The Timberwolves announced Wednesday that longtime
GM Kevin McHale will not be retained as head coach.
(AP Photo/John Amis, File)
You can consider the Kevin McHale era of Timberwolves history officially over.
After the news was broken by Wolves forward Kevin Love via Twitter, Minnesota President of Basketball Operations David Kahn held a press conference Wednesday to announce that the team will not retain McHale as its head coach. In what the Pioneer Press’ Tom Powers called a “no-brainer,” Kahn cut McHale and his 39-55 career coaching record, loose for good.
Though it took four weeks and three formal meetings to arrive at the decision, it was the correct course of action. McHale’s disdain for some aspects of the coaching job contrasted with his own claims that he wanted to be kept.
More importantly, it allows the team to finally move on from the shadow of McHale’s previous decisions as general manager. The franchise needed a reboot and cutting McHale creates separation between the first era of Timberwolves history and what is yet to come. In a radio interview with Dan Barreiro Thursday, Kahn admitted that the Wolves are a “team in transition,” though he gave little else as reasoning behind the move.
The press conference itself was almost a tribute to McHale, with Kahn calling his predecessor “a great man,” and “someone who deeply cares about the players he coaches.” It was a deep sign of respect to a man considered a Minnesota basketball legend, despite his personnel failures as Wolves general manager.
Though those mistakes included a number of questionable draft picks, failed attempts to work around the system and regrettable draft day trades, McHale did build a team that went to the playoffs seven years in a row. He also boldly drafted a certain 19-year-old out of high school in 1995, who would later become the first Timberwolf to win an NBA MVP award.
However, even those successes are marred by other failures. Though Minnesota made the playoffs seven consecutive years, they failed to advance past the first round in all but one of those seasons. While Kevin Garnett was a bona fide superstar, McHale was unable to surround him with enough talent to get the team over that hump and into the NBA finals. The one year that he came closest, in the 2003-04 season, The team was still not deep enough to overcome Sam Cassell’s bad back in the Western Conference finals.
When McHale eventually got the Big Ticket a ticket out of Minnesota, he was unable to do so without drawing ire for supposedly cutting longtime friend Danny Ainge of the Celtics some slack in the deal. It was the right time to make the move, though it was heartbreaking for Minnesota fans who were only a few years removed from coming within two wins of the NBA finals.
For all his misgivings as VP of Basketball Operations, McHale was a decent coach who was liked by his players. Word is that many Wolves players were disappointed by the decision, with Love tweeting that it was “a sad day,” and Mark Madsen lamenting the loss as well. Al Jefferson, who was involved in a rumored trade for Amare Stoudemire, said he was “shocked, disappointed and hurt.”
Kahn stated that he has no list of candidates for the open coaching job, telling Barreiro on radio that “there’s nobody lined up, teed up, ready to roll… part of getting it right is taking your time and doing a very thorough job.” Interestingly, the Pioneer Press reported that the team could be looking for a McHale-esque player-friendly coach, further evidence that the franchise just needed to cut ties with the McHale era of management.
A short list of candidates for the open job include former Wolves player Sam Mitchell, former Dallas coach Avery Johnson and current analyst Mark Johnson. News of Bill Laimbeer of the WNBA’s Detroit Shock’s resignation fueled rumors he may be interested in the job as well.
No coaching decision will likely be made until after next week, as the team has a lot of planning left to do for the June 25 NBA draft. Letting McHale go will allow the organization to focus on its draft plans without having to field questions about his future.
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