Edwards making similarly unwise decisions. Considering Russell had no plans to return to a team that didn’t worship the ground he walked on anymore, the decision to cut the cord was clear. That opportunity to move on presented itself, and Connelly was wise to acquire a player with Conley’s high character and basketball IQ.
The goal is simple: Nurture Edwards into as solid a leader as possible. Leadership presents itself as both vocal and by example. Edwards has the vocal leadership down pat. However, once he gets the right on-court leadership and intelligent decision-making down, this Timberwolves team can leap from “fringe playoff-maker” to perennial playoff contender. Conley will be the key that unlocks that level of leadership. These things take time, but despite what you may have been reading, this team is headed in the right direction.
