Chris Finch Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Finch, Towns, Wolves, Jazz, Caruso

June 26th, 2024 at 12:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor made stability a priority regarding the franchise’s leadership positions while his ongoing dispute with prospective majority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez plays out, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reports. That resulted in head coach Chris Finch signing a four-year extension, though Lore and A-Rod were also in favor of extending Finch.

“They broke open the contract and redid it,” Finch said of the Timberwolves. “That doesn’t often happen and I’m extremely grateful for that.”

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Will the Timberwolves make a blockbuster trade to alleviate some of their luxury tax issues? It doesn’t appear so, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN. Minnesota is looking to retain its most talked-about trade piece, Karl-Anthony Towns, who has been the subject of many rumors in recent years. His four-year max extension kicks in next season.
The Timberwolves hold the 27th and 37th picks in the draft and if history is a guide, they might trade one of those picks or acquire another one. Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that head of basketball operations Tim Connelly has made draft-night trades during each of the past two years.
There have been plenty of rumors about the Jazz packaging their No. 29 and 32 picks to move up the draft but could they include their lottery selections at No. 10? Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer hears Utah may be looking to move up in the lottery by consolidating those picks in a trade. The Jazz could be looking for a backcourt partner to pair with point man Keyonte George.
Jazz general manager Justin Zanik acknowledged that adding three rookies after drafting three players in the first round last year might make the roster too young, Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune writes. “If that’s the case, you want to make sure you have enough veterans on the team. They can’t raise themselves, can’t raise each other,” Zanik said. “That will factor into some of the things we do in free agency or trades.”
Alex Caruso is excited to join a contender that has other rotation players with established defensive credentials, according to Gracie Rawlings of The Oklahoman. “I mean long, athletic, competitive, tough, those are all things that we described as all-defensive caliber players and good defensive teams,” Caruso said of being traded to the Thunder. “They have a lot of that. They have active hands. They are willing to sacrifice for the team. Those are all things that are important, and I am excited to add to that. But I also know that I’m not going to be the main focus every night defensively. I think in Chicago, everyone had me as No. 1 on the radar for the defensive game plan.”

Timberwolves Coach Chris Finch Signs Four-Year Extension

June 24th, 2024 at 5:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves may be in the midst of an ownership dispute but they’re giving head coach Chris Finch some job security, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

Finch has agreed on a four-year contract extension through the 2027/28 season. The team confirms in a press release that Finch has signed the extension.

Minnesota has qualified for the postseason in each of the last three seasons under Finch and had its most successful playoff run in two decades this spring, reaching the Western Conference finals.

“I’m proud of the way we’ve been able to establish a great culture here with the Timberwolves and I look forward to continuing to lead this organization and make our fans proud,” Finch said in a statement.

Terms were not reported but it’s safe to assume Finch received a hefty boost in salary, considering the recent explosion in coaching salaries.

“Chris is a wonderful coach, and an even better person,” team president Tim Connelly said in a statement. “We are thrilled that he is being rewarded with a well-earned extension. Under his guidance the team has improved every year, he’s the perfect leader for our organization.”

Finch was hired away from the Raptors in February 2021 after the Timberwolves dismissed Ryan Saunders in February 2021. He has a 160-127 regular-season record with the Timberwolves. They went 56-26 this past season, then swept the Suns and knocked out the defending champion Nuggets in a seven-game battle before succumbing to the Mavericks.

Finch underwent surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee during the postseason after Mike Conley collided with him.

Wolves Notes: Towns, Edwards, Finch, Anderson

May 29th, 2024 at 8:17am CST by Luke Adams

No Timberwolves player had more points (29), rebounds (10), or assists (9) in Game 4 on Tuesday than Anthony Edwards, but the fourth-year shooting guard told reporters, including Dave McMenamin of ESPN, that teammate Karl-Anthony Towns deserved credit for the victory that saved the club’s season. Towns, who struggled immensely during the first three games of the series, scored 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting (4-of-5 threes) and was a game-high +15.

“Everything came together for him; he was super confident,” Edwards said. “He played exceptionally well, and he came through big-time. He was the reason we won tonight.”

Head coach Chris Finch, who said after Game 3 that Towns’ shooting woes were “hard to watch at times,” praised the star big man for bouncing back, referring to the performance as a “great step” for him.

“KAT’s a great player,” Finch said, per McMenamin. “His struggles were not going to last forever. He got himself going. Even when he got deep in foul trouble, we left him out there. … Just let him roll, and he played smart, played under control, rebounded really well for us, executed defensively. Really proud of him.”

