http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/6962794/minnesota-timberwolves-hire-rick-adelman-new-coach-sources-say
Source: Wolves, Rick Adelman eye deal
By Ric Bucher and Marc Stein
ESPN.com
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Rick Adelman have agreed in principle for him to become the team's new head coach, according to a league source.
Adelman and the Wolves were close enough to a deal earlier Monday to prompt Timberwolves forward Kevin Love to tweet: "Houston, we have a coach."
Houston,
of course, was Adelman's last coaching stop. And Love has been close to
Adelman and his son since Minnesota's All-Star forward and Patrick
Adelman were high school basketball contemporaries in the Portland,
Ore., area.
“
When I talked about the prospect of me re-signing, I always said one of
the things we'd have to have is a great coach. If it's true (that
Adelman has agreed to take the job), we've got a great coach.
”
-- Kevin Love
Sources say Adelman, 65, and fellow coaching
veteran Don Nelson, 71, were the two finalists for the vacancy created
when Minnesota belatedly fired Kurt Rambis on July 12, some three months
after a 17-65 season. Rambis posted a 32-132 record in his two seasons
coaching the rebuilding Wolves.
"It's not done," one source said of Adelman and the Wolves finalizing a deal, "but it's heading that way."
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported in Monday's editions that
negotiations with Adelman had begun. And Love told the newspaper later
Monday that hiring Adelman would "absolutely" factor into his
willingness to sign a contract extension with the Wolves, who have been
abysmal since the July 2007 trade that sent face of the franchise Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics and widely assailed for lacking direction under president of basketball operations David Kahn.
Kahn
said upon letting Rambis go that he wanted a proven coach who plays an
attractive, up-tempo style and would certainly get all that with
Adelman, who is the eighth-winningest coach in NBA history at 945-616,
seven slots behind No. 1 Nelson (1,335-1,063).
"When I
talked about the prospect of me re-signing, I always said one of the
things we'd have to have is a great coach," Love told the Star-Tribune.
"If it's true (that Adelman has agreed to take the job), we've got a
great coach.
"We've always had a good relationship. Looking
back to high school, I always asked myself, 'What does Rick think I
need to improve?' I kept asking him for advice whenever I had the chance
to talk to Rick. I always thought it'd be very interesting and
intriguing to play under such a well-respected coach, who I know well,
who has been there and done that. He adds credibility to our team."
Referring to Adelman's long history of getting the most out of big men with a good passing touch, Love added: "Yeah, like Chris Webber, Vlade (Divac), Brad Miller
or any of those guys. That'd be perfect for me, working from the high
post, being a facilitator. He has had a lot of success. He went to
Houston thinking he'd have Yao (Ming) and Tracy McGrady there and he ends up coaching Aaron Brooks, (Luis) Scola and Chuck Hayes
to a better than .500 record. He made the best of the situation there.
I'd love to see what he'd do with all the very young talent we have
here."
The Wolves' chances of talking Adelman into taking
the job were widely presumed to be remote, despite his close ties to
Love, given Adelman's longstanding preference to work with veteran teams
and his reported determination to come away with annual salary of $5
million for up to five seasons. In Houston, Adelman had a four-year deal
worth more than $16 million.
There were seven known
candidates to interview for the opening after Rambis' dismissal:
Adelman, Nelson, Bernie Bickerstaff, Larry Brown, Sam Mitchell, Mike
Woodson and Terry Porter.
Sources close to the situation
told ESPN.com that Nelson has been notified by the Wolves that they
expect to complete a deal with Adelman.
Earlier this
summer, Adelman told reporters in Portland that he planned to sit out
the 2011-12 season, whether or not it was affected by the ongoing
lockout. But he's instead on the brink of taking over a wayward team
that has only one player older than 26 on the roster (Luke Ridnour) and some interesting young talent (Michael Beasley and rookies Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams) around Love.
