The Minnesota Timberwolves one-year experiment with Sam Mitchell ended after yet another playoff-less season, and with a startlingly potent crop of young stars–likely Rookie of the Year Karl Anthony-Towns, Zach Lavine, Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammed–the T’Wolves are desperately in need of a rigid head coach that will help turn all that raw talent into a championship contender within the next few years.
It appears the organization has found their man.
ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that Minnesota is finalizing a deal that will make former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau the new head coach and president of the Timberwolves, a five-year deal that could net Tom $10 million annually.
Thibodeau rose to prominence as a defensive mastermind of a head coach for the Chicago Bulls from 2010 to 2015, leading the Bulls to three 50 win seasons, and five consecutive playoff appearances. During his tenure, Derrick Rose won the regular season MVP Award (2011), Joakim Noah won his only Defensive Player of the Year award (2014), and Thibodeau himself took home Coach of the Year honors (2011).
Under Thibodeau’s watchful eye, the Timberwolves have a good shot at developing into a serious player in the already stacked Western Conference. They’ll have to seriously improve upon their 29-win total from this past season in order to do that, however.
