Flip Saunders is taking a leave of absence for cancer treatment, but Sam Mitchell’s past relationships with Garnett and others makes him the right choice for interim head coach.
Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations and head coach Flip Saunders has taken a leave of absence from the team for health reasons. While Saunders takes time off and hopefully makes a full recovery, 2007 NBA Coach of the Year Sam Mitchell will take the reigns as Minnesota’s interim head coach. Having joined as an assistant in June of 2014, Mitchell has been with the team for a year, so he already has familiarity with the returning players.
In fact, Saunders, Mitchell, and Kevin Garnett go way back. Saunders got his first NBA gig with the Wolves in 1995, the same year Garnett was drafted. Meanwhile, after spending several seasons playing professionally overseas, Mitchell made his NBA debut for the expansion T-Wolves in 1989, playing three seasons in Minnesota before being traded to Indiana. After three seasons with the Pacers, Mitchell returned to Minnesota in 1995, playing alongside K.G. for Flip until he retired in 2002.
Mitchell has spent time as an assistant coach with the Bucks, Bobcats, and Nets, and he was the head coach of the Toronto Raptors from 2004-08. The most important aspect of his situation is undoubtedly his relationship with Garnett—who, along with Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince, will provide the team with three player-coaches.
That Mitchell was reportedly such a positive influence on Garnett during his youth means he will have the respect of his team because Garnett will demand it of them. Miller and Prince both accepted peanuts as compensation for play this season (relative to what they’ve made in their respective careers), and though the Professor has shown his spunky side at times (shout-out to Brian Shaw and Blake Griffin), he and T.P. will bring much-need stoicism and professionalism to a young locker room looking to build good habits.
If the Wolves are able to attain some semblance of health and avoid a second straight injury-plagued year, they’re essentially guaranteed to improve upon their 16-66 showing in 2014-15. Whether they’re able to make a jump as monumentally massive as Milwaukee made this past year remains to be seen, as it will be tougher to crack the top eight in the Western Conference.
However, from a talent and leadership standpoint, the Wolves are absolutely in the mix of fringe playoff teams out West. That eighth and final spot, presumably behind the Warriors, Spurs, Thunder, Rockets, Clippers, Grizzlies, and Pelicans, is like a loose ball—up for grabs.
The Phoenix Suns are in a glass case of emotion. The Blazers have hit reset. The Lakers are Nuggets are unlikely to be in the conversation come April. Dallas has a gaping hole at center, Dirk and D-Will don’t appear to have a ton left in the tank, and Chandler Parsons and Wesley Matthews are both still recovering from injury. The Utah Jazz, perhaps the most likely team to earn the eighth seed, hit their stride late last season, and will be welcoming back Alec Burks. Yet their playoff odds took a hit this summer when they lost Dante Exum for 2015-16 due to a torn ACL.
Regardless of where the Wolves wind up in the standings by season’s end, a Ricky Rubio-Kevin Martin-Andrew Wiggins-Karl-Anthony Towns-Nikola Pekovic starting lineup with a deep bench of Zach LaVine, Tyus Jones, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, Kevin Garnett, Adreian Payne, Nemanja Bjelica, Tayshaun Prince, Damjan Rudez, and Anthony Bennett makes my list of must-watch NBA League Pass teams, and Wolves fans should be cautiously optimistic about the 2015-16 season.
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