{"id":2043487,"date":"2026-07-14T19:42:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2043487"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:42:27","slug":"timberwolves-make-public-pitch-to-lebron-james-hard-not-to-be-excited-about-what-we-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2043487","title":{"rendered":"Timberwolves make public pitch to LeBron James: \u2018Hard not to be excited about what we have\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"Article_ContentContainer__jBNW3 article-content-container bodytext1\">\n<p>MINNEAPOLIS \u2014\u00a0 Seated on the dais at an introductory news conference for LaMelo Ball, Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly was asked about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7420800\/2026\/07\/03\/lebron-james-timberwolves-free-agent-rich-paul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Wolves\u2019 recruitment of free agent LeBron James<\/a>. Connelly nodded his head toward Ball, his new 6-foot-7 point guard, as one of the reasons James should consider continuing his career in Minnesota.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid1\" data-position=\"mid1\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI like who we are and we\u2019re pretty proud of who we are,\u201d Connelly said on Tuesday. \u201cHopefully that\u2019s appealing, not just to LeBron, but to any free agent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Wolves have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7427056\/2026\/07\/07\/lebron-james-free-agency-cavs-warriors-nba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one of several teams<\/a> aggressively pursuing James, trying to convince the best player of this generation \u2014 and perhaps the greatest of all time \u2014 to sign with a young team that has been knocking on the door in the Western Conference for the last three years. Cleveland, Golden State, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7443549\/2026\/07\/13\/lebron-james-76ers-interest-nba\/\">Philadelphia<\/a> and Miami are among the other teams competing for his services. The Wolves believe they can offer James the best chance to win a fifth championship.<\/p>\n<p>The Wolves have been in regular contact with Rich Paul, James\u2019s agent and close friend, to try to sell them on the idea of teaming up with Ball, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert to make a run at the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in the West.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe recruitment is just this team,\u201d Connelly said. \u201cObviously, he\u2019s an unbelievable player. Whatever decision he makes is going to be the right one. There\u2019s a lot going on. When you\u2019re as great as he is, you should have optionality. When you look at our team, it\u2019s hard not to be excited about what we have.\u201d<\/p>\n<div data-ath-video-stream=\"ejCulLZbEuq9KA0\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_Root__QeM_i\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_VideoWidth__XjNKI VideoHost_Portrait__XBaJC\">\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Root__AGckL\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Title__npf3B\">The next stop for LeBron should be&#8230;<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Authors__jxyYV\">David Aldridge, Joe Vardon and more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_VideoWrapper__Xgp47\">{&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@type&#8221;:&#8221;VideoObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/ejCulLZbEuq9KA0\/&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/ejCulLZbEuq9KA0\/&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;The next stop for LeBron should be&#8230;&#8221;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;David Aldridge, Joe Vardon and Jon Krawczynski explain why the Warriors, Cavaliers and Timberwolves are great options for LeBron. &#8220;,&#8221;uploadDate&#8221;:&#8221;2026-07-01T22:34:39.797Z&#8221;,&#8221;duration&#8221;:&#8221;PT1M40S&#8221;,&#8221;thumbnailUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/ejCulLZbEuq9KA0\/j2R0NfgXtcZW.0000000.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/ejCulLZbEuq9KA0\/j2R0NfgXtcZW\/j2R0NfgXtcZW.m3u8&#8243;,&#8221;transcript&#8221;:&#8221;Here&#8217;s why LeBron James should go with the Warriors, because he&#8217;s played his entire adult life in pursuit of championships and accolades, and he&#8217;s got everything that he could want. It&#8217;s time for him to just have some fun. Have fun playing next to Steph Curry, who you&#8217;ve gotten to know very well. Have fun playing for Steve Kerr, who was your Olympic coach. Have fun playing next to Draymond Green instead of against Draymond Green. Stefan. And let the championships take care of themselves. LeBron to the Cavs again. It&#8217;s not because they&#8217;re good, it&#8217;s not because they can pay him, or probably can. And it&#8217;s not because it&#8217;s home, it&#8217;s all three of those things and a compelling case for LeBron to come to Cleveland for one last go around. If LeBron James is truly prioritizing the chance to win and have the biggest impact, he should come to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves have an exciting young core with Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and Jade McDaniels. They also have really strong defense to surround him with Rudy Gobert and McDaniels, so he wouldn&#8217;t have to work as hard. That side of the floor. They also have a gaping hole at power forward in their starting lineup, so LeBron could come in and get right to it with the Minnesota Timberwolves, be a veteran leader on a team that has never won a title in a city that hasn&#8217;t had a men&#8217;s title since 1991. So you want to talk about making the biggest impact, the biggest splash by coming to a team and winning a championship, the Minnesota Timberwolves are it.