Next GM Watch

[KillerLeft]

Don't know the full Connelly resume, but he is well thought of across the league.  I can how see dealing with AROD may get old.     That roster is in a weird spot.  Can you be in a weird spot with a good team?

I feel like Minny has made smart decisions and have been aggressive when needed.    I am not a huge Gobert fan but I think that can be viewed as a solid trade, right?  I think he was good to get off KAT and I think that trade has been good for Minnesota.  He got off DLO for Conley that helped them raise a level.   I think the Ayo trade was a good gamble.    They were supposedly going hard after Giannis at the trade deadline.  

The Dillingham miss was a big one.    Leading to being really thin and pretty poor at PG with an aging Conley.   I have liked his draft picks...most have not really panned out though.   I think the two bigs he picked this past draft are both interesting.   

Is he the right guy?  I don't know.  It sounds like Dumont wants more than a GM.   He will need a leader who can basically run an organization.    Even the best organizations have a ton of guys who think they should be in higher roles, so you need someone who will command respect.    

I have no idea what it means he is under contract.  I would certainly not trade for him.    Do teams let these type of positions interview if they stress they are looking for a change?

It's all about Gobert, I think. They have doubled down on that a number of times, even finally removing KAT from the equation instead of Gobert. Say what you want about KAT, but he was THEIR guy, and I'd guess there are a number of fans who were displeased with that final shoe dropping. Some within the organization even, probably. 

Now, Gobert's play is starting to drop off, so it's not even about the overpay or bad fit anymore. It's just a mess. I just kind of think all involved are going to be happy to end the relationship with Connelly at this point and that a trade won't be required, but then again I'm not super plugged into Minnesota, obviously. We have a guy who posts here about once a year who's a Wolves super fan - maybe he'll see this and chime in with some insight. 

From my seat, this is one of the more underwhelming choices out there. I might even prefer Ricardi, who I definitely don't want.

[FireNicoHarrison]

https://x.com/kennybybee/status/20441169...78865?s=61

Hell no. Connelly is trash. 

Gobert trade, McDaniels new contract, Dillingham draft pick.... Completely disaster.

Ant will ask out soon, Minny has no future.

[cow]

It's all about Gobert, I think. They have doubled down on that a number of times, even finally removing KAT from the equation instead of Gobert. Say what you want about KAT, but he was THEIR guy, and I'd guess there are a number of fans who were displeased with that final shoe dropping. Some within the organization even, probably. 

Now, Gobert's play is starting to drop off, so it's not even about the overpay or bad fit anymore. It's just a mess. I just kind of think all involved are going to be happy to end the relationship with Connelly at this point and that a trade won't be required, but then again I'm not super plugged into Minnesota, obviously. We have a guy who posts here about once a year who's a Wolves super fan - maybe he'll see this and chime in with some insight. 

From my seat, this is one of the more underwhelming choices out there. I might even prefer Ricardi, who I definitely don't want.

To put my feelings about Gobert aside not to mention how much they paid for him, I'd put the KAT move as a feather in his cap considering that he was their guy.  I've never seen him as a winning player especially with the salary he'd command.

[Chicagojk]

https://x.com/all_things_mavs/status/2044462127818096954?s=46&t=Fmdr94oXagcEyy75KJqaFg

[KillerLeft]

To put my feelings about Gobert aside not to mention how much they paid for him, I'd put the KAT move as a feather in his cap considering that he was their guy.  I've never seen him as a winning player especially with the salary he'd command.

I don’t love kat either, so I’m with you to an extent. 

I don’t know, I just see that Gobert trade as one of the worst of all time, and all of the moves since then to try to make it work seem like sunk cost to me.

[cow]

I don’t love kat either, so I’m with you to an extent. 

I don’t know, I just see that Gobert trade as one of the worst of all time, and all of the moves since then to try to make it work seem like sunk cost to me.

I'm mostly on your side, just pointing that out and not giving a vote of confidence towards the potential hire.  I don't really love Gobert either and certainly not for his salary or the assets dumped to acquire him. 

