Scoggins: Wolves well-positioned in West after Tim Connelly’s trade deadline

Chris Finch began his first post-All-Star break media session by rattling off different areas he intends to emphasize to his Timberwolves team in the final push to the playoffs.

“A lot of little things,” the head coach noted after practice Thursday, Feb. 19.

The big thing was accomplished at the trade deadline, which Tim Connelly handled with an unbiased understanding of his team. The president of basketball operations didn’t allow ego to interfere with decisionmaking.

The Wolves had a gigantic hole in their roster before the deadline. Their bench was thinner than sewing thread.

Any observer could objectively predict this deficiency would doom the Wolves in the postseason. They lacked enough firepower to be considered a credible threat to take down the Western Conference hierarchy.

Connelly addressed that problem by essentially acknowledging a mistake on his ledger. He unloaded a player whom he drafted in the first round less than two years ago.

Rob Dillingham’s full story as an NBA player has not been written yet. He might have a long, productive career elsewhere. But he was a bad fit for this version of the Wolves. Connelly put immediate needs ahead of whatever long-term vision he might have had for a player he clearly viewed as a promising asset not so long ago. He checked his ego at the door.

The Dillingham case is worthy of debate, from Connelly’s decision to trade up to select him No. 8 overall in 2024, to Finch’s usage of the young point guard, to Dillingham’s lack of development.

Circumstances sometimes dictate that plans get adjusted.

A statement Connelly made the day he was hired in May 2022 provides insight into this move and basically all his transactions.

“We can’t be governed by fear,” he said at his introductory news conference. “We have to be aggressive.”

Essentially, the Wolves had neither the time nor patience to wait for something that might never materialize. Dillingham’s development operated on a different curve than the needs of a team that has made consecutive trips to the conference finals and is striving for more.

Compounding one mistake by making another is not smart business.

Dillingham appeared in 84 games in a Wolves uniform, slightly more than the equivalent of one season. Not often does a team pivot so quickly with a first-round pick.

High draft picks tend to get more development runway for obvious reasons. The investment is such that teams want to give those players every opportunity to prove themselves and, thus, prove those who selected them right.

Executives don’t particularly enjoy acknowledging draft mistakes, but Dillingham and the Wolves just seemed to be moving in different orbits. That’s not Dillingham’s fault. Just reality.

Connelly’s blockbuster trade for Rudy Gobert in 2022 changed everything for the organization. The entire operation has carried a sense of urgency since that day. A move that bold is done with championship expectations and ambition.

Connelly handled the trade deadline in that manner, including resisting whatever temptation he might have felt to detonate the roster in pursuit of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Wolves needed something sensible, not seismic.