&#8221;,&#8221;ineligibleRegion&#8221;:[&#8220;BI&#8221;,&#8221;BY&#8221;,&#8221;CD&#8221;,&#8221;CF&#8221;,&#8221;CU&#8221;,&#8221;IQ&#8221;,&#8221;IR&#8221;,&#8221;KP&#8221;,&#8221;LB&#8221;,&#8221;LY&#8221;,&#8221;ML&#8221;,&#8221;NI&#8221;,&#8221;RU&#8221;,&#8221;SD&#8221;,&#8221;SO&#8221;,&#8221;SS&#8221;,&#8221;SY&#8221;,&#8221;UA&#8221;,&#8221;VE&#8221;,&#8221;YE&#8221;,&#8221;ZW&#8221;],&#8221;publisher&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;NewsMediaOrganization&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/&#8221;,&#8221;foundingDate&#8221;:&#8221;2016-01-25&#8243;,&#8221;logo&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ImageObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;creditText&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;height&#8221;:&#8221;60&#8243;,&#8221;width&#8221;:&#8221;435&#8243;},&#8221;publishingPrinciples&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/&#8221;,&#8221;sameAs&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic&#8221;},&#8221;author&#8221;:[{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Person&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;David Aldridge, Joe Vardon and more&#8221;}]}<\/p>\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_root__AKv5b\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9 \/ 16;max-height:min(100%)\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_inner__86C_2\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9 \/ 16\">\n<div class=\"VideoStreamPlayer_GridStack__2H0p2\"><video preload=\"metadata\"><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Wolves have been the playoffs for five straight seasons, the third-longest active streak in the league. They went to back-to-back conference finals in 2024 and 2025, then took a step back this season when an injury-plagued group lost a six-game second-round series to the Spurs. When the season was over, Connelly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7385102\/2026\/06\/22\/julius-randle-nets-nic-claxton-timberwolves-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">traded Julius Randle to Brooklyn<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7392552\/2026\/06\/25\/lamelo-ball-traded-timberwolves-hornets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sent Naz Reid to Charlotte for Ball<\/a> to give Edwards some much-needed backcourt help.<\/p>\n<p>The Wolves think they have the best basketball fit for James, with Ball and Edwards there to help him on the offensive end, and Gobert and McDaniels to take the pressure off him on defense. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7440947\/2026\/07\/13\/lebron-james-timberwolves-team-options-fit\/\">They are not alone.<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid2\" data-position=\"mid2\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe have the best coach. We have amazing fans,\u201d Connelly said. \u201cIn the last couple years, our success has been as good as anybody \u2014 outside of the guys who\u2019ve won it all. Not just speaking to LeBron, but to any free agent, this is a place you\u2019re going to have a lot of fun and win a lot of games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That the Wolves are even in the running is notable for a team that has long had difficulty attracting free agents. The harsh Minnesota winters, coupled with a history of losing, had worked against the organization for a long time. But with Edwards leading the way on the court, and Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez bringing a new energy on the ownership side, the Wolves can no longer be overlooked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying to change the narrative of how this organization is viewed,\u201d Connelly said. \u201cWe\u2019re kind of proud of who we are, and certainly, wherever LeBron ends up, he\u2019s going to make that place much, much better. But it\u2019s hard not to look at LaMelo and Jaden and Rudy and Ant and Josh (Green). We saw what (Terrence Shannon Jr.) did in the postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"inline-graphic\">\n<p>        a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n  display: flex;<br \/>\n  gap: 20px;<br \/>\n  flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n  align-items: center;<br \/>\n  padding: 20px 0px;<br \/>\n  border-top: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  text-decoration: none;<br \/>\n  color: #121212;<br \/>\n  cursor: pointer;<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-franklin;<br \/>\n    font-size: 14px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 700;<br \/>\n    line-height: 13.8px;<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 1.1px;<br \/>\n    text-transform: uppercase;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-image {<br \/>\n    border-radius: 8px;<br \/>\n    object-fit: cover;<br \/>\n    width: 200px;<br \/>\n    height: 150px;<br \/>\n    margin: 0px;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      width: 120px;<br \/>\n      height: 