“The whole idea of trading people is really kind of gross to me”
On June 17, 2013, Connelly was named as the executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Denver Nuggets. He replaced former NBA Executive of the Year, Masai Ujiri. On June 15, 2017, it was announced that Tim Connelly would be promoted to being the team’s president of basketball operations for the purpose of retaining assistant general manager Arturas Karnisovas as the team’s general manager. After years of missing out on the playoffs, Connelly and Karnisovas would help lead the team to the 2019 NBA playoffs, after previously missing out the first five seasons under his guidance.
In 2021, Connelly was responsible in part for bringing over Aaron Gordon and JaVale McGee. Connelly claims to have asked for permission from Nikola Jokic before accepting the Gordon trade. Following the trade, Connelly said:
“The whole idea of trading people is really kind of gross to me…It doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t sit well with me…we have to acknowledge we’re in a different place than we’ve ever been. The playoff success last year, I think, speaks to what we’re capable of. I think we have the best head coach in the league. I think we have the best player in the league. These guys have organically grown together and proven that they can beat anybody when we’re playing our brand of basketball.”