Continued: McHale era officially comes to an end

New Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations David Kahn called a Target Center news conference Wednesday afternoon to confirm Kevin McHale will not return as coach and sounded as if he had just hired the guy.

In his first defining decision since he accepted the job nearly a month ago, Kahn decided he will begin a search for a new coach who embodies many of McHale's characteristics the day after next week's NBA draft.

In confirming what Wolves rookie Kevin Love already had inadvertantly tweeted to the world more than 12 hours earlier, Kahn spent most of his time eulogizing McHale -- who spent 14 seasons as his predecessor -- and remarkably little time explaining why it was the right decision other than to say, "It's time to make a change."

He said he felt it would have been "difficult" to place McHale in the middle of changes that will come in remaking a roster McHale had assembled.

Kahn on Tuesday evening told McHale of his decision during their third formal meeting together and a few hours later, Love posted on the Twitter social-networking Internet site that McHale would not return to coach a team filled with players who wanted him back.

Love called it a "sad day" overnight Tuesday, and on Wednesday, Kahn concurred.

"It is a sad day," Kahn said. "It's a sad day because it is always hard in this business to part ways with anybody. But it's especially sad when you have to do it with somebody who has meant as much as he meant to Minnesota basketball, was a member of one of the greatest teams of all time and who I learned through these last 3 1/2 weeks is a very special person, a warm person, a bright person and somebody who deeply cares about the players he coaches and has a big heart.

"This is a great man who did some great things here. Some really remarkable things here. And he deserves to be treated with respect."

Earlier this month, Kahn met at length with Wolves forward Al Jefferson, the player around whom McHale formed the team's rebuilding efforts when he traded away Kevin Garnett to Boston two summers ago. Jefferson said Wednesday he told Kahn then how much he and his teammates wanted McHale back.

"I was more shocked, dissapointed and hurt," Jefferson said when asked his reaction. "But at the same time, I understand it's a business. I talked to David before the decision was made and I knew, at the end of the day, he was going to do what was best for the team. I felt like I would feel a lot worse today if I would not have went to David two weeks ago and told me how I felt about Kevin McHale. I let him know how I felt. The decision still came out the way it did.

"I respect that and I'm going to roll with it."

Kahn said he will focus all of his attention now on the June 25 draft and will not begin a coaching search until the day after it is completed. He said he has received one telephone call Wednesday morning from a person inquiring about the job.

"I have no candidates," he said. "Not lined up on the back of a napkin. Nothing. We will put a list together immediately after the draft and start a search. I think we will have a pretty robust list."

When asked for the qualities he seeks in the next coach, Kahn said he wants a guy in many ways similar to the coach he just let go.

"I do understand that there needs to be a positive environment for the players to grow," he said. "And some of Kevin's communications skills were helpful on that front. I've spoken to some players and I assured them I understand that positive nature needs to continue. Whoever the person is needs to understand we will probably be a young team, a team in transition, and we will need a positive enviroment to grow as quickly as possible."

Kahn's decision appears to confirm what he said the day he was hired: That he has full autonomy from owner Glen Taylor to make all basketball operations decisions. He said he spoke to Taylor about the matter on Friday night before he had made his decision, but hadn't talked to him since then. Kahn said he thought team CEO Rob Moor informed Taylor of the decision on Tuesday.

"This is change, and I'm sure there are more changes to come," said Wolves veteran forward Brian Cardinal, whose expiring contract might be one of the many pieces Kahn moves by draft night. "We haven't seen the last of them. This is just the beginning. Me, Mike Miller, Mark Madsen, there's nobody safe on the team and that's somewhat a good thing. It motivates people to work hard and it shows that the team is not just going to be OK with being mediocre. Glen and everybody in the organization wants a good team. I think that's exciting for the fans. I know it's exciting for the players."