Mavs sights should be set higher as we'll need a magician to get us out of the hole we've dug.  A little luck wouldn't hurt either.

[DanSchwartzgan]

I don’t love kat either, so I’m with you to an extent. 

I don’t know, I just see that Gobert trade as one of the worst of all time, and all of the moves since then to try to make it work seem like sunk cost to me.

Was Connelly’s job to win the trade or make Minnesota a winner?  Two conference finals appearances in back to back years for a team that hasn’t been relevant for a long time is an outcome many would take.  Different CBA and rules back then also.  I’m not arguing it was a great trade.  It was a huge overpay.  But, the result wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to a team like the TWolves.

[F Gump]

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.

[KillerLeft]

Was Connelly’s job to win the trade or make Minnesota a winner?  Two conference finals appearances in back to back years for a team that hasn’t been relevant for a long time is an outcome many would take.  Different CBA and rules back then also.  I’m not arguing it was a great trade.  It was a huge overpay.  But, the result wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to a team like the TWolves.

From my (slightly comical) POV, his job was to simply not trade for Rudy Gorbert thinking he was the answer to anything, least of all to play next to Towns. Yes, it was an overpay, but it’s wanting Gobert on that team in the first place that I struggle with, personally.

I don’t want to restart old arguments, but I really hate two bigs. A GM who thinks that can work is obviously not what would excite me, but it is only my opinion. He’s well thought of enough, I admit.

[khaled1987]

Was Connelly’s job to win the trade or make Minnesota a winner?  Two conference finals appearances in back to back years for a team that hasn’t been relevant for a long time is an outcome many would take.  Different CBA and rules back then also.  I’m not arguing it was a great trade.  It was a huge overpay.  But, the result wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to a team like the TWolves.

Mind you, those are 2 of the 3 Conference finals appearance in 36 seasons of the franchise history (current one is the 37th).
He managed to get two franchises their best ever results. 

Don't get me wrong, he is tad bit overrated, but GM jobs is to get results, and he did that just fine in two teams. Unless you are one of those who has that elitist mentality of not winning a ring = bad

[dirkfansince1998]

Mind you, those are 2 of the 3 Conference finals appearance in 36 seasons of the franchise history (current one is the 37th).
He managed to get two franchises their best ever results. 

Don't get me wrong, he is tad bit overrated, but GM jobs is to get results, and he did that just fine in two teams. Unless you are one of those who has that elitist mentality of not winning a ring = bad

But did he really build the team. Not exactly comparable to Presti or other GMs that build teams from scratch. He already had the picks/assets from years of tanking before he took over. Edwards was already on the roster and looked like a future star. He used those assets to build a front court heavy team with clear limitations. Not unreasonable to assume that he could have gotten more out of them.



As a reminder...the Gobert deal:

Malik Beasley
Patrick Beverley
Jarred Vanderbilt
Leandro Bolmaro
Walker Kessler
Unprotected 1st (23,25,27), top five protected 1st (29), pick swap (26)

for 

Rudy Gobert

---

In my opinion the case for him should be more about his player evaluation with the Nuggets. Made the right call in the Nurkic/Jokic debate (people forgot that it was a really controversial topic at some point). Solid draft picks including (Murray and MPJ) + the championship winning trade for Gordon.
That was him building a contender in a small market that hadn't been relevant for more than a decade (basically post Carmelo Anthony).

[F Gump]

In my opinion the case for him should be more about his player evaluation with the Nuggets. Made the right call in the Nurkic/Jokic debate (people forgot that it was a really controversial topic at some point). Solid draft picks including (Murray and MPJ) + the championship winning trade for Gordon.
That was him building a contender in a small market that hadn't been relevant for more than a decade (basically post Carmelo Anthony).

You somehow failed to include his most impactful decision - his draft picks included Jokic! [And Nurkic too.] Finding Jokic (he was not a star in Europe, they drafted him, let him stay in Europe for a year, then persuaded him to come to the NBA) was why they made a choice later on between Nurkic/Jokic, to have enough minutes rather than split them. Drafting Jokic and the followup choices was the difference-making path for DEN.