Minnesota Timberwolves: 4 front office candidates for the Wolves
By Zach Lung
Calvin Booth
Another potential candidate with the most ties to Minnesota is Denver Nuggets’ assistant general manager, Calvin Booth.
Booth previously worked for the Timberwolves as the director of player personnel for four years before joining the Denver Nuggets in the summer of 2017. He has helped the Nuggets greatly in his short stint in Denver and may be looking to take the next step in his career by returning to Minnesota.
The Wolves were rumored to be interested in Booth prior to the end of the season and before it was reported that the team was planning to retain Scott Layden as general manager.
Pros
Calvin Booth has done a superb job helping to build a positive and competitive environment in Denver.
The Nuggets have developed one of the most promising young cores in the league, finishing second in the Western Conference this season despite their youth. Booth deserves a ton of credit for his help in putting an impressive young roster together and improving the culture of a team that had often become an afterthought in recent seasons.
It would not be a surprise to anyone if Calvin Booth uses the Nuggets’ surprising 2018-19 success to aid his career path and make the leap to general manager or even president of basketball operations.
Cons
Through no fault of his own, many Timberwolves fans may see Calvin Booth as a return to Glen Taylor’s “country club” mentality.
Taylor has a history of hiring people who he knows personally and the results have often been negative. If Minnesota decides to pursue Booth, it should be due to his success in Denver and his ideas for the future of the Wolves’ franchise, not because of his work history with the team.
Booth also lacks the executive experience of the names previously mentioned. He has only been in an assistant general manager role for two seasons now and he has never held the title of president of basketball operations.
It would also not surprise if Minnesota offers the president of basketball operations position to another candidate but circles back to Booth later as a potential general manager replacement.