In addition to taking over as the Timberwolves' president of basketball ops, Flip Saunders will invest about $8MM into the team, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. We heard earlier today that owner Glen Taylor is no longer interested in selling the franchise, but instead figures to try to buy out minority owners' stakes, or find local buyers for those shares. Wolfson has a few more T-Wolves updates in his latest piece, so let's dive in and check them out….
- When he was fielding calls about possibly selling the franchise, Taylor was approached by Chris Hansen's Seattle group, former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, St. Louis businessman Dr. Richard Chaifetz, and a group headed by former coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. However, none of those potential suitors had interest in keeping the team in Minnesota long-term, says Wolfson.
- Rick Adelman appears very likely to return as the Wolves' head coach in 2013/14, but if Saunders hires a new coach down the road, Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Rockets assistant J.B. Bickerstaff figure to be among the candidates, sources inform Wolfson.
- Nikola Pekovic's camp isn't upset with David Kahn's dismissal, but it will be Taylor who ultimately makes the final call on how high the Wolves are willing to go on a new deal for the restricted free agent.
- Wolfson also questions the validity of a number of the comments Kahn made after being let go, suggesting there may be some revisionist history at work.
- According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link), Taylor had a list of eight candidates to call about replacing Kahn, including Phil Jackson, but ultimately hired Saunders before even getting to his list.