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The Minnesota Timberwolves lost to the New York Knicks on Sunday to drop to 7-24 this season. The loss turned out to be the last straw for management, and the team announced shortly after the game that they had fired coach Ryan Saunders.
In addition, they already have a replacement. Toronto Raptors assistant Chris Finch is set to be named his new coach, according to Shams Charania from Athletic. The Wolves press release said an official announcement is expected to arrive on Monday.
Son of the late Flip Saunders, Ryan made his NBA debut as an assistant to the Washington Wizards and was on the bench in DC from 2009 to 2014. He then took an assistant job with the Timberwolves and was ultimately appointed interim coach after Tom Thibodeau was fired in 2019. After that season he signed an agreement to take the job permanently and at 33 was the youngest head coach. in the league.
In just under two full seasons of games, the Timberwolves have gone 43-94 under Saunders. They finished with the third-worst record in the league last season – ultimately winning the lottery and taking Anthony Edwards with the No.1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft – and had the worst record so far this season before his dismissal .
On one level, Saunders was stuck in an impossible situation. There was an almost total disruption to the roster during his tenure and more games lost to injury than you can count. When Karl-Anthony Towns has only played 45 games in the last two seasons combined, there’s not much you can do. Yet, with results like this, it’s no surprise that the front office has finally decided to go in a different direction.
Now they’re going to turn to Finch, the much-loved Raptors assistant who was a favorite for many jobs this offseason. Finch began his coaching career abroad in 1997 and has been on an NBA bench since 2011 when he was hired by the Houston Rockets. The president of basketball operations in Houston at the time was Gersson Rosas, who now heads the Wolves front office.
Finch is highly regarded for his work on the offensive end of the ball, and Raptors coach Nick Nurse has called him “one of the best offensive minds in the NBA.” In an interview with The Athletic last year, Finch noted his affinity for playing fast and trying to be unpredictable.
It will be interesting to see what he is able to do with a Wolves side that are very talented but haven’t been able to put things together. Obviously, injuries are a major caveat here, but they’re ranked 28th in offense this season, scoring just 105.7 points per 100 possessions.
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