Wolves ask permission to talk to Blazers assistant Bickerstaff

The Timberwolves at last glance still have a coach, but president of basketball operations David Kahn nonetheless continues to search for a new one.

The latest: The Wolves late last week asked for permission to speak with Trail Blazers assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff, the Oregonian newspaper in Portland reported Monday, even though Kurt Rambis hasn't yet been fired.

Blazers President Larry Miller and coach Nate McMillan told the newspaper they did not know when Bickerstaff is scheduled to interview for the job.

Bickerstaff, 67, compiled a 415-517 record as head coach for four NBA teams and also has served as a general manager or president with Denver and Charlotte. He served as McMillan's top assistant last season. He also was McMillan's first NBA coach, in Seattle when he played for the Sonics.

If the Wolves hired him to be head coach, they would do so planning to groom his son, Wolves assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff, for the job after a season or two.

Of course, there's no telling when that next season will start because of a labor lockout that could cancel part or all of the season.

"Bernie's been around for a long, long time," McMillan told the Oregonian. "He's seen so many different systems and worked with so many different coaches. He's been a GM, a president. He's done just about everything you can do in the NBA except own a team."

Rambis is 32-132 in two seasons for a Wolves team that ended last season on a 15-game losing streak. It might be cheaper for the Wolves to keep Rambis employed if his contract calls for him to be paid less or not at all during a players' lockout rather than pay him the $4 million due on his contract's two remaining seasons.

Yahoo! Sports last month reported that Kahn had been compiling information about University of Washington coach Lorenzo Romar with the intention of making him a candidate for the job, but Romar publicly gave little indication he has interest. He called it an "awkward" situation, being mentioned for a job that still has a coach in place.

Other possibilities: Milwaukee assistant coach Kelvin Sampson, a candidate for the Detroit Pistons' job, former Toronto head coach and former Wolves player Sam Mitchell and former Houston coach Rick Adelman, who has known Timberwolves star Kevin Love since his high school days. But it'd likely take a big contract and perhaps a lot of convincing to get Adelman to take the job.

Loyalty plan With a labor lockout in place and no easy end in sight, the Wolves have offered season-ticket holders the same priced tickets for the 2012-13 season if they've agreed to pay for this upcoming season.