He didn’t know exactly what the Timberwolves had offered Connelly – even invoking the phrase “phantom equity” – but intimated there was some type of bonus scheme. When asked specifically what had been relayed to him, Kroenke chose his words carefully. Kroenke said the term “equity” had been floated to him in regards to Connelly’s negotiations. That was the preamble to Minnesota’s loosely-guarded overture. Kroenke said bonuses could’ve made up the difference, but who’s to say there weren’t bonuses in the Wizards’ offer as well? So for three seasons, he was already taking less than what a different team valued him at.

He also conceded that after the Wizards tried to poach Connelly in 2019, Connelly had stayed in Denver, bypassing the chance to oversee the team that was closest to his Baltimore roots, for less money.

Kroenke admitted he’d messed up when he included an opt-out in Connelly’s contract after his third season, but zoom out a bit. While he left out some of the sensitive details, there was plenty more to parse. In the aftermath of Tim Connelly’s stunning departure to Minnesota, Kroenke had to explain to fans (and other interested parties) how he’d let another high-level executive leave, to a division rival no less.

Fingers crossed.īetween the headline-worthy news of Kroenke endorsing Calvin Booth as the team’s top decision-maker, suggesting shortly after that an extension could be coming his way as well, and incessant parrying of all things Altitude-Comcast, Stan Kroenke’s son said a number of interesting things that warrant further examination. When you don’t talk for that long, the issues compound, which is why I informally asked him to make Friday’s State-of-the-Nuggets an annual tradition. There were several members of the Nuggets’ front office in the room and several other Altitude executives, all curious what Kroenke would say in his first media appearance in more than four years. When Josh Kroenke stepped to the podium Friday afternoon, fielding questions for more than 30 minutes, the assembled media were hardly the only interested parties.

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