Report: Tim Connelly ditches Denver Nuggets for Minnesota Timberwolves

The Denver Nuggets are losing their President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly.

The regarded NBA executive is leaving for the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to multiple reports on Monday.

The deal will see Connelly make $40 million over 5 years, including a kicker for an ownership stake. He becomes one of the highest-paid executives in the NBA. He will take the same position in the Twin Cities.

Denver made a bid to keep Connelly that would've moved him into one of the better paid league executives, sources said, but the ownership equity with Minnesota is life-changing money — something only a very few executives have in their deals.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 23, 2022

Connelly has overseen a transformation of the Nuggets since 2013, drafting Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and making countless trades to position the pickaxes towards the top of the NBA.

Calvin Booth, the current General Manager of the club, is now the highest-ranking executive on the basketball operations side. According to Shams Charania, Booth is expected to lead the franchise’s basketball operations.

In the originally reported article of Connelly’s interest in leaving, it was said that finances were among core reasons. What this means for the Nuggets who are about to be a luxury tax team for the first time in about a decade is unknown. The Nuggets also have lower-tier facilities compared to other NBA teams, and do not pay their staff in line with league averages.

The Denver Post reports that financial compensation was a significant factor.

Masai Ujiri, who held the position before Connelly also left in a similar fashion, taking the Raptors job and winning an NBA title a few years later.

Minnesota has an agreement with Denver Nuggets President Tim Connelly to become the Timberwolves’ new President of Basketball Operations on a five-year, $40 million deal with a kicker for ownership equity, sources tell me and @JonKrawczynski.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 23, 2022

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