“Unbelievably Proud Of The Team.” | Tim Connelly Exit Interview | 05.31.24

“Unbelievably Proud Of The Team.” | Tim Connelly Exit Interview | 05.31.24

I got a game tonight happy to see you guys all TR the occasion UMO yeah literally I just left my kids left High School uh thanks for coming um certainly last night was not how any of us wanted the season end but unbelievably proud of the the team the coaches entire organization um you know it’s it was really an organizational commitment to try to get to where we’re playing meaningful games this time of year um just really really proud of the Season we had um you know we have certainly several more steps to go we think we have the DNA of a championship level team um it’s never easy and hats off to the Mavericks did did a heck of a job a very well-run organization great players great coaches great front office um and just super excited about the future and again just thanks thanks to the players and coaches and our whole organization for being um so wonderful this year it was it was a really really fun year and it was the result of a lot of hard work you know there was a perception of the season and and that uh when you guys took that trip over to buy or whatever that you know you you knew more about Dallas than they knew about you or that type of stuff is there any truth to that Shez I don’t I don’t think so I mean I think you know Dallas did such a wonderful job um the Dallas we saw in Dubai was very different than Dallas we saw last night I thought they had a wonderful trade deadline I’m getting PJ Washington and Gafford um it’s an organization that we not just have a lot of respect for we have a lot of you know Nico’s a close friend um so when you get to this point of the season I think everyone knows each other very very very well but it was neat to kind of be with those guys in Dubai it was good it was neat collectively for all of us to be in Dubai and kind of I thought that did set the tone for our team um the kind of camaraderie and being in a foreign country getting know each other and um it was a fun trip and um it was the start of a fun Year Tim this team made a huge leap from last year to this year what do you think is going to be the biggest key to make the next step now from being in the Western Conference finals and contention to really you know going for the finals I think you’re a homecourt team and a final four team I think all those teams can win a championship so I don’t know if there’s any linear path to that next step I I don’t think there’s one single answer a lot of it matchups and health um I think if you look at the Ser series we just had certainly not at 4-1 but if you look back at games one and two I thought we had a pretty good opportunity to win those games so um just keep getting better I think the really neat thing is when you play this long and play this much meaningful basketball as the guys really know what it’s like they can feel those moments um there’s certainly we have to get better the roster is never perfect and we got to continue to build and both build externally and internally you know our guys got to come back as better players I think the the hunger that environments like this create we we we’ll see a lot of these guys come back even more more hungry and more aggressive but I don’t know if I have a specific answer about that next step I think I’m a pretty firm believer when you’re in the final four you got a chance the uh payroll is going to get bigger next season and how do you anticipate navigating that and and what are the conversations like given the ownership situation is kind of in flux right now yeah I mean everyone’s been unbelievably supportive I think everyone ownership’s obviously um a unique place right now but um all involved have really enjoyed this and we’ve all shared Great Moments throughout this whole season and the the fun that everyone’s had in the playoffs has been really special so there are conversations that we’ve had and they’ll be ongoing now that we’re fishing the offseason we’ll get a better sense of not just what we might do but what the rest of League might do I think anytime you’re a final four team to it kind of is reflective of a strong roster and we’re fortunate enough to have the vast of majority of our guys signed up for next year which is always a good thing especially in a market that you know at times has not attracted some of the the premier free agents like some of these other markets so um ownership has been unbelievably supportive you know it’s whatever happens it’s kind of a level up so um I trust whatever happens will be the the right path but um during this last several weeks it’s been awesome awesome to see everyone in ownership not just the names you hear but some of the minority owners and just it’s been a really fun ride um and it’s been really fun to see um you know those people put so much time effort and money into this enjoy a postseason run when you were in Denver continuity played a big part of of your success and not making kind of quick fix moves or or the the flashy move to really build a a contender when you look at this team right now and mention having you know your kind of your top seven guys under contract for next season do you see something similar here where you just want to let this group grow together have another year and and see what can happen instead of maybe trying to make a move or or something to to alter the the chemistry of what you have going on yeah I think optimally if given the two options we’d always air on the side of patience and continuity and and we’ve been fortunate with ownership has allowed that you know after coming off last season ownership allowed us to see what we had this year um and then you know we had a pretty successful run so um you know we have all these plans but they go out the window you get one call um so it would be disingenous to say that we have some well-laid plans we have well-laid theoretical plans but the fluidity of the marketplace changes things rapidly and you know we we’ll be aggressive and Nimble but again I think patience is oftentimes most rewarded if you’re allowed to do so along those lines with with Carl he had some really nice moments for you this postseason struggle at the beginning of of this series did you see enough out of him that he could be you know the you know 1 a 1B number two whatever you want to call it option on a team that could win an NBA title yeah