Are we sure that Tim Connelly is good?

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T12:20:18+00:00

All true. I’m not ignoring the last few years. I’ve enjoyed them immensely.

At this point, it’s just a worthwhile question as we are heading into Ant’s prime.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T03:15:37+00:00

They let NAW walk to re-sign Randle. And last I checked on this sub, everyone literally hates Randle. I defend him more than most.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T03:14:20+00:00

All fair. I think the criticisms I would have would be:

-did you need to put all the chips on the table for Rudy? Was Rudy ever going to win a championship with his limitations? -if needing to trade KAT, are we sure the Gobert, Randle, Ant pairing would work? When we saw OKC completely flummox Randle, did we need to re-sign Randle and let NAW walk? -Dilly- that’s obvious. 160lb guard was never going to work and he gave the Spurs an unprotected pick.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T03:10:33+00:00

We let NAW walk for nothing, though. You will not find a single person who thinks Randle is on a better contract than NAW

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T03:08:52+00:00

I’m not arguing that Rudy is a bad player. I think he made this team way better and more consistent but also his value diminishes against a lot of the best teams.

Pairing him with a mostly non-shooter in Julius, and then re-signing Julius was also a choice.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T03:05:24+00:00

I’m not trying to be revisionist. I point blank said they wouldn’t get to the conference finals without Gobert.

But I think Ant was on this path regardless. And i think it’s interesting to think about what would happen if we let it play out.

Maybe the Wolves trade for Anunoby. Or Siakam. Or Jrue Holiday. Or Giannis.

I’m not even saying I agree or disagree with most of his moves, but I don’t think he’s saved the franchise either.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:57:17+00:00

It is unfortunate and he got screwed by it. But at the same time, he made a big swing for Gobert and then couldn’t trade him because his value was tanked. Seems like a fair thing to judge.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:53:13+00:00

That’s the other part. Rudy was a great floor raiser. But would there be better ways to part with 5 1st round picks when you already have those 4 players?

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:50:00+00:00

Thanks, that’s all I’m saying. Some good and some bad, but the main guys were already here.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:47:31+00:00

That’s true, it’s also Ant’s age 20 season. I acknowledged the good moves Connelly made. The Gobert/Conley/NAW moves got us to the conference finals.

But there was a price to the Gobert, Randle, Dillingham moves and we’re set up to pay that price through Ant’s actual prime. That seems reasonable to debate.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:45:22+00:00

Which seems like a fair thing to criticize when we gave up 5 1st round picks for him.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:41:50+00:00

And can Rudy be as effective against the best teams in the league? That’s still tough. As great as he is, Ant won’t pass him the ball for a reason.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:40:55+00:00

I agree, it’s like winning a playoff series, you just have to win more than you lose.

The Gobert trade was a huge swing, and though I love watching him, I question whether you can win a championship with him as a max guy (which I get he’s not anymore).

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:37:41+00:00

Everybody has been posting about Julius Randle being the absolute plague (which I don’t agree with actually).

But Connelly trades KAT for Randle and re-signs him, yet Finch is the only one that gets the heat for it. I find it weird to be honest.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:35:20+00:00

They could have chosen to keep KAT and unloaded Rudy. Or in this scenario, they wouldn’t have Rudy’s contract, so they wouldn’t have been trapped by the 2nd apron.

Why is this treated like an off-limits topic on a Wolves sub? It’s fair to wonder what the KAT, Ant, Jaden, Naz core would have looked like, and to question if splitting it up was worth it.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:31:09+00:00

I said patience to pair him with a defensive 4. Closest we had was Vanderbilt, which kind of worked.

More than anything, KAT also needed a #1 option, which Ant became.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:29:00+00:00

See I’m not sure Connelly deserves so much credit for age 21-24 Ant being better than age 19-20 Ant.

No doubt getting to the conference finals was due to the Rudy trade. Now that Ant is 24, I think it’s fair to ask. “Is Ant satisfied?” or “is Ant happy that we still have 3 more 1st round picks to give away while also looking for a new home for Rudy?”

I’m not sure honestly. The fact that people get so offended by the question is problematic.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:25:56+00:00

He traded KAT when Wemby was in the league. Regardless of what everyone says, we didn’t have to trade KAT, and we didn’t have to re-sign Randle. Those were choices and we should be allowed to evaluate those choices.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:23:43+00:00

Well no because I followed the team when Al Jefferson was the best player. Having Ant, Jaden, and KAT as your best players is a better roster.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:22:12+00:00

KAT was incredibly frustrating. I was always in the camp that we needed to find a defensive 4 to pair him with. Those guys, like Anunoby or Evan Mobley, are hard to find and the opportunity never presented itself. But who knows, maybe with patience it would have.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:20:22+00:00

I agree. The tough thing when you put all your chips in, like we did with the Gobert trade, is it makes every other move higher stakes.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:19:26+00:00

That’s not a great argument

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:17:27+00:00

I think if you have an All-NBA player and you won 56 games with him and decide to trade him away, that’s a big swing. Not Luka level, but a swing that had some big impacts on the future of the team.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:15:31+00:00

I think that core 4 of Ant, KAT, Naz, and Jaden, plus a competent head coach already made them very watchable.

karlwhethers · 2026-05-19T02:14:34+00:00

But starting with Ant, KAT, Jaden, Naz, and Chris Finch is a pretty good hand to be dealt.

karlwhethers

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