Here’s more on the Wolves, who still trail Dallas by a 3-1 margin in the Western Conference finals:

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, who is still recovering from knee surgery, is off his crutches and came onto the court in the third quarter on Thursday to object to the fifth foul call on Towns, earning a technical foul of his own in the process. As Sam Amick of The Athletic writes, Finch was looking to “inject emotion” into the game by earning that tech and then taking over the team’s huddles for the first time since he injured his knee a month ago. “He fired us all up,” Naz Reid told Amick. “He’s doing that, and he’s bringing that energy, so it’s like, ‘We ain’t got no choice.’ It’s definitely special and huge to see him that engaged, and that in the moment. So everybody’s excited for that. I mean, you see he’s limping and it doesn’t matter. He’s still gonna keep going.”
Kyle Anderson logged a series-high 25 minutes in the Game 4 win, and while he had more fouls (3) than points (2), he made the most of his increased role by adding four assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Anderson was also an important factor in a crucial late-game possession, directing Towns to the corner and then making sure Edwards knew he was open for a three-pointer (Twitter video link). “I was dribbling the ball. I damn sure was about to shoot it,” Edwards said of the play, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “And I seen him pointing at big fella, and I’m like ‘OK, cool.’ Big fella, he done cashed out.”
After struggling in clutch situations throughout the series, the Timberwolves came up big down the stretch on Tuesday, holding onto a slim lead in the game’s final minutes as Edwards consistently made the right decisions on offense, writes Zach Harper of The Athletic.
While the Wolves remain a long shot to come back and win the series, it bodes well for the franchise going forward that Edwards and Towns performed so well in an elimination game in late May, notes Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune.

Wolves Notes: Towns, Defense, Edwards, Gobert

May 27th, 2024 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Karl-Anthony Towns has been misfiring throughout the Western Conference Finals, but his shooting struggles were particularly painful in Sunday’s Game 3 loss, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Towns, who finished with 14 points, shot just 5-of-18 from the field and 0-of-8 from three-point range. He missed all four of his attempts in the final five minutes, including three from beyond the arc, as Minnesota’s offense collapsed down the stretch.

“He struggled, of course,” coach Chris Finch said at his post-game press conference. “It was hard to watch at times.”

The Wolves haven’t been able to keep up with Dallas’ high-powered attack while getting limited production from one of their prime scoring threats. Towns is shooting 27.8% in the series, which McMenamin notes is the fourth-worst mark of any player through the first three games of a conference or divisional finals in the shot clock era (minimum 50 shot attempts).

“I’ve got to laugh,” Towns said. “I’m putting up to 1,500 shots a day. Shot so well all playoffs, confidence extremely high. To be having these unfortunate bounces and these looks that are just not going in, it’s tough. It’s tough, for sure. I’m good confidence wise. Just got to keep shooting.”

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Towns’ poor shooting and questionable decision-making in the series raise questions about whether he should be part of the team’s long-term future, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Towns’ four-year, $221MM extension kicks in next season, likely pushing Minnesota into second apron territory and limiting its options for improving the roster.
Towns’ three-point shooting and the league’s top-ranked defense have carried Minnesota all season, but neither has been effective in the conference finals, observes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Whether Finch has tried to guard Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving straight up or blitz them with an extra defender, the Mavericks‘ play-makers always seem to have an answer. Finch has also experimented with his big-man rotation, benching Towns for Naz Reid late in Game 2 and sitting out Rudy Gobert for more than nine minutes in Sunday’s fourth quarter.
The Mavericks’ edge in experience and the individual brilliance of Doncic and Irving have been too much for Minnesota to handle, notes Sam Amick of The Athletic. Even though the Wolves were locked in a season-long battle for the top record in the West, it’s rare for teams to win titles when their best player is still early in his career. “We’ve got (Anthony Edwards), who’s 22, and Dwayne Wade won a championship at that age,” Gobert said. “(Wade) was the guy, but he was surrounded by some other veterans who helped him grow. I think that’s the way I feel about our team. Ant is not in his prime yet, but he’s still (capable of leading a title team). For him, it’s about learning every day, being willing to learn and grow, and he’s done that. Sometimes the pain of losing is the best lesson, but I think we’ve had some of that. I think we’ve had enough of that. Now it’s ‘Let’s win it.’”

Wolves Notes: Towns, Edwards, Gobert, McDaniels, Finch

May 20th, 2024 at 9:11am CST by Luke Adams

While Anthony Edwards had been the Timberwolves‘ engine and leading scorer during their 2024 playoff run, it was the team’s other former No. 1 overall pick – Karl-Anthony Towns – who keyed Sunday’s 20-point comeback in Denver and put up the biggest stat line of the night (23 points, 12 rebounds, and a pair of steals).

As Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune writes, Towns has long been “a symbol of Wolves underachievement, fairly or not,” so it’s fitting that his contributions were crucial in getting the team past the defending champions and into the Western Conference finals.

“I couldn’t be more happy and proud of him,” head coach Chris Finch said of Towns after the victory. “Because I think he’s faced a lot of unfair criticism when it comes to the postseason. The more you go through these things, the more at peace you are … KAT was really special, especially in the second half. I think you see how at peace and happy he is.”

“I’ve been here nine years, talked about wanting to win and do something special here for the organization,” Towns said, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “All of the failures and all the things that materialized and happened, the disappointment that comes with it led to this moment.”

Edwards, meanwhile, put up a solid line of 16 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, but he made just 6-of-24 shots from the floor. He expressed appreciation after the win that Towns and the other six Wolves players who saw action in Sunday’s Game 7 helped make up for his poor shooting night.

“It was tough, man, because I couldn’t find myself, my rhythm tonight,” Edwards said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “So, I just had to trust my teammates. … I just had to make the right plays throughout the rest of the game. I did that, and my teammates made shots. Big shoutout to those guys.”

Here’s more on the Wolves, who are headed to the Western Conference finals for just the second time in franchise history:

Like Towns, Rudy Gobert has faced criticism over the years for his lack of playoff success, most recently after Game 5 when Nikola Jokic had a 40-point game and made 8-of-9 shots with Gobert as his primary defender. However, as McMenamin writes, Gobert scored eight of his 13 points on Sunday in the fourth quarter, including an improbable turnaround fadeaway with the shot clock running down (video link). He also led a stifling defensive effort that saw Denver score just 37 points on 35.9% shooting in the second half. As Sam Amick of The Athletic points out, the Wolves are +111 in the playoffs with Gobert on the court, which is the best mark of any player on the roster.
Jaden McDaniels matched Towns with a team-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting in Game 7 and earned major praise from Edwards for the role he has played so far in the postseason. “Jaden McDaniels was the MVP of the last two series,” Edwards told reporters (Twitter video link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype). McDaniels signed a five-year extension with Minnesota last fall — it will go into effect this July, bumping his salary from $3.9MM to $22.6MM.
Edwards also lauded Finch for the role he has played in the Wolves’ success this season and this spring, per Amick. “It starts with our head coach — Coach Finch,” Edwards said. “He comes in every day, comes to work, gets there early. He’s thinking of ways to get me and KAT open looks. He’s thinking of ways to get Mike (Conley) and Rudy open looks. He’s thinking of ways to get Jaden involved. He’s trying to keep Naz (Reid) in it to get him involved. He’s just a great coach. And he don’t sugarcoat anything with anybody. If KAT’s f—in’ up, he’s going to get on KAT. If I’m f—in’ up, he’s going to get on me. If Rudy f—in’ up, he’s going to get on anybody that’s messing up throughout the game, and I think that’s what makes him the best coach in the NBA, to me.”
The Timberwolves ownership battle, which is headed to arbitration, has taken a back seat during the team’s playoff run. “Only dysfunctional ownership can break up this team,” one team executive told ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Wolves Notes: Conley, Finch, Towns, Edwards

May 18th, 2024 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mike Conley will have a chance to make a new Game 7 memory on Sunday, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. The Timberwolves‘ veteran point guard is still bothered by how the series ended when he and Rudy Gobert faced the Nuggets as members of the Jazz in a 2020 seventh game in the Orlando bubble. Conley had an opportunity to give Utah a dramatic victory, but his three-point shot at the buzzer misfired.

“I’ve replayed it a lot,” he said. “Having that opportunity to win a Game 7 like that and not be able to make the shot was tough. Now here we are in a similar situation, where we get to play the same team, a lot of the same guys. So for me, it’s just something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Hopefully this will turn out different.”

Conley plans to be ready despite being listed as questionable with a right soleus strain that kept him out of Game 5. He was able to return for Thursday’s contest and said he feels better now than he did that night. He wants to be on the court so he can put to rest the bad memories from four years ago.

“It’s hard to escape it,” Conley said. “You find that clip every now and then. Sometimes it comes across the phone. I don’t actively search it — I don’t want to bring up that memory too much. But at the same time, it’s something that I’ve thought about at workouts and I think about if I’m having a tough day in a workout missing a certain shot. I’m like, ‘Nah, I got to make this because I might be in this situation again.'”

