The coaching search is over for Minnesota. It was reported Thursday morning that team president Flip Saunders will become the team’s new head coach.
The Timberwolves had Vinny Del Negro as a top candidate after failing to hire Dave Joeger, but Saunders has decided to take over the coaching job instead.
Saunders’ first gig as an NBA coach started with the Minnesota Timberwolves dating back to the 1995-96 season. He coached Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves for 10-years but was unable to coach the team out of the first-round for seven straight years until finally getting them to the conference finals the year before he was fired. He recorded 411 wins and 326 losses as head coach of the Timberwolves.
Saunders is expected to pursue Chauncey Billups as an assistant coach. Saunders coached Billups as a member of the Detroit Pistons. He is also expected to pursue Sam Mitchell who has been a former player of Saunders as well.
It seems as though this situation will still not change Kevin Love’s mind. Love has grown impatient with the franchise as he has never made it to the playoffs in his six years with the team and has made it clear that he intends to opt out to become a costless agent in 2015.
Flip Saunders will take over as a coach for at least this upcoming season since they have been unable to find a coach due to the Kevin Love dilemma. However, the terms to his contract are undisclosed.