“That was enough of a factor that I wanted to call up the D-league owners and talk to them,” Taylor said. “David brought it to our attention, so I called up the D-league owners. I think there are some things that have already been worked out or will be worked out. But yes, those were concerns.”
Taylor said the questions were answered to his satisfaction and noted that running the D-league is “a tough business.”
Kahn said he’s proud of what he accomplished in the D-league, pointing out that he never missed a payroll, even if he often had to fund it out of his own pocket.
Even so, Taylor insisted he was the Wolves’ first choice and strongly denied that they had offered the job to any other candidate.
“We’ve had nobody turn the job down,” Taylor said.
The agent for Portland Trail Blazers assistant general manager Tom Penn said Monday that he had a job offer before accepting a promotion to remain in Portland, and San Antonio Spurs assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey and former Miami Heat general manager Randy Pfund earlier withdrew from consideration.
Taylor said reports that Lindsey or any other candidate pulled out because of control issues, however, were media speculation and erroneous.
“I’d say that’s completely wrong,” he said. “I don’t know how to say it stronger. That’s inaccurate.”
The Wolves brought Penn in for an interview two weeks ago when it appeared they were nearing a contract offer to Kahn, but Taylor said there was no snag in negotiations: “We just didn’t get permission to talk to Tom until really late in the process.”
“We have to understand that people want to be able to touch us and we have to be willing to let them touch us,” Kahn said. “Sports is about transparency, and we have to be much more transparent that we have been in the past. People deserve that.”
Kahn said he intends to meet with McHale early next week to discuss the team’s coaching job, then head to Chicago for the NBA’s scouting combine to begin trade discussions with other league executives and continue work with the Wolves’ existing front office on preparations for a draft that is only five weeks away. He will not make any decisions on his new front office — and whether General Manager Jim Stack and assistant general managers Fred Hoiberg and Rob Babcock will be retained — until work for the draft and free agency is over in July.
He complimented Kevin McHale, whom he may yet fire as coach after meeting with him next week. Kahn said he won’t blow up the front office before the draft and vowed to pick the brains of longtime Wolves staffers to learn how the franchise sank to this point. It will be interesting to hear how he and McHale interact, because McHale, for all his faults as a personnel guy, can sniff out a phony a mile away.
It’s hard to imaging Kahn keeping McHale, who may make the decision easier by quitting on his own.
Kahn possesses the advantage of laying fresh eyes on the Wolves’ clown show. He possesses the disadvantage of sudden proximity to the delusional personalities who have run this franchise into the ground.
“Good afternoon,” Kahn said. “As Glen alluded to in his exposition …”
Within minutes, he used the words “hyperbolic,” “bifurcate” and “maniacal.” Furthermore, he mentioned a “shadow government” and dropped “prima facie.” One sportswriter went in search of a Serbian dictionary.
He made eye contact, immediately memorized everyone’s name and spoke as if even his spontaneous answers had been rehearsed in front of a mirror.
True or false: your first thought would have been, “Geez, I wonder if I can get down there at noon today.”
So what do you do? You have to bowl someone over with a big-time offer. That’s why you call San Antonio and say, “We’ll give you Foye, our No. 6 pick and Brian Cardinal’s 2010 expiring contract for Parker.” Note: The deal can’t work until July 1.
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