The Minnesota Timberwolves’ top assistant is continuing to interview for head coaching jobs. Also, Wolves players are Packing the Vote in the community.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have stayed busy as the In-Market Bubble concludes this week.
Karl-Anthony Towns is apparently back in town, joining his teammates on another event in the organization’s Pack the Vote campaign.
Plus, associate head coach and defensive coordinator David Vanterpool is receiving more support from superstars at his previous employer.
Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Wolves Pack the Vote
It was just over a month ago when the Minnesota Timberwolves first announced their new Pack The Vote initiative, which centered around the team working with several local non-profits to distribute information on learning how to register to vote.
The Wolves players and staff have been active over the past few weeks and now are completing their In-Market Bubble and the final lead-up to the November election by taking part in an event in St. Paul.
The team put out some additional notes on the initiative, including a quote from CEO Ethan Casson.
Notably, Karl-Anthony Towns was present after he had been out of the state for the past couple of weeks. The team is clearly no longer in the actual bubble, which allowed Towns to participate.
Kudos to Towns for getting involved after missing much of the In-Market Bubble. He also had a local presence along with Josh Okogie immediately following George Floyd’s death in late May and has made it clear that he wants to be part of the solution in the Twin Cities and beyond.
Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: David Vanterpool interviews again
Wolves associate head coach and defensive coordinator David Vanterpool has once again been a popular man on the head coach interview circuit.
Most recently, he had interviewed with the Indiana Pacers for their vacancy, which still has not been filled. Now, Vanterpool has spoken with the Houston Rockets about the job recently vacated by Mike D’Antoni.
According to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski, that’s nine head jobs that Vanterpool has interviewed for, including the Wolves role that went to Ryan Saunders.
Vanterpool recently received public endorsements from Portland Trail Blazers teammates Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum regarding his head coach candidacy.
Clearly, Vanterpool is cut out to be an NBA head coach, and he’s earned the opportunity. He’s on ad decade of service as an assistant and has coordinated some impressive defenses that performed more than adequately despite less-than-ideal personnel.
The Wolves desperately wanted Vanterpool on Saunders’ staff to help him navigate the first years of Saunders’ own career. If this offseason isn’t yet Vanterpool’s time, we’re certainly not far off from his opportunity.
While it would be a huge loss to the still-developing defense to lose Vanterpool, it would be hard to be too upset with him getting the chance to run his own team.