Latest on Dave Joerger
Dave Joerger was let go by the Grizzlies earlier today, but it doesn’t appear as if he will have to wait long to find another coaching opportunity in the league. Here’s the latest:
- There is mutual interest between the Kings and Joerger, although the team isn’t altering its methodical search, according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
- While the Kings are strongly pursing Joerger, he plans to wait on making any sort of decision until he hears from the Rockets, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets. The Pacers are a possible landing spot as well, Aldridge adds.
- The Wolves didn’t anticipate Joerger being available and the team believed it would have taken a trade to get him from Memphis, Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press tweets. Krawczynski adds that he doesn’t believe Joerger would be interested in becoming a top assistant on Tom Thibodeau’s staff (Twitter link).
- The topic of tonight’s reader-driven Community Shootaround is which coaching gig should Joerger take next. Click here to join the discussion.
Wolves Work Out Vince Edwards
- Purdue sophomore small forward Vince Edwards worked out for the Wolves on Wednesday, has scheduled a workout with the Celtics for next Friday and is expected to work out for the Grizzlies in the near future, Nathan Baird of The Lafayette Journal & Courier reports. Edwards is the ranked as the 24th-best sophomore by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
Wolves To Work Out Trevon Bluiett
- Xavier small forward Trevon Bluiett will work out for the Timberwolves on Saturday and the Celtics on May 14th, Goodman tweets.
Abdul-Malik Abu To Work Out For Wolves
- The Spurs‘ success has made their personnel in high demand around the league, and while the team is happy for the success of its personnel, it does create more offseason work since the franchise needs to replace those it has lost, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “Like right now we have a couple of guys we have got to replace,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “[GM] R.C. [Buford] and I will think about that at the end of the season. But it does cause some disruption and work to try to get it back.” San Antonio has lost front office staffers Sean Marks to the Nets and Scott Layden to the Wolves since February, with both men being named GM of their respective teams.
Opinion: Timberwolves Look Like Powerhouse
- The Timberwolves have never enjoyed more reason for optimism in the franchise’s history than now, opines Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. They have hired a top-level coach in Tom Thibodeau, possess a wealth of young talent and practice in a new, state-of-the-art facility, Souhan points out. All those factors provide real hope that the team will soon be a powerhouse in the Western Conference, Souhan concludes.
Wolves, Malik_abu Schedule Pre-Draft Workout
N.C. State power forward Abdul Malik-Abu has a predraft workout scheduled for May 7th with the Timberwolves, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The 20-year-old is a potential second-round pick this June, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him as the No. 26 sophomore overall. Malik-Abu appeared in 33 games for the Wolfpack and averaged 12.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 28.3 minutes per outing. His shooting line on the campaign was .490/.000/.630.
Reports Conflict On Whether Wolves Eyed Joerger
- The idea that the Timberwolves considered Dave Joerger for the coaching job that’s since gone to Tom Thibodeau simply wasn’t true, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. Any would-be path to Minnesota for Joerger vanished when former coach/executive Flip Saunders died, Tillery writes. The Commercial Appeal scribe expects Joerger to seek an extension with the Grizzlies as he heads into next season, the last one that’s guaranteed on his existing deal.
Wolves Front Office To Make Decisions Via Committee
- Layden chose to accept his post with the Wolves because of Taylor’s high level of commitment and the presence of Thibodeau, Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune writes. The executive isn’t concerned with what his title is or his level of power, but is instead focused on results, Youngblood notes. “I think if you’re looking for credit, you’re in the wrong place,” Layden said. The GM also echoed Thibs’ sentiments that decision-making would be a group process, telling reporters, “In the end, [Taylor] will probably make the decision, because it’s his money. And we’re going to try to convince him, together, why we need to spend it. … I feel good about this. We’re aligned in how we think. And that’s important.”
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, coach/executive Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden have all made it clear that the team will make its basketball decisions mostly by consensus rather than concentrating power in Thibodeau, despite his title as president of basketball operations, observes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “For me personally, this is about alignment,” Thibodeau said. “It’s not about power, it’s not about any of that stuff. I’ve known Scott a long time. We’ve shared our philosophies with each other. We feel strongly about certain things. He was the person I really wanted.”
Thibs Talks Factors That Led Him To Wolves
- A close friendship with new GM Scott Layden, the potential of Minnesota’s roster and a belief that Glen Taylor is committed to winning are reasons Tom Thibodeau cited to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune as he spoke about his decision to become coach and president of basketball operations for the Timberwolves. Thibodeau said that having the dual coach/executive title the Wolves gave him wasn’t a make-or-break element to the deal. “It wasn’t an absolute must, but I’m glad it has worked out that way,” Thibodeau said. “I just wanted to make sure I had a voice. The person I’m with, I trust Scott. He has great integrity. He’s a great worker and he has great experience.”
Glen Taylor Adds Investors To Ownership Group
Glen Taylor has brought two minority-share investors into the Timberwolves ownership group, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link), but the 75-year-old Taylor said today that he’s committed to remaining in charge of the team for at least the next five years, observes Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. That aligns with the length of the contracts for new coach/executive Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden. Taylor has been in talks to sell 30% of the team to Grizzlies minority-share owner Steve Kaplan, and they were reportedly discussing a plan to have Kaplan eventually succeed Taylor as primary owner. Presumably, no such plan exists for new Wolves part-owners Meyer Orbach, a New York real estate mogul, and John Jiang, who, according to Walters, is believed to be the first NBA investor from China.