Tim Connelly asks ‘why not’ Timberwolves for NBA title – here’s the exact answer

The Minnesota Timberwolves have had a very eventful offseason, headlined by the addition of LaMelo Ball in a blockbuster trade with the Charlotte Hornets, as well as the salary dump of Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets. The moves have been designed as a clear effort to give Anthony Edwards more space to operate and take some of the pressure off him to be the sole initiator of Minnesota’s perimeter offensive attack.

Recently, the man who orchestrated these moves, general manager Tim Connelly, raised eyebrows with his outlook on the upcoming Timberwolves season.

“Why not us? Every year it’s been a different champion for a long time now… I think we have a real chance and there’s only five or six rooms in the league that really think they have a chance, and we’re one of them,” he said, per The Jon Krawczynski Show, via Hoopshype.

Unfortunately, not everyone is taking the same optimistic view of the Timberwolves as the person who put them together.

To start, a big part of the reason why Minnesota was so successful in recent years was their ability to physically overpower opponents, which played a big role in their win over the Denver Nuggets in the first round last year. Giving up both Randle and Naz Reid makes Minnesota considerably smaller in the frontcourt, with Jaden McDaniels figuring to slide over to the four position and Ayo Dosunmu slotting in at small forward.

Randle certainly had his well-documented flaws, particularly in the playoffs, but he still played a big role in replacing Karl-Anthony Towns as a strong post presence who could bully weaker opponents around the basket next to big man Rudy Gobert.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves also lost some of their defensive identity by trading for Ball, who is not exactly known as a stopper on that end of the floor. Of course, Minnesota is hoping that the trade-off that will come in the form of Ball’s elite playmaking and outside shooting will justify the steep price they paid to get him, but they don’t exactly have a mountain of evidence to go off in that regard either.

There’s no denying that Ball’s deep shooting range and unique passing ability will give Edwards the most talented perimeter creator he’s ever played with. However, Ball’s propensity for careless turnovers and poor shot selection could make his partnership with Edwards have some real growing pains, and he also doesn’t have a great track record of postseason success, having been blown out of the play-in tournament on multiple occasions with the Hornets.

It’s not hard to justify why the Timberwolves felt like they needed to make a big move after taking a step back this year, but there’s plenty of reason to doubt whether or not dumping Randle and acquiring Ball will truly get them over the hump out West.

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