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Injured head coach Chris Finch said he and lead assistant Micah Nori have developed an effective system as the series has worn on, Hine adds in the same piece. Finch can’t roam the sidelines after suffering a ruptured patella tendon in the first round, so he and Nori have to be selective about when they communicate. “Couple games ago, he was looking at me or to me a lot,” Finch said. “I just said, you can’t do that, we’re losing some possessions maybe here and there. Just trust your gut. He’s got 30 years of experience. So use it.”
Karl-Anthony Towns only scored 10 points in Game 6, but he sparked Minnesota’s blowout by doing all the things his critics say he can’t do, observes Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune. Towns served as the primary defender against Nikola Jokic, grabbed seven rebounds by the end of the first quarter and made the right passes in the offense.
Teammates raved about Anthony Edwards‘ maturation int0 a leader after Game 6, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. As the Wolves pulled away, Edwards implored the team to avoid any letdown that would allow Denver to get back into the game. “Just the way he’s grown from, I always say my second year, his rookie year, just from the way he’s grown as a basketball player and that person,” Naz Reid said. “It’s completely night and day.”

Timberwolves Notes: Gobert, Finch, Towns, Draft Workout

May 9th, 2024 at 10:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

Rudy Gobert, who was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year this week, is grateful to the Timberwolves organization for sticking by him after a rough first year in Minnesota, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

“When things didn’t go as smoothly as we wanted them to last year, they never doubted me,” Gobert said. “They have shown me love every day, pushing me to be better every day, and I really appreciate that.”

He also feels the entire city has embraced him after many league observers called the blockbuster trade with Utah a disastrous move during and after last season.

“I think we are trying to accomplish something bigger, but more importantly I think I’ve found a home,” he said. “I’ve found a team, a coaching staff, an organization and a city that has embraced me, and a group that has embraced me. I feel like it’s like a family. We are there for each other. We really care about one another.”

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Gobert missed Game 2 after the birth of his first child and was thrilled to watch his teammates dismantle the Nuggets in a 106-80 blowout, Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays. “It was incredible,” Gobert said. “I was exhausted, obviously, holding the baby and watching the game at the same time, but I had a little bit of emotions at the end because it felt like there was something special.”
Coach Chris Finch has been showing his toughness during the series, running the team shortly after undergoing knee surgery for a ruptured patella tendon. “He hops over on the crutches at times when he’s yelling at guys behind the bench,” Conley told Krawczysnki. “That passion he has for the game, it’s rubbing off on other guys. We’re doing a great job of keeping him involved, keeping him engaged and he’s doing a great job keeping on us and just being who he is.”
Karl-Anthony Towns has won the league’s Social Justice award, Marc Spears of Andscape.com reports. Among other issues, Towns has championed voting rights for formerly incarcerated people. He is expected to be given the award prior to Game 3 on Friday.
The Wolves will be hosting a pre-draft workout on Thursday for six prospects, mainly potential second-rounders, the team’s PR department tweets. Isaiah Crawford (Louisiana Tech), Thierry Darlan (G League Ignite), Aaron Estrada (Alabama), A.J. Johnson (Illawarra Hawks), Riley Minix (Morehead State) and Jaylen Wells (Washington State) are the participants. Wells is ranked No. 54 on ESPN’s Best Available list, while Johnson is pegged at No. 62.

Wolves Notes: Defense, McDaniels, Gobert, Morris, Ownership

May 7th, 2024 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

While Defensive Player of the Year favorite Rudy Gobert has earned much of the credit for anchoring a Timberwolves defense that ranked No. 1 in the NBA this season, Minnesota turned in an impressive defensive performance without Gobert available on Monday, limiting the Nuggets to just 80 points on 34.9% shooting and forcing 19 turnovers in a Game 2 blowout.

“We’ve had some really, really good defensive efforts this year, but that has to be right up there with the best of them,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “On the ball, off the ball, the physicality, the execution of the game plan. … Just really locked in on defense.”

Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns led the offensive attack for the Wolves with 27 points apiece, but it was fellow starter Jaden McDaniels who turned in the game’s best plus-minus mark (+26) despite recording as many fouls as points (5) and making just 2-of-7 shots from the floor. McDaniels’ under-the-radar impact didn’t go unnoticed by his head coach.

“He hasn’t connected in the scoring column, but my God, he’s a +26. The other day he was a +23,” Finch said (Twitter link via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic). “He didn’t have a bucket. He’s got five points in the series and he’s a +50. It’s not about how you score, it’s about how you help your team win.”

