From Charley Walters/Pioneer Press:
There have been rumblings that a group of investors is interested in buying the Timberwolves, but owner Glen Taylor said that’s news to him and that he isn’t looking to sell…
Pssst: On Thursday, Timberwolves radio analyst Kevin Lynch and TV sideline reporter Lea B. Olson were fired with seven other Wolves employees. Neither Lynch’s nor Olson’s position will be filled.
My best guess at this point: By mid-May, you’ll have a new VP of basketball ops (or maybe he’ll simply be called GM) and Mac will be headed to the lake and the golf course when he isn’t doing some TV work somewhere. If they’re going to make this move by well before the draft, it’s probably going to have to be an assistant somewhere because it’d be awfully hard to get another NBA team to allow its main decision maker to move before the draft (plus, it’d be hard to sell someone who already has a top job on coming to Minnesota and this franchise).
I’ll also wager it’s a meticulous research-oriented, numbers-geek type. Taylor mentioned to me not too long ago how the other NBA teams whose front offices he studied value different things and he seemed intrigued by those that put emphasis on stats and data crunching.
Someone on here mentioned Houston asst GM Sam Hinkie. If not him, then someone like him.
After Monday’s game at Dallas, Kevin Love talked about hoping McHale stays on as coach (video)
The best move for Glen Taylor would be to bring in Golden State Warriors’ assistant coach Larry Harris to take over basketball operations. Harris was the architect behind this year’s Milwaukee Bucks team that would have made the playoffs if healthy and is looking to move back to the front office. He’s an ideal fit and would be able to do some big things with all the young talent and cap space they’re poised to have in 2010.
Harris’ first order of business before doing any tweaks with the roster would be finding a head coach. Avery Johnson would be another great hire for the Timberwolves, but he hasn’t shown much interest in saving Mark Cuban any money. Eddie Jordan is easier to attain at this point and would be just as nice of a fit as the Little General.
From Mark Madsen’s blog:
Then a week later I walked into a breakfast meeting in San Francisco when we were playing the warriors and the first thing I hear is Kevin McHale explaining to a couple of guys on the team, “Yeah…the ice cap off of Greenland is receding but the ice caps off Antarctica are actually expanding….”
McHale’s a guy who definitely has a huge respect for the environment and the various efforts in that area to increase awareness, but the same thing that allows him to voice his feelings on one aspect of the environmental world dialogue allows him also to call out a player on something the player’s doing wrong. McHale speaks his mind and you have to respect that. In the same way he’s not worried about saying something politically uncorrect, he’s also not going to worry about hurting a players feelings if he has to get on that player. The player will get over it.
David Brauer/MinnPost comments on Mad Dog’s post:
Now, even though I think global warming is real, McHale’s no Bachmann, so I view this mostly with bemusement. He has a right to his opinion, and as Madsen notes, it’s good that McHale cares about public affairs. Plus, he’s funnier than Dennis Miller!
McHale’s politics shouldn’t be a surprise; his wife Lynn is a Republican volunteer and Mitt Romney donor, so it makes sense global warming is viewed dimly in the McHale household. (I do wonder if the woods and birds are changing around their Hibbing cabin.) Hell, ex-GOP officeholder Glen Taylor is a big party donor, though I don’t know his global warming stance. Maybe this explains a bit of Taylor’s loyalty (thus far) to the perennially embattled icon.
Timberwolves general manager Jim Stack has at least one vote from within the organization to retain that position for next season.
Bloomington Jefferson grad Cole Aldrich, who will return to Kansas for his junior basketball season, attended Saturday’s Timberwolves-Suns game at Target Center wearing a walking boot for a stress condition incurred during the season. The Wolves have intimated they would love to have a chance to choose the 6-11, 245-pounder in June’s NBA draft.
While McHale’s future as the team’s head coach is certainly in doubt, there is little doubt that Love is on his way to being a solid starter for the Timberwolves. After averaging just 6.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, and shooting 38% from the field in December, Love upped his numbers to 12.6, 10.0, and 54% respectively in January. He maintained those numbers in February, averaged 15.8 points in March, and even had some people saying he belonged in the Rookie Of The Year discussion. If he put up his March numbers over the entire season, he probably would have been in the discussion. It’s absolutely clear that he’s benefited greatly from McHale’s guidance.
From Sid Hartman:
If I were Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, I would jump for joy, because with Lemaire and Risebrough gone and Gaborik likely gone as well, the Wild figures to be in decline, while the Wolves — with three first-round draft picks and a young team that will get better — will have a better chance to compete for the fan’s dollar.
The Bleacher Bums take a look at the positives and negatives of the current team.
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