120px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-inner-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: row;<br \/>\n    gap: 16px;<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-text-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n    gap: 20px;<br \/>\n    justify-content: center;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      gap: 8px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-title {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-cheltenham;<br \/>\n    font-size: 24px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 500;<br \/>\n    line-height: 120%; \/* 24px *\/<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 0.01px;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 3;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-imperial;<br \/>\n    font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 400;<br \/>\n    line-height: 139%; \/* 19.46px *\/<br \/>\n    color: #323232;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 4;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 12px;<br \/>\n      line-height: 121%;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>.showcase-link-inputs {<br \/>\n  .showcase-link-input {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n    font-size: 1rem;<br \/>\n    background-color: white;<br \/>\n    margin-bottom: 12px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-indent {<br \/>\n    margin-left: 25px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  option {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {<br \/>\n  .native-mobile a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n    background-color: #121212;<br \/>\n    color: #f0f0ee;<br \/>\n    .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n      color: #c4c4c0;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>            \/\/ Remove all onclicks on imgs for apps to prevent image zoom on click<br \/>\n            document.querySelectorAll(&#8216;.showcase-link-image&#8217;).forEach((img) =&gt; img.removeAttribute(&#8216;onclick&#8217;));<\/p>\n<p>        <a id=\"showcase-link-7440947\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7440947\/2026\/07\/13\/lebron-james-timberwolves-team-options-fit\/\" class=\"showcase-link-container in-content-module-link testbed-shortcode\" data-shortcode-id=\"101\" data-shortcode-string=\"showcase-link\" data-content-id=\"7440947\" data-content-post-type=\"article\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link\">What Our Experts Are Saying<\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-inner-content\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/07\/12205602\/GettyImages-2274090365.jpg?width=400&amp;quality=70\" alt=\"LeBron James has great options for his last go-round. Here\u2019s a vote for \u2026 the Wolves\" class=\"showcase-link-image\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-text-content\">\n<div class=\"showcase-link-title\">\n                  LeBron James has great options for his last go-round. Here\u2019s a vote for \u2026 the Wolves\n              <\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-excerpt\">\n                  James has multiple good options for, what should be, the last stop in his career tour. But &#8230; he should take his talents to Minneapolis.\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Connelly also mentioned second-year center Joan Beringer, who was impressive in his first Summer League game last week, and Ayo Dosunmu, who signed a five-year, $112 million contract to remain in Minnesota, as more reasons for James to consider the Wolves.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps most of all, the Wolves have a hole at power forward after trading Randle and Reid. They signed veteran Trey Lyles from Europe, and also can put Jaylen Clark or Shannon at the 4 against smaller lineups. But adding a player like James, who even at 41 years old still packs a playmaking and scoring punch, could be the final piece that vaults them into championship contention.<\/p>\n<p>The Wolves believe that means they have the best of both worlds. Not only do they need James, but they also have the young personnel to surround him and take some of the burden off him in the regular season.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid3\" data-position=\"mid3\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It remains unclear when James will make his decision. Privately, the Wolves know that it\u2019s a long shot to land him. But they also believe James and Paul are giving them full consideration.<\/p>\n<p>So they sit and wait, trusting that they have a good argument for why the best thing for one of the all-time greats is to come to Minnesota. That is quite a statement in and of itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MINNEAPOLIS \u2014\u00a0 Seated on the dais at an introductory news conference for LaMelo Ball, Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly was asked about the Wolves\u2019 recruitment of free agent LeBron James. Connelly nodded his head toward Ball, his new 6-foot-7 point guard, as one of the reasons James should consider continuing his career [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2043487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2043487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2043487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2043487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2043487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}