It seems like everything David Kahn has touched since taking over as the general manager of the Timberwolves in 2009 has turned to dust. He acquired two top five picks in his first month on the job, only to spend them on Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn. One is playing for another team now, having been traded on Draft night, and the other is getting ready for his rookie year after two seasons of begging.
The rest of Minnesota’s maneuvers have been seemingly without purpose to this point.
Kahn came in saying he wanted a running team — with Al Jefferson and Kevin Love anchoring the post — and then hired a coach who has his roots in the Phil Jackson triangle offense. He came in saying he wanted a young, exciting team. His team is young… too young. The wins have not really come for Minnesota.
Then management bungled Rambis’ eventual firing, letting him twist in the wind while everyone waited for Minnesota to make the inevitable decision. Then the Timberwolves finally convinced Rick Adelman to come in and coach the team.
Adelman is a very good coach. He has had success at numerous stops in his career reaching the postseason and the Finals, leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the Finals twice (his Sacramento Kings went to the quasi-NBA Finals in losing to the Lakers in seven games in 2002).
It took a long time to get Adelman to commit to coaching Minnesota. Money and yearly salary were big issues. Another issue might be a little more under the surface in Minnesota that kept the Timberwolves from filling their long vacant head coaching position.
Rick Adelman and David Kahn do not have the best relationship. Prepare for more dysfunction in Minneapolis.
David Kahn, you may remember, got his start in basketball as a beat reporter for The Oregonian in Portland. He covered those Rick Adelman-led teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was no secret then, and was probably forgotten now, that Adelman was not Kahn’s biggest fan.
Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports writes:
“Privately, Adelman didn’t disguise his disdain for Kahn. They go back to Adelman’s glory days coaching the Portland Trail Blazers in the late 1980s and 1990s, when Kahn was covering the NBA beat as a sportswriter for the Oregonian. The idea that a bad sportswriter had turned into a brutal NBA executive troubled him, sources said. He couldn’t stand him then, and had no intention of resurrecting a working relationship with the man.”
Wojnarowski reports that Adelman badly wanted the Lakers job given to Mike Brown. Jerry Buss had his heart set on the former Cavaliers coach and Adelman was left searching for a job — mostly on his terms.
Money overrode Adelman’s interest in coaching a contender and his disdain for Kahn. One unnamed source suggested to Wojnarowski that Minnesota owner Glen Taylor had to do most of the negotiating because Adelman did not want to deal with Kahn. Scott Carefoot of The Basketball Jones even suggests his hiring may have come with condition of autonomy from Kahn — a strange scenario where the general manager has to get the coach’s permission before making a move.
If that is true, Kahn might be finding himself out of a job soon. Many around the league would probably say it is about time for that.
There is no telling right now what effect Adelman will have on the Timberwolves. One thing is for sure, Minnesota is not going to be short on drama … even if they end up short on wins.
