The Minnesota Timberwolves introduced David Kahn as their new president of basketball operations today, but coach Kevin McHale’s future with the organization remains uncertain.
Kahn said he isn’t about to fire McHale just to prove he has the authority, which he does, and that he hopes to meet with him again next week.
Kahn, a former Indiana Pacers general manager and executive, added that he’s still getting to know McHale and could need more than one meeting and that he feels no sense of urgency to resolve the coaching situation quickly…
Kahn, a former Indiana Pacers general manager and executive, added that he’s still getting to know McHale and could need more than one meeting and that he feels no sense of urgency to resolve the coaching situation quickly…
Kahn said McHale is spending the weekend at his cabin and promised that whatever decision is made will be respectful of his many years of service to the team.
From Britt Robson/On The Ball:
The two questions I asked were, in the interest of setting the record straight, was Kahn your first and only choice and not Lindsey, Penn or Pfund? Taylor said nobody else turned down the job. Later, under prodding from Jerry Zgoda, he was even more specific, leaving no doubt that, under his interpretation anyway, reports that Lindsey and Penn were offered the job and were otherwise preferential to Kahn were, in Taylor’s words, “inaccurate” and “false.” My second question was about whether Kahn felt Taylor was willing to spend big money to fleece (I said “prey” upon) teams in desperate financial straits such as New Orleans and Washington. Kahn did a nice job of eliding that question, saying the Wolves had sufficient cap space and flexibility to win without breaking the bank. When I pressed Taylor on this later after the press conference, he agreed with Kahn, but then said that spending money wasn’t the be-all and end-all of building a winner, but that if money is the only thing preventing it, he’ll spend it.
“This is a milestone decision for our franchise and I couldn’t be more excited by our choice,” Wolves owner Glen Taylor said. “David has studied under one of the most storied basketball minds in the league in Donnie Walsh and has clearly demonstrated that he has the intelligence, creativity, leadership and passion to take our team to the next level.”
The process of hiring the next president of basketball operations began with the Wolves seeking the expertise from a selected group of the most respected basketball minds in the league that included such luminaries as Jerry West, Donnie Walsh, Pat Riley, and Larry Brown.
From Brian Stensaas/Star Tribune: Live blog from David Kahn press conference
# How he envisions his staff shaping up: “I don’t have a pre-ordained list of people or a shadow government. We have five weeks. I called all the key staffers the the same night as Kevin. We don’t have one waking moment to devote to staffing issues. We have five weeks [until] the draft, an important draft. We have three [first-round] picks, if we use them all.”
The potential for awkwardness is extremely high. General manager Jim Stack and assistant GM Fred Hoiberg both were in-house candidates for Kahn’s job. Now both are being told they will be kept on to help evaluate draft prospects for a team that has three first-round picks.
What happens after that is anyone’s guess.
Kahn said it is helpful that he knows both Stack and Hoiberg from when all three were with the Indiana Pacers.
“I know this will be hard for them, but we simply don’t have the time,” Kahn said. “We don’t have one waking moment that we can devote to staffing issues or any extracurricular issues.
InsideHoops.com posts endorsements of Kahn from Donnie Walsh, Larry Bird, Larry Brown, Greg Popovich, and Rick Carlisle.
In Minnesota, he’ll be heading a team beleaguered by injuries, personnel problems and one of the worst records in the NBA.
“The good news is most of that stuff is behind. It’s been fixed,” said Kahn. “I am very excited to be here, in this place, in this state, with this organization, to help lead them to ideally championship-contending status, and God willing, a championship.”
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