04-16-2026, 11:59 PM
Connelly's plus is that he's built winners in both DEN and MIN, which is a strong resume. But .......
In DEN he found and drafted Jokic, Murray, MPorter, traded for Gordon (but in draft day moves he also traded the picks on the clock to UT for both Gobert and Mitchell - ie he could have had both, but didn't recognize their value). But he missed on a lot of moves, and couldn't get them over the top.
In MIN he got Gobert (but at a very high price) and did the KAT trade (his contract was literally unaffordable) which moved a too-big salary but he was able to get really good talent in return rather than just give him away like ~ahem~ some GMs (See Riccardi, M and Finley, M). At the end of the day, his tenure has been MIN's best results ever (b2b C finals), however he hasn't gotten them over the top. Their draft capital is depleted much, still paying for Gobert and also the disastrous 2024 draft day trade for Dillingham (a Calipari PG, so very enticing) that cost them 2 unprotected picks, and then he sucks so bad they ship him out in a year and a half. But MIN does have a solid playoff team to work with.
A list of all his moves - Connelly's history https://www.basketball-reference.com/exe...ti99x.html
I think Connelly is okay, but not The Best. I want the Mavs to get The Best.
In DEN he found and drafted Jokic, Murray, MPorter, traded for Gordon (but in draft day moves he also traded the picks on the clock to UT for both Gobert and Mitchell - ie he could have had both, but didn't recognize their value). But he missed on a lot of moves, and couldn't get them over the top.
In MIN he got Gobert (but at a very high price) and did the KAT trade (his contract was literally unaffordable) which moved a too-big salary but he was able to get really good talent in return rather than just give him away like ~ahem~ some GMs (See Riccardi, M and Finley, M). At the end of the day, his tenure has been MIN's best results ever (b2b C finals), however he hasn't gotten them over the top. Their draft capital is depleted much, still paying for Gobert and also the disastrous 2024 draft day trade for Dillingham (a Calipari PG, so very enticing) that cost them 2 unprotected picks, and then he sucks so bad they ship him out in a year and a half. But MIN does have a solid playoff team to work with.
A list of all his moves - Connelly's history https://www.basketball-reference.com/exe...ti99x.html
I think Connelly is okay, but not The Best. I want the Mavs to get The Best.