absolutely I thought Carl Carl was brilliant for most of the playoffs he had a you know he had some tough shooting nights in this last series but that didn’t that didn’t uh dictate his intensity or his or his ability to do other things and we’re not here without Carl I mean the how the maturity that Carl showed in the playoffs I thought was one one of the greatest things that we all saw I mean he’s been through so much he’s been through 20 of me and 20 head coaches um and for him his productivity is natural right he’s an unbelievably skilled player but for him to Not Just Produce but produce with with in a really emotionally mature way I thought it was a huge step and I could be more proud of Carl this team this offense was really reliant on Mike and his presence and his identify yourself [Music] please no uh this season what do you see like assuming you maybe would want to lean on him a little bit less um next year next couple years of this contract do you see internal development being the path to maybe providing another perimeter playmaker who can maybe ease some of that burden or or is that an outside acquisition how do you view that yeah we’re open to both I think certainly we we have to especially where we are financially we have to we have to promote within we have to have some internal Improvement you know when you have this many good players who’ve deservedly so get these huge contracts you can’t always look elsewhere um but we’ll look at both we have the 27 37 pick pretty excited about that we have a bunch of young guys in a roster haven’t gotten a big opportunity we’re getting better and better um every day and certainly uh drafts and free agency so um we we all wish Mike was ageless and he certainly appeared as as though as was ages as much of this year but we understand there has to be some succession plan as we move forward Jay Frederick pineer press do you this roster has gone pretty defensive in its slant um and obviously that led to the top defense in the league do you think there needs to be any shift towards the middle or do you think that this team can just be good offensively with who you have I think our offense is great we need turn the ball over um I think we have the best offensive coach in the NBA so I I again not to to dodge questions I don’t think any anything’s black and white um when you have a team with with Anthony Edwards Carl towns Nas Reed you’re going to be a pretty good offensive team Rudy’s been on top five offensive teams in Utah um now I optimally again ideally we want to have um guys that both both compliment and protect our our core elite guys so we’ll look to improve in those areas but um I think that our our biggest struggle offensively was turn the ball over we when we value the ball I think we’re a very good offensive team Jay Frederick’s caddy um earlier today Chris said he’d love to have Kyle back Kyle said he’d like to be back Kyle’s the only guy who hasn’t signed among your top eight is it realistic that you can bring all eight of your top players back is it realistic financially I would love to have Kyle back he’s he’s not just a a great player he’s a great guy his his voice and his his toughness is hugely um important to who we are so again um you never know what what’s going to happen not going to happen but we’d love to have Kyle back and um we’re not here without Kyle Tim when when Chris was in here he was he was asked about ant he was talking about how he’s not a big fan of like the heliocentric type of offenses and he referenced more of the vision of jic and and Murray maybe with cat and ant as a vision for for the offense going forward you built that team there that was more of like a corner offense type team do you feel to build that type of offense here you can do that with internal pieces or what are the type of pieces what are the things that are missing to run that type of offense here I I think it’s tough to compare anybody to Nia and I didn’t do anything I was I was lucky enough to be part of his staff and lucky enough to be around great coaches and great players but um and and Nia you in my strong opinion will both be first battle Hall of Famers you know we got to keep challenging and obviously he’s got a long way to go but I think they’re very unique and I I don’t I don’t think um what they have in common is um unique Elite Talent they’re excellent and very positive teammates but stylistically I don’t know if it’s it’s a fair comp to either or um but what they both make other teammates better um both with their playmaking with their ability to score and also just pumping them up with their words so um you know when you have a Chris finlet team the our offense is probably at least our concerns but with to your question we still have to as much as possible identify guys that can both help and protect ants you know there’s no such thing as a perfect player and I think this year has been really helpful for us to be a little more um aware of what exactly compliments him best um but I think it’s a tough comp hopefully the comp is we can both win a championship at some point but both really really good players it’s your job to balance you know financial responsibility and sustain Excellence on the court after the season you’ve had where are you on that Continuum right now is it something where you’re more likely to be spendy for lack of a better word or is it uh I mean how do you sustain your personnel and your plan and at the same time acknowledge the new reality of the NBA yeah I think we have to be cognizant of of how big the table we’re at often times you know the final four table comes with a with a uh price tag that’s different than teams that aren’t playing this Lane of the season and certainly um whatever ownership allows we’re going to be committed and aggressive I think when you have it when you get a taste of it you want more and more um so that that’ll be something we discuss with ownership um it’s also something that we’re pretty aware to a large degree to to be where we are it’s going to come with a certain a certain check and um I think by all accounts um ownership is has given us um no indication to be anything but aggressive and try to you know try to get over one more hump we we got over a big hump after 20 years this year um but we’re certainly not content you’ve walked your talk in terms of High character guys how important is that in terms of building a team where do you put that in the bag of things you