Ryan Desmarais is a senior at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, where he will receive his BA in English in December 2009. Ryan is also a writer at The Bleacher Report. He currently resides in Manchester, NH.
It’s been over two months since Kevin Love tweeted and told us that Kevin McHale wouldn’t be back in Minnesota.
Since then, the Timberwolves have selected their draft picks, been through the bulk of free agency, and received their schedule for next season.
They traded three players for Quentin Richardson, who’s been a member of four organizations within the last month and a half.
They continue to deal with the drama surrounding Ricky Rubio and his contract in Spain.
The Timberwolves are moving through their summer checklist as they ready themselves for the upcoming NBA season.
But there’s still one thing that hasn’t been checked off the list just yet.
Who’s going to coach?
In an off-season that’s been filled with big-named free agents signing early and often while chasing ridiculous amounts of money, Minnesota has remained content with taking their time to find a new head coach. The Timberwolves continue to work slowly and steadily as they search for the man to lead a team that’s averaged fewer than 28 wins a season over the last four seasons.
And that’s exactly the way the Minnesota Timberwolves should handle this situation.
When the Timberwolves decided to trade Kevin Garnett to Boston in 2007, they received in return five players, two of which were budding superstar Al Jefferson and starting small forward Ryan Gomes. They also received two draft picks, which they would use to select Jonny Flynn and Wayne Ellington.
These additions, along with previous first-rounders Love and Corey Brewer, have helped build Minnesota’s youth movement over the last three years in their attempt to rebuild.
Minnesota’s intent was for these young players to become the team’s core as they grew up and learned how to win together.
But the future is now for these young Wolves. They need the right person to lead them through the growing pains that the NBA gives to almost every young guy.
And this decision will be as big for the organization as the decision they made to trade Garnett.
The two names that have been floating around all summer as potential candidates are Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis and former NBA point guard and current ESPN analyst Mark Jackson.
Rambis has had the privilege of working under the Zen Master, Phil Jackson, in L.A. since 2000. He’s helped the Lakers win four NBA championships while dealing with big-time personalities like Shaq and Kobe. Rambis has loads of experience in big-game, pressure situations that won’t allow him to wilt when he’s facing a clutch decision as the play caller.
However, he’s never had to coach a team with this kind of youth and raw talent. Rambis and the Lakers have filled their roster with superstars and countless veterans since Phil Jackson’s arrival. We could see Rambis pulling his hair out in January or February if the Timberwolves are in the midst of a five or six game losing streak and are already out of the playoff hunt.
Mark Jackson has the leadership qualities that GM’s look for in a coach because of his days as an NBA point guard. In fact, seven teams currently have head coaches that are former NBA point guards. These leadership abilities, combined with his point guard experience, would be huge assets for a developing team that has two young, very raw point guards in Flynn and Rubio.
But Jackson has absolutely no coaching experience whatsoever. He’s never been placed in a position where he’s been in charge of drawing up plays or handling differing personalities. Minnesota might be taking a massive risk in bringing in a guy with as much professional coaching experience as I do and asking him to lead a team that has a ton of potential and high expectations for the future.
Expect the Timberwolves to take a little more time thinking about this. This move could mold and shape their franchise for the foreseeable future.
Luckily for Minnesota, the season’s still a couple of months away.
There’s no rush.
Patience is a virtue.
