On Timberwolves’ new G.M. Scott Layden

New Timberwolves team president and head coach Tom Thibodeau was the headliner of Tuesday’s press conference, and rightfully so. But he wasn’t the only new hire.

The second part of the new front office tandem for the Wolves is current San Antonio Spurs assistant general manager Scott Layden. He will finish his work with the Spurs next week and head to Minneapolis full-time at that time.

Layden’s relationship with Tom Thibodeau goes way back, as noted here in the Star Tribune. The two men became great friends when Thibs was an assistant in New York under Jeff Van Gundy, while Layden was general manager and team president of the Knicks.

Prior to what was ultimately an unsuccessful stint in the Big Apple, Layden spent the majority of his career in Utah. After starting as an administrative assistant and scout back in 1981, Layden became an assistant coach and after a few years in that role, he ascended through the front office and became the director of basketball operations.

That means that Layden was in the organization, albeit not the front office, when John Stockton and Karl Malone were drafted. He was also in charge of the draft when Byron Russell was drafted in the second-round back in 1993 and Greg Ostertag was selected with the 28th pick in 1995.

He left for the Knicks almost immediately after directing the draft that saw Andrei Kirilenko land in Salt Lake City with the 24th pick in the 1999 draft.

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In New York, however, Layden’s tenure is checkered with poor moves. This list of transactions comes with the disclaimer that any Knicks general manager is faced with the impossible: always winning and never rebuilding. The pressure was enormous, and Layden did not perform well.

The massive Latrell Sprewell contract extension and the trade of the aging Patrick Ewing were mediocre but certainly not indefensible moves, but things started to fall apart quickly at the 2001 trade deadline.

Layden acquired an aging Mark Jackson and Muggsy Bogues, who did not play in a game for the Knicks, while giving up Chris Childs and a first-round pick. Without the draft pick, the Knicks then picked two second-rounders that never played a minute. That same off-season, Allan Houston signed a then-record contract to stay in New York.

The 2002 draft, however, was the big one. Layden selected Nene at #7 but immediately traded him, along with the still-capable Marcus Camby and Jackson for the chronically injured Antonio McDyess.

In 2003, Layden drafted three more non-NBA players and traded Sprewell to the Timberwolves for Keith Van Horn. He was ultimately fired that December.

Layden worked in television for a couple of years before going back to Utah to be an assistant coach for a few years and then joining the Spurs in 2012 as assistant general manager. He leaves a positive reputation behind in Utah, and understandably so.

We’ll never really know how much Layden had to do with the excellent moves made in Utah and San Antonio, but we do know a couple of important things. First, he made a series of poor decisions when he was “the guy” in New York. But secondly, he’s been a key decision-maker and at the very least, held key influence in two eminently successful organizations over the course of his career in Utah and San Antonio.

Next: Wolves Podcast: On The Thibodeau Hire

Timberwolves fans should find comfort in what Layden’s been doing with the past four seasons of his career. The Spurs organization is the best in the NBA and one of the best in sports, and Minnesota has landed one of the top few executives from that braintrust.

And now, Layden and Thibodeau will work together to finish building the roster of what could be a playoff team just one year from now.