Timberwolves’ interim head coach Sam Mitchell was relieved of his duties almost immediately after Wednesday night’s season finale, a win over the New Orleans Pelicans, and the search for his replacement is already well underway.
As noted in the above-linked piece, owner Glen Taylor has enlisted the services of executive hiring firm Korn Ferry to head the search. This is the same firm that hired Stan Van Gundy into his dual role in Detroit, as well as Masai Ujiri as head of basketball operations with the Toronto Raptors.
The names of potential new head coaches floated before the news was even official included Tom Thibodeau, Scott Brooks, and Jeff Van Gundy. Dave Joerger, whose Memphis squad starts postseason play on Sunday against the mighty San Antonio Spurs, is another coach with whom the Wolves are known to have interest, but of course, he’s still under contract with the Grizzlies.
We’ll be going in-depth on each of the four coaches listed above in the coming days, but let’s take a quick look at what each coach might bring to the table, as well as what other teams might be interested in their services — meaning that Taylor will need to strike fast if any of these gentleman are indeed atop his list.
Tom Thibodeau
Let’s start with the most obvious choice.
Thibodeau is, fairly indisputably, the best “free agent” coach as of the conclusion of the 2015-16 regular season. (I’m ignoring George Karl, as he isn’t a candidate for this job. Hopefully.)
Again, we’ll delve into his record as a coach and the roster moves that his Bulls teams made over his five years in Chicago, but know this: Thibs won 60 games in his first year as head coach (albeit with a pre-injury, MVP-level Derrick Rose), and had a .647 winning percentage during his tenure despite his teams battling a seemingly constant injury bug.
He’s a masterful defensive tactition and is known as the architect of Doc Rivers‘ Boston Celtics squad that won the 2008 NBA Finals with a smothering defense. His offenses have been pedestrian, but effective and modern enough to pile up regular season wins.
More from Dunking with Wolves
- The dream starting 5 for Minnesota Timberwolves 5 years from now
- Anthony Edwards’ latest accolade is a great sign of things to come
- In an OT thriller, Team Canada snatches Bronze from Team USA
- Timberwolves start, bench, cut: Mike Conley, Shake Milton, Jordan McLaughlin
- Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?
The knock on Thibodeau is, famously, his propensity to overwork his players, and not just on a game-night basis but in practice over the course of a long season. It’s tough to measure the exact impact that such overuse had on his Bulls teams, and it’s impossible to know if this issue is one in which Thibs has decided to alter his methods when it comes to his next gig.
He’s the best “win-now” coach out there; the guy who has done the most with the least. Some will say he’s a better coach for a more veteran team, like Washington, but giving him athletes like Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, plus the length of Ricky Rubio and Zach LaVine, would be something to behold.
Scott Brooks
The former Oklahoma City Thunder coach was much-maligned (and often unfairly so) during his time in OKC.
Brooks had a .620 winning percentage in his seven-plus years with the team. In fact, if you take out his 22-47 record back in 2008-09 when he took over for the fired P.J. Carlesimo and his 45-37 year in 2014-15 when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook missed a combined 70 of 164 possible games, Brooks had a winning percentage of .610 or higher each year, including three consecutive years north of .710.
Of course, the former Timberwolves point guard had Durant and Westbrook, but he also wasn’t given a whole lot else to work with. James Harden was not on the team for his 60-win campaign in 2012-13 or the 59-season win in 2013-14, and Serge Ibaka, while a very good player, hasn’t quite been what the Thunder envisioned as the third part of OKC’s Big Three.
The biggest knocks on Brooks are his simplistic offense, late game clock management, and play-calling acumen. On the other hand, he oversaw the rise of three superstars in Durant, Westbrook, and Harden, and got enough out of his sub-par bench units to make multiple deep playoff runs.
Jeff Van Gundy
The younger Van Gundy brother has not been a head coach in the league since 2007 in Houston. He was, however, a finalist for the New Orleans Pelicans’ coaching job that ultimately went to Alvin Gentry just under a year ago.
He was good friends with the late Flip Saunders, and there is some belief that Saunders had solicited JVG to take over as head coach in the near future, which could have even been the 2016-17 season in their tentative plans.
More from Timberwolves News
- The dream starting 5 for Minnesota Timberwolves 5 years from now
- Anthony Edwards’ latest accolade is a great sign of things to come
- In an OT thriller, Team Canada snatches Bronze from Team USA
- Timberwolves start, bench, cut: Mike Conley, Shake Milton, Jordan McLaughlin
- Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?
It remains to be seen if Van Gundy has adjusted his philosophies to match the modern NBA, but he’s certainly caught-up on everything that has changed; he’s been a top announcer for ESPN for years and no doubt talks to his brother, Pistons head coach and basketball ops boss Stan Van Gundy.
Van Gundy’s career winning percentage is .575 with the Knicks and Rockets, with only one sub-.500 season to his name. His 1998-99 Knicks squad that made it to the NBA Finals and lost to the Spurs in the lockout-shortened season was a fantastic defensive team, but was not much to look at offensively.
His Rockets teams centered on Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming and were more effective on offense than his teams in New York, so there’s reason to believe that he can do some damage with Wiggins, Towns, LaVine, and Rubio.
Dave Joerger
Joerger is currently coaching in the playoffs with Memphis and is under contract for one more season, so he may not be a realistic option.
That said, he was nearly hired away by Saunders just two years ago for the same job. He’s a Minnesota native, and has been rumored to not be a favorite of Grizzlies principal owner Robert Pera.
While this year’s Grizzlies squad has been a disappointment in the win column, the fact that Memphis managed a 42-40 record with all of their injuries is nothing short of remarkable.
Marc Gasol only played in 52 games before being knocked out for the season. Mario Chalmers only played in 55 games before suffering the same fate. Mike Conley played in just 56 games.
In fact, the only players to play in more than 70 games for Joerger are JaMychal Green (78 games) and Matt Barnes (76). Gasol, Chalmers, Conley, and Brandan Wright are all out for the season, and defensive stalwart Tony Allen is questionable to play in Game 1 against the Spurs on Sunday.
Joerger is an outstanding defensive coach and has been willing to adapt on the offensive end of the floor depending on personnel. He’s a cerebral but intense personality who apparently has an affection for analytics and advanced statistics, at least on some level.
In that sense, he would be an interesting departure from what the Wolves are used to having on the bench.
Next: A Big Win To Finish The Season
Next up, we’ll have some more in-depth dives on each of the above candidates, plus any other potential interviewees for the role. Stay tuned to Dunking With Wolves as we detail any news that comes down as well.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone.