The conference semifinals start next night, with the duel between the Nuggets and the Wolves. And there is a link between the two teams: Tim Connelly.
The former Denver architect, who drafted Nikola Jokic and built last year's title-winning team, is now at the helm of Minnesota. And during the clash between the two teams, the Serbian did not fail to salute the work of his former leader, who made strong choices, and now paid off.
“I think they have a very well-built team. I hope we don’t get swept away” he jokes to the Denver Post. “Tim Connelly, when he made that trade (to get Rudy Gobert), everyone was laughing at him and what he was doing. But he built a great team, and he deserves to take the honors from it. »
Last year, the exchange for Rudy Gobert, for which Tim Connelly had released five players (Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Leandro Bolmaro, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt) and five Draft choices, was severely criticized. This is now much, much less the case, the Frenchman will undoubtedly win his fourth trophy as best defender in the days to come, while the later arrivals of Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have allowed Wolves to build a particularly solid and physical defense.
“It’s really a dangerous team” concludes Nikola Jokic. “They can have the answer to everything. They can play small, big, they can do everything. It’s really a very dangerous team…”
