In what has become one of the most painful “what if” stories in Denver sports, the decision to let Tim Connelly walk out the door is no longer just a regrettable front-office misstep — it has evolved into a self-inflicted wound that continues to haunt the Nuggets organization from within.
On the Wednesday edition of The Drive with Zach Bye and Phillip Lindsay, host Zach Bye delivered a pointed verdict on the franchise’s biggest mistake. If the Nuggets could turn back time, Bye argues, they would do everything possible to ensure Tim Connelly never left.
Hired by Denver in 2013 as executive vice president of basketball operations, Connelly was the architect of the Nuggets’ championship core. Though he departed before the franchise captured its first Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2023, his fingerprints were indelibly stamped across that title-winning roster. Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, and the supporting cast that finally delivered a championship were products of the vision and patience Connelly helped instill.
Yet in 2022, the Nuggets allowed Connelly to leave for a division rival, the Minnesota Timberwolves, in pursuit of a bigger paycheck. The decision, driven by reluctance to meet his market value, has aged disastrously.
The following season, as Denver attempted to defend its title, the man who built the Nuggets’ castle began dismantling the competitive balance in the Western Conference. And this past season, the roster Connelly constructed in Minnesota delivered a humiliating blow, embarrassing the Nuggets and sending them packing in the first round of the playoffs.
“That is the origin story of how the Denver Nuggets got to where they’re at today,” Bye explained. The franchise let one of the most sought-after executives in basketball walk “because they didn’t want to pay him what he was worth.”
What once looked like standard financial prudence now stands as a defining blunder. By prioritizing short-term savings over long-term stability, Denver inadvertently empowered a rival and lost the continuity that could have sustained a dynasty. Instead of building on a championship foundation, the Nuggets have watched their window narrow while Minnesota — led by the very executive they let slip away — has risen as a formidable contender.
The responsibility now rests squarely on the shoulders of those currently in charge. With Josh Kroenke unable to hop into a DeLorean and rewrite history, all eyes turn to President of Basketball Operations Jon Wallace, General Manager Ben Tenzer, and Nuggets ownership. This offseason has quickly become the most important in franchise history. The decisions made in the coming months will determine whether Denver can course-correct or whether the Connelly departure will forever remain the ultimate cautionary tale in team lore.
Mishandling elite talent is painful in any sport. When that talent is a front-office visionary capable of constructing contenders from the ground up, the consequences can echo for years. For the Nuggets, the Tim Connelly “penny-pinch” has graduated from a simple mistake into something far more damaging — a lingering curse that is crushing the organization from within.
The question Denver fans must now confront is whether the current regime possesses the vision and decisiveness to break that curse before another promising era slips away.