necessarily need to have and how do you balance that out with just pure talent I think it’s unbelievably important I think we can’t control wins and losses you know for for all these great wins if if a shot does doesn’t go in a shot goes in um you know we’re having a press conference weeks ago or if a call goes our way we might might not have a press conference right now so I think the only thing controllable is the environment you create within the building and I think it’s something that we’ll you know we’ll always certainly put on the top of our list now um Elite Talent oftentimes trumps all but Elite Talent without the ability to be an excellent teammate without the ability to be um self-motivated and committed without the ability to be happy in Minnesota um it’s kind of a glass ceiling so it’s something that we feel pretty passionately about and we’ll never deviate from Tim you say that you’re super excited for the future over here Tim does that future include you not only next year but for the next handful of years I hope so I mean moving wasn’t fun so optimally um I can’t least this press crew is pretty inessive I mean got the fake orals hat over there and jaay dressed up as usual Chris has shorts on so be a tough crew to leave um now i’ I’ve had a blast here um you know it feels like we have Roots here um like like our whole fan base all you guys um it was pretty special I mean that Denver game seven was about as cool as environment ever seen not not the win but the the amount of t-wolves fans that made the trip um so yeah that that’s that’s the goal um it’s been it’s been a great couple years and hope we can make it you know a much longer couple years more for me Chris before you hop in in February it seemed like a shrewd move to bring in Monte Morris why Why didn’t it play out as such you never know when you make a trade I mean a was I think struggling with a couple injuries Ines um certainly um he’s I have no doubt what Monte can do um I think um when you start to make the run the the benches get more and more condensed so it’s tough to make a mid-season trained and to instantly integrate that guy um but I love Monte I know exactly is he a guy and a player and um you know it was it was great to have him here this year and um you know we know what he can do both on nor Court there’s a lot of talks ever since this the second apron became part of the NBA lexicon the last year so you guys are headed there if you try to keep this thise together how do you view just maybe philosophically Life as a potential second apron team and the the damage of the punitive measures that come with it and how long you can be a potential second apron team realistically yeah I think you know a lot of it is is kind of unknown it’s it’s certainly the biggest concern is where you are financially right so it’s it’s a big task for ownership you know it’s a lot of lot of money but relative to the the impact on our flexibility I think you know the jur is still out I think there’s been so much talk about it until you get a couple through a couple deal Cycles I’m not sure how impactful it’s now it’s not not one of excuse me not a place you want to be long term as it gets uh more and more harsh each year um but relative to dipping your toe in it I I think um it potentially could have relatively limited impact on what we can and cannot do but we’re still learning it just like the other 29 teams it’s it’s a very you know it’s it was one of those things put in kind of out of nowhere no one saw it coming so um it’s been fun to learn but we haven’t I don’t think seen the full impact of it as of yet because of it’s relatively novel what what did you learn about this team that you didn’t know at the beginning of the season I mean when we sat down with you guys whenever that was ago U my biggest concern our biggest concern was emotional control and I will our ability to to produce when the lights were the brightest and I thought this year we took a huge step emotionally and then I thought we were in pressure PE situations throughout the playoffs and we really never let go of the Rope so those are the questions I had I thought Talent was never a real issue Chris frch and staff are fantastic Mike and nor is going to be G to be a great head coach they got a bunch of head coaches sitting on that on that bench getting better and better so I I thought those boxes were checked but until you see guys and really pressure pack situations and how not just they produce but how do they you know maintain some semblance some continuity and emotional control and I thought those boxes were both checked you know tremendously an is obviously not in bad shape by any stretch but he said last night that he wants to train moving forward like he’s going to you know play into June is that where you see kind of his next big step just being in the condition to play 44 minutes a night and carry an offense and you know guard the other team’s best player that kind of stuff yeah I think he’s in great shape but that’s what I love about an he’s not content with where he is you know I think he’s sub 5% body fat you know it’s um that that speaks to a guy that really takes his Fitness level seriously but um I I don’t think I think the only thing that stinks when you lose and this is probably not just in the NBA but in life right now it’s either you win or you suck um Anthony Edwards had one of the best seasons ever for 22-year-old on both ends you know I think when it matters there’s not a better perimeter defender in the world than Anthony um he took an organization with his team mates that for 20 years haven’t had any playoff success and um you know beat two first bout Hall of Famers um beat the defending champs and now had had a lost to a heck of a Dallas team so um I I think he was just he was a little tired but I don’t think it was any Fitness level it was probably a bit overwhelming to be go through that this is on top of him playing with the national team last year and USA basketball starts in three weeks so um whatever this season you know whatever the epith of the season I hope we all appreciate how special uh Anthony is and how much he did not just on the court off the court as a teammate in the community um I mean I’ve never seen a 22y old do what he’s done so whatever the next step is I’m sure it’ll be unbelievable because everything up to this point has been unbelievable got that’s it

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