In one fell swoop, the Minnesota Timberwolves fired Ryan Saunders and hired away Toronto Raptors assistant Chris Finch to be their new head coach.
Finch is a long-time NBA assistant and a multi-time associate head coach. Setting aside the weirdness of the Wolves’ process — namely, firing Saunders and completing in-season hiring from another team’s staff — Finch is clearly qualified for the job.
What do Wolves fans need to know about the new coach? We’ve got you covered.
About Minnesota Timberwolves’ head coach Chris Finch: A wealth of experience
Chris Finch started his coaching career in England before bouncing to Germany and Belgium. Finch’s teams were largely successful, as he won multiple Coach of the Year awards and league titles. He was also the head coach of Team Great Britain for a time, including the 2012 Olympics.
Following a decade in Europe, Finch was hired to lead the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the then-D-League, the affiliate of the Houston Rockets.
It was there that Finch first worked with current Wolves President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas, who was simultaneously the Vipers’ general manager and a member of the Rockets’ front office.
Finch took over a team that went 21-29 in each of the previous two seasons (albeit with significant roster turnover) and won a championship at the end of his first campaign. He went 67-33 in the regular season over two seasons with the Vipers before he was promoted to the Rockets’ bench.
After three years with the Rockets as an assistant under former Wolves executive and coach Kevin McHale, Finch was promoted by McHale to associate head coach in 2014. In 2016, the Rockets hired Mike D’Antoni to the head job and Finch moved to Denver to be the associate head coach under Mike Malone.
Finch spent only one year in Denver — more on that later — before heading down to New Orleans to take the same role with the goal of helping the Pelicans better utilize Anthony Davis. He spent three years working under head coach Alvin Gentry and when the staff turned over last offseason, Finch went to Toronto to work as an assistant with his old friend Nick Nurse, who had coached against in Europe and eventually had succeeded him as head coach with Rio Grande Valley.
The important things to note here are:
- Finch has been an associate head coach for three different teams.
- Head coaches he has worked under include Kevin McHale, Mike Malone, Alvin Gentry, and Nick Nurse.
Now, let’s talk about his fit with the Wolves’ personnel.