Kevin McHale's future is set to be decided within the next few days.
(AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)
There’s no word yet on whether new Wolves boss David Kahn has made a decision about Kevin McHale’s future in the organization. The two met three times previously to discuss the situation, the most recent meeting occurring Monday.
The Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda wrote that he thinks Kahn could be conflicted about dumping McHale, due to his status as a Minnesota “basketball playing legend.” However, if the franchise truly wants to reboot, Zgoda thinks keeping the guy who got the Wolves to this point in the first place would seem to go against that.
If McHale stayed on as coach, he would take a 39-55 career record as coach of the Timberwolves into the 2009-10 season.
During his first gig as head coach after he fired Flip Saunders in 2005, McHale guided the team to a 19-12 record.
His second attempt this past season produced mixed results; while the team ended up with a 24-58 record, the Wolves went 10-4 in January, garnering McHale Coach of the Month honors. When he took over for Randy Wittman in early December, he inherited a team that went just 4-15 to begin the season. The Wolves then promptly lost their next eight games. A 120-107 win at New York broke that season-long l3-game losing streak and began a stretch where Minnesota went 13-10. After Al Jefferson tore his ACL against New Orleans February 8, the team went just 7-25.
While McHale did lead the team to two good stretches of play (the end of the ’05 season and January ’09), he has not hid his disdain for the constant travel and rigors associated with the coaching life. Canning McHale could prove to fans that the franchise is committed to heading in a new direction. Though finding a new coach would be another thing to add to the laundry list of tasks Kahn has ahead of him, wiping the slate clean is probably the right move. Keeping a reluctant coach as a token of respect seems like a poor way to move forward. It’d be better to continue the retooling of the franchise that began with last year’s new uniforms and logos.
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