If you haven't heard, Citypages got a candid and indepth interview with Minnesota Timberwolves owner and Minneasota billionaire Glen Taylor. If you haven't read it, and you consider yourself a Wolves fan, take the time to read it. I don't know what I'm more amazed with: some of the things Taylor said, or just how bloody candid he was throughout the interview. You NEVER hear an owner or somebody in sports management be this blunt. I don't know how they did it, but it's a helluva read.
Here's a few highlights, mostly notably on our favorite player KG, and my least favorite VP of Basketball operations, Kevin McHale:
On McHale...
"I guess I would just say to the public, at the time last year, I didn't know of a person—and we have had different people that have asked for that job—I didn't see a person that I thought would do the job better than Kevin."
On the Marko Jaric trade...
"And I would just say that they sold me. I had seen him play before and I didn't see quite what they saw. But they were saying, "Gee, the guy is 6-7 and he can play all these positions, and boy, wait until the fans see him." Here's what I would say to our fans on that: Let us see what happens this year and judge that. Because whatever we did last year, we really messed up."
On getting rid of Wally...
"I'm just saying there was probably more to it that had to do with Wally that we have chosen not to talk about—that Kevin has never said and we have never said...But I would say some things came to a head that forced us to get into something we didn't necessarily want to do."
On former coach Flip Saunders...
"I can tell you that Chauncey [Billups] left not because of Kevin but because of Flip. Now, have we said that? We didn't want to say that about Flip because he was here at the time."
On getting Mike James...
"McHale had talked to Garnett and said, what do you really want? And Garnett said, I want an experienced guard. I have done the best when Sam was here, and with an experienced guard, I am a better player."
On trading KG...
"So I think there could be a scenario [where he leaves], but I don't think it will be because Kevin puts pressure on me or that I would blindside him. If it happens, it will be because we talk to each other and say, you know, it isn't going so good this year."
What Taylor would want in return for The Franchise
"...a couple of young players and a couple of draft picks, so we could build a team around [that trade]."
There's a ton more in here. The biggest surprise for me was Taylor laying the blame at Flip's feet for letting Chauncey go. I'm not saying he's wrong, I'm just surprised he said it. I know I have a biased opinion of Flip, and that it was McHale, and not the Nosis, who should have been canned a couple of years back, but after seeing the problems with players Flip's having in Detroit, perhaps there was more to this than first thought. Not that I'm taking the blame for this whole debacle off of McHale. What's baffling is that Taylor walks through most of the screwups McHale's made the past couple of years, admits they were screwups, but still comes back to "well I don't think anyone else could have done it any better." Looks like McHale's lifetime contract is safe.
Or is it? Midway through they talk about Fred Hoiberg, and it sounds like they're grooming him as McHale's replacement. For Timberwolves fans, that's great news. Let's just hope it happens sooner rather than later.
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