Minnesota Timberwolves Among Teams to Deny New York Knicks
The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off of another great season, one of the best in franchise history. For the second-straight year, they made it all the way to a Western Conference Finals, something that had been done just one time (2003-04), in the franchise's 34 seasons of existence prior, prior to the start of the 2023-24 season.
But now, with a new ownership group ready to take over, the organization is trying to take yet another step forward on the court, from a perennial West playoff team and top conference contender, to NBA Finals winner.
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How exactly the Wolves make that happen is up to president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, who's expected to sign a long-term contract extension to stay in Minnesota this offseason. But according to Shams Charania (ESPN), moving on from Chris Finch is not part of Connelly's summer plans.
Minnesota Timberwolves deny New York Knicks request to interview Chris Finch
Because, if it was something Tim Connelly was interested in considering, then the New York Knicks reportedly called trying to grant the Wolves PoBO a perfect opportunity to unload the now 5-year head coach AND receive trade compensation, in return.
Late Tuesday night, Shams tweeted that the Knicks contacted both the Timberwolves and Rockets, with requests to interview Finch and Houston head coach Ime Udoka, and that both teams denied the request.
Chris Finch is inarguably the most successful head coach in Minnesota Timberwolves history. With five seasons under his belt, Finch has already surpassed the longevity of any coach in franchise history, outside of the late, great Flip Saunders, who coached the Wolves two different times from 1996-2015, for a total of 11 seasons.
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Tom Thibodeau was here three years (2017-19), as was Rick Adelman (2012-14). No other head coach in the Timberwolves' 36 years has a better regular season winning percentage than Finchy's .566 (209-160). He's also won more playoff games (21) than any Wolves coach before him, including Flip.
Related: Knicks Could Be Eyeing Timberwolves for More Help
In fact, outside of Saunders Sr. — who posted a final regular season win percentage of .521 (427-392) and collected 17 playoff victories prior to his tragic passing — no other Wolves coach has even secured a winning record while in Minnesota.
Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
Immediately following Minnesota's WCF loss to the OKC Thunder, some in media and around the fanbase (me) questioned whether Chris Finch is really the right man for the job, going forward.
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Most of those doubters (me) still wonder if Finch's free-flowing, low-responsibility attitude, both in his offensive and locker room philosophies are what's best for the growth and development of young talented players, especially Anthony Edwards.
Tim Connelly still all-in on Finchy
But clearly, Tim Connelly does not hold any of those concerns. Thus, Finchy is here to stay, and I am fine with that decision too. At the end of the day, in Tim we trust.
So Wednesday morning, after being denied by the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets, the Knicks picked up the phone and tried again. This time, it was the Dallas Mavericks on the other end of the phone call. The target: their head coach Jason Kidd. Again… the answer was an emphatic no.
I'm not sure why those inside the New York Knicks' decision-making circle — which includes former Wolves PoBO Gersson Rosas — thought other NBA teams would be open to trade talks for their already-successful head coach, especially when they wanted to interview these guys first. And if so… why make it public?
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Those questions are difficult to answer. But of course, we are talking about the James Dolan New York Knicks, which have been more of a clown show over the past three decades than they have been a basketball team.
Related: Suns Seeking a Timberwolves-Friendly Return for Kevin Durant…
Now, after their best two seasons since the non-title success they had in the 90s, they fired their head coach seemingly without a real plan to replace him. Where do the Knicks turn from here?
Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori was one early candidate mentioned as a possibility… but I'd imagine New York wants someone more high profile than that. We'll see if they can find what they are looking for.
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