The Timberwolves Were Built to Destroy the Nuggets

Getty Images/Ringer illustration The NBA's most intriguing second-round series couldn't have been scripted better. From Jokic vs. Gobert to the Tim Connelly Revenge Series, we preview all the story lines. The Denver Nuggets did not fall out of a coconut tree. The context of everything that happened before last year's title run was planted by Tim Connelly, now the Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations, who once ran the Nuggets, where he drafted Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray and made the Aaron Gordon trade. The latter was, in hindsight, a paradigm-shifting steal that put the finishing touches on the Nuggets' Bop It–style variability. With Gordon added to the mix, it didn't matter whatever scheme an opponent deployed, Jokic could press a button to shoot, screen, kick it out, hand it off, and, now, lob it up. Two years later, it led the Nuggets to their first title in franchise history. Connelly, who made the deal in Jokic's first MVP season, was passionate about finding players to complement the Joker's elite play and oracular vision, telling reporters at the time, "We're going to see a level of sustained basketball that I don't think we've ever seen in this...