Familiar faces, new places as Blazers face Raptors

Marc Lore has made it a priority to sign Tim Connelly to a contract extension once he assumes full control of the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources tell ESPN. Lore and Alex Rodriguez have yet to gain control of the Wolves despite an arbitration ruling in their favor over Glen Taylor.

Connelly agreed to an amendment in his contract last year that pushed his opt-out to this offseason. The Wolves signed Connelly away from the Denver Nuggets in May 2022 on a five-year, $40 million deal. Connelly quickly moved forward with a trade for Rudy Gobert in his first offseason with the team.

If Connelly were to hit the open market, he would figure to receive considerable outside interest given his role in building the eventual champion Nuggets while also constructing a Wolves’ roster that reached the Western Conference Finals.

Gersson Rosas and then Sachin Gupta were the two previous lead decision-makers for the Wolves before Connelly’s tenure.

The Portland Trail Blazers continue to signal they haven’t received any trade offers for No. 3 that they find compelling, but they will listen to offers as they hope to build around Damian Lillard.

Because the 2023 draft is considered three-deep in Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 pick is considered inordinately valuable.

“For Portland, they’re going to continue to talk with teams around the league to see if there’s a deal built around that third pick and potentially other assets that makes sense to give up such a valuable piece of real estate,” said Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday. “The third overall pick in a draft that most see as a three-player draft. Now, history may not remember it as that, but that’s where it is this week.

“I think if Portland was going to trade out of that, they’re going to have to get a significant return. I think your margin for error, especially for a smaller market like Portland, to have a rookie scale contract with a player you think has All-Star potential, you’ve got to get a lot back.

“Certainly, they want to build around Damian Lillard. That’s been their focus. Damian Lillard says he wants to continue to be in Portland. So I think they’ll go right up to the clock on Thursday night. Offers and outreach from teams tend to get more serious the closer you get to the deadline…

“Portland may not have gotten the best offers that will come to them, but they will hear in the next 24 hours or so. This is a significant decision for this organization, for Damian Lillard’s future in Portland.”