Here’s more on the Wolves, who will take a 2-0 lead over the defending champs back home to Minnesota:

Gobert, who missed Game 2 due to the birth of his first child, is expected to return to the lineup for Game 3, says McMenamin. That game won’t be played until Friday, giving the teams three days off this week.
Finch lauded his team after Monday’s win for its effort on defense, sharing the ball, and generally playing like a team that fans want to root for, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes. Naz Reid suggested those traits are the result of a culture that has improved in recent years. “When I first got here, [the culture] wasn’t the best, it wasn’t perfect,” Reid said. “But obviously we’re all humans, and over that time we gradually got better. We got more cultured. Time to where we kind of became a unit, a team where we trust each other. We’re selling out for each other.”
The Timberwolves still need 10 more victories to win a championship, but they look like the NBA’s best team right now, contends Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune. Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports makes a similar case in a column of his own, writing that Minnesota has made the Nuggets look like anything but champions.
Wolves reserve point guard Monte Morris exited Game 2 due to a right index finger sprain, the team announced (via Twitter). It’s unclear whether the injury will force him to miss additional time going forward. Morris has played just 40 total minutes across Minnesota’s six playoff games, so his possible absence wouldn’t have a significant impact on the team’s rotation.
As the Wolves continue to dominate on the court, the team’s off-the-court ownership battle between Glen Taylor and the Marc Lore/Alex Rodriguez group is headed to arbitration. Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic spoke to a handful of legal experts to get a sense of what to expect from that process. “I see this as an uphill battle for Taylor,” one sports investment banker told Vorkunov,” but something that might make sense for him to have potential asymmetric upside if he can either prevail or find a way to get a settlement or a higher number.”

Western Notes: Gobert, Finch, Hardaway, Pelicans, OKC, Suns

May 6th, 2024 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has been downgraded to questionable for Game 2 against the Nuggets on Monday night for personal reasons, tweets Sam Amick of The Athletic. According to Amick (Twitter link), based on conversations with Wolves officials, it sounds as if Gobert’s availability is “completely up in the air.” His status is believed to be related to the birth of his first child, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.

Gobert only scored six points in Minnesota’s Game 1 victory, but played an important role in the win, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking three shots. The Wolves were a +12 during his 35 minutes. If he ends up missing Game 2, it will negatively impact the team’s chances of taking a 2-0 lead back home to Minnesota.

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Chris Finch‘s new spot on the sidelines worked out well in Game 1, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. The Timberwolves‘ head coach, who underwent knee surgery last Wednesday, had to sit next to the scorer’s table in the second row of the bench to protect his knee, but he had no issues communicating with his players. “It’s a little surreal just being that much separated from the action, if you will. But it was great,” Finch said. “I felt like I was in a safe place. I have utmost confidence in our staff and their ability. I thought they did an amazing job. Communicated well. Of course, it was all made better by a really good win. It’s our new reality. Just got to find a rhythm.”
While the Mavericks will be without big man Maxi Kleber (shoulder) for their second-round series vs. Oklahoma City, another rotation player is set to return to action. Tim Hardaway Jr., who missed the last four games of the first round with a sprained ankle, will be available on Tuesday for Game 1, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
The Pelicans and Thunder essentially began their rebuilding processes at the same time and were in similar positions five years ago, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, who considers how and why Oklahoma City has “zoomed ahead” of New Orleans since then.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic spoke to several national NBA reporters – from ESPN, The Athletic, NBA.com, and other outlets – about what went wrong in Phoenix this season and how they might try to fix the Suns this summer.

Chris Finch Confirms He’ll Be On Sidelines For Game 1

May 4th, 2024 at 5:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch told reporters that he’ll be in the bench area for the start of the team’s second-round series today in Denver (video link from Dave McMenamin of ESPN).

Finch will be seated in the second row, but there will be no chair in front of him, tweets team broadcaster Alan Horton. He’ll be located next to the television broadcast table, which should provide some level of protection.

Finch is only three days removed from surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee. He was injured in a collision with Mike Conley late in Sunday’s closeout victory over Phoenix (video link).

Finch was on crutches as he walked into today’s pregame session with the media, but he handed them to a member of the public relations staff and was able to climb onto the podium without help, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. He provided a quick update on his condition and said he has spent the last few days figuring out how to safely be with the team for the series opener.

“I feel pretty good, all things considered. The plan was to try and be here all along,” Finch said. “Just see how I felt day by day. And then kind of figure out logistically how it might work being on the bench and with the other coaches.”

Finch confirmed that assistant coach Micah Nori will stand along the sidelines and handle the flow of the game. Finch will provide input and communicate with players during timeouts.

Finch added that he was determined all week that the injury wouldn’t keep him away as his team prepared to battle the defending champs.

“I was wide open on everything,” he said. “They told me that they really wanted me to just rest. I’ve been trying to do that. But I also wanted to be here, if I could be here in any capacity. That was the most important thing for me. Just literally taking it day by day and see how I felt.”