We have been hearing rumors for months that the Timberwolves were honing in on their number one target to become the new coach of their franchise: Tom Thibodeau.
In recent weeks it had been reported that Thibs also wanted some control over the front office and team in addition to leading the T’Wolves on the floor.
Today, Minnesota and Thibodeau got their wish as they agreed on a five-year, $40 million contract to make Tom Thibodeau the new head coach and president of the franchise, similar to the role the Pistons gave Stan Van Gundy two years ago.
NBA sources say Tom Thibodeau is closing in on a five-year pact in the $10 million range annually to become coach/president of the Wolves.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) April 20, 2016
Minnesota will also bring in Spurs Assistant General Manager Scott Layden to take over as their new GM.
He appeared to be the biggest fish on the market in the game of NBA head coach musical chairs but it seemed all along that he was destined to end up in Minnesota which is probably the most desirable job available in the league.
Tom Thibodeau will now have the opportunity to tutor and mold two young two-way superstars in Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins along with a cast of young talent around them.
He went 255-139 in five seasons in Chicago including five playoff appearances, three 50 win seasons and one conference finals appearance.
He now gets to coach maybe the most valuable big men in the NBA, especially under the age of 25 and someone who has the potential to be a better version of Jimmy Butler in Andrew Wiggins.
This seems like a perfect match and one can only expect the T’Wolves to improve dramatically in the next few seasons.
Tom Thibodeau needs to learn from his first foray into NBA coaching though, trust younger players with heavy minutes, something he didn’t do in Chicago. He also needs to do a better job of developing a deeper rotation for the grind, that is an 82 game season, to avoid over working his players and causing more injuries which was an issue with the Bulls.
Minnesota’s NBA leading 12 year postseason drought may finally be coming to an end in the next couple years and a franchise that has been in shambles since Kevin Garnett left may be set up to be a contender in the western conference in the near future.
