Timberwolves should consider Ryan Saunders as next head coach

Increasingly, fans are seeming to have mixed feelings about Tom Thibodeau. So … should Ryan Saunders be the next head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves?

Tom Thibodeau signed a contract to become the Minnesota Timberwolvesnew head coach and president of basketball operations back in the spring of 2016. The contract was a five-year, $40 million. So, after the current season, he’ll have three seasons left under contract.

When Minnesota signed Thibs, it seemed as though it was a home run hire. He was an extremey successful head coach with the Chicago Bulls, posting a record of 255-139. He’s best known as a defensive-minded coach, and he certainly doesn’t take any plays off. I’ve never seen him take a play off (sit down), save for the first possession of each game.

If there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s that he’s one of the hardest workers you’ll ever come by. But, something feels like it’s not clicking. For being a defensive-minded coach, Minnesota has not had things come together like people had hoped.

According to NBA.com, here are the Wolves’ defensive ratings for each of the last three seasons. (The 2015-16 season was the season right before hiring Thibodeau, under interim head coach Sam Mitchell.)

• 2015-16: 107.1, 27th in the NBA
• 2016-17: 109.1, 26th
• 2017-18 (through 66 games): 108.3, 24th

Somehow, the Wolves defense got worse, at least in terms of defensive rating, after they added Thibs. Sure, they’ve improved rank wise, but the rating itself has been worse.

It has improved this year, in his second season at the helm, but it should have done that anyways with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns progressing into better players, plus bringing in Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler.

Wiggins and Towns have gotten better this season, so that has been a major bonus. Maybe it’s the extended minutes/lack of bench utilization, Jeff Teague instead of Ricky Rubio, or the bench defensive effort being absolutely awful. But the bench ranks last in the league in defensive rating.

The Wolves do not run a fast-paced offense, something that they could benefit from. (According to Basketball-Reference, Minnesota ranks 23rd in the league in pace.) Instead, they play a lot of isolation basketball with little ball moment, not giving Towns the ball enough and making Wiggins sit in the corner for most of the game.

And I’m not saying that the Wolves have considered firing Thibs, I’m saying that it may be time to start questioning how he coaches. Things have not seemed to improve as well, or at least as quickly, as we initially thought. However, Minnesota seems to be on their way (knock on wood) to making the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-04 season. It seems unlikely that he would get fired if they reach the playoffs.

In terms of the minutes criticism… well, they do play their starters more than any other team. Thibs’ well-documented past includes a few players who have suffered major injuries: Loul Deng, Derrick Rose, Zach LaVine and now Jimmy Butler, to name a few. Truthfully, who knows if it’s the Thibs affect or not.

Hypothetically speaking, if Minnesota were to look for another head coach, perhaps should be Ryan Saunders.

Saunders was an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards from 2009-14 before being hired as a Wolves assistant head coach in the summer of 2014 — the same year in which his father, Flip Saunders, hired himself to be the head coach for the Wolves for a second go-round.

How cool would it be for Minnesota to continue Flip’s legacy by giving the head coaching job to his son? No one knows and understands his dad’s vision better than his own son.

Here are a few key points as to why he would be a good hire:

• He knows and understands his dad’s vision and has a lot of good experience under his dad, Thibodeau and Randy Wittman. He’s been an assistant head coach at the NBA level for nearly a decade.
• He’s been the Wolves’ Summer League head coach.
• By all accounts, he’s an extremely hard worker.
• He’s just 31 years old, and the players reportedly enjoy working with him.
• He’s a Minnesotan, born in Medina. (Is this a good reason? Maybe not, but let’s count it.)

It sure seems as though Saunders is a young coach who would likely be able to adapt modern NBA play and has a lot of knowledge. Plus, how cool would it be for Glen Taylor to pass along the team to Flip’s son, allowing Ryan to carry on his father’s legacy?

Next: Jimmy Butler is a top-10 NBA player

It would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? It’s not about to happen, but never say never…