The Minnesota Timberwolves are finalizing a multi-year deal on Monday to make Toronto Raptors’ assistant Chris Finch the new manager of the franchise, sources told ESPN.
Timberwolves basketball operations president Gersson Rosas fired Ryan Saunders on Sunday, paving the way for Minnesota to bypass an interim coach and move quickly to hire a full-time replacement.
Rosas informed Saunders of the decision after a 103-99 loss to the New York Knicks, which left the Timberwolves 7-24, the NBA’s worst record.
Rosas kept Saunders as his head coach after being hired in May 2019, a process that included interviewing Finch for the job. Rosas and Finch have a history that goes back to their days together at the Houston Rockets organization.
Finch is expected to start work on Tuesday in Milwaukee with Saunders’ technical team on site, including chief coach David Vanterpool and assistants Bryan Gates and Pablo Prigioni, the sources said.
Finch was a technical assistant in Houston, Denver, New Orleans and Toronto, and won the G-League title with the Rio Grande Valley in 2010. Toronto hired Finch in the off season as Nick Nurse’s main assistant, but it didn’t hinder him to accept the position of coach during the season, the sources said.
No assistant coach has been promoted to a coach on a new team during the season since Memphis hired Lionel Hollins of Milwaukee in 2009.
Rosas did not want to spend the season with an interim coach, the sources said, wanting to maximize the development of a veteran core around Karl-Anthony Towns center forward Malik Beasley, No. 1 overall choice Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell, who left with knee surgery.
Saunders had 43-94 as coach of the Timberwolves in more than two seasons as coach. He has only managed to coach his two All-Star players, Towns and Russell, in five games since the franchise was traded by Russell in February 2019.
Minnesota was hit hard by injuries and problems with the COVID-19 this season. Russell played 20 games before undergoing surgery on his left knee that will leave him out for the next four to six weeks. Towns played just 11 games this season between a wrist injury and the signing of COVID-19.