The importance of making the right president of basketball operations hire cannot be overstated for the Timberwolves, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. As Krawczynski details, after the team took a step backward during the 2018/19 season, the next steps in Minnesota are critical, and finding the right person to run the show will be the franchise’s top priority this spring.
The Timberwolves’ search has centered on ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups, Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon, Nuggets assistant GM Calvin Booth, and Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas. While the club’s list of targets may expand beyond that group, it seems likely that one of those four execs will ultimately land the job.
Clippers GM Michael Winger initially seemed interested in the position, and was prepared to “plunge into the process” last week, according to Krawczynski. However, after a conversation with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and the rest of the staff, he decided to remove his name from consideration and remain in L.A.
That leaves four candidates, all of whom are in their early-40s, Krawczynski notes. With the exception of Billups, they all have strong backgrounds in player development too. In addition to targeting a younger executive who has the ability to identify emerging talent, the Wolves are also prioritizing hiring someone who is willing to communicate and cooperate, Krawczynski writes.
As Krawczynski observes, communication wasn’t necessarily a strong suit for former head of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau, so the club will be looking for an executive who is more interested in “building bridges” across the organization.
Here’s more on the Wolves:
- The Timberwolves have conveyed a desire to retain head coach Ryan Saunders, who took the reins from Thibodeau during the 2018/19 season. However, it’s common for a new head of basketball operations to pick his own head coach. Michael Rand of The Star Tribune digs into whether candidates for the open front office job are expected to keep Saunders, and how that would impact the Wolves’ search.
- The Timberwolves’ new president of basketball operations will immediately face a major question on what to do with Andrew Wiggins, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. With the former No. 1 overall pick on track to earn $122MM+ over the next four seasons, the Wolves need to find a way to get more out of him — or to explore whether there’s any realistic way to get out from under his contract on the trade market.
- For all the latest out of Minnesota, be sure to check out our Timberwolves team page.
Get Wiggins outta here. Trade him to a team that needs to get rid of a big deal with one or two years left. Wiggins can’t make a jumper to save his life. He needs a “fresher” start
JR Smith says hi.
POBO? Or EVPOBO and AGM? That’s trending. In Hollywood, with their long list of different kinds of producers for every show, they just give up and formally use the informal term showrunner. “President” is so vain.
Emperor of Basketball Operations.
Lmao I literally laughed out loud at “emperor of basketball ops”
Could Charlotte take a stab at Wiggins? Perhaps just straight swap for Batum, who has a similar salary but shorter contract? Charlotte has a tough time finding talent (which Wiggins supposedly is), so maybe buy low on him and have MJ knock some sense into him.
The hornets would need to throw in a 1st rd pick.
As long as Glen Taylor is in charge of the search for the President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, that effort is DOOMED TO FAIL in choosing a viable candidate. Just look at Taylor’s track record of choosing the leaders for this team. UGLY. This is the person who chose K A H N.