Coach Chris Finch, new Timberwolves boss Connelly share a comfort level

This is not about job security.

Chris Finch will be the Timberwolves head coach for the foreseeable future after leading the team into the playoffs for the first time since 2018. It was a performance that prompted the Wolves to sign Finch to a four-year contract extension long before Tim Connelly became the team's president of basketball operations.

But it is, perhaps, about comfort. About a relationship already established. About hitting the ground running.

Tuesday, with the ownership group on the stage with him at the Wolves practice facility, Connelly was introduced in a news conference. Multiple times when talking about the head coach he inherited, Connelly referred to Finch — who was sitting in the back of the crowd — by his nickname.

As in: "I think Finchy is a special coach."

Or: "I've known Finchy since he was coaching in some random leagues overseas. He's a guy that his unique and diverse experiences on the bench has allowed him to become one of the best tacticians in the NBA.''

These two have known each other for years, long before Finch spent a season as associate head coach in Denver — Connelly's former team — during the 2016-17 season.

And that will ease what can sometimes be a difficult transition.

"It gives you the best chance to get off to the right relationship,'' Finch said. "The trust is already there. I think the mind-set is already there. My job is to win games, to keep pushing this team forward. That's all we really want to do.''

Of course, Finch said, he'll have to prove himself again to his new boss. But, from the start, there is a comfort level.

"Our relationship predates the NBA,'' Finch said. "The first time I met Tim and his entire family, his brothers, I was overseas. Sometimes it's a small world, you know?''

Finch said the ownership group consulted him about Connelly during the process. Not surprisingly, Finch said he gave Connelly his whole-hearted endorsement.

"I told them, 'You're going to like him. As soon as you meet him you're going to like him and you're going to want him,'" Finch said.

"We both lean into what the modern game looks like, feels like,'' Finch said. "But we both leave enough allowance in there to understand that you've got to play to the strengths of your roster.''

Asked what the team needed to take another step forward, Finch mentioned continued growth of the younger players, particularly Jaden McDaniels. He said the team needs to get bigger and stronger and tougher.

"He has great faith in us and what we're doing here, me in particular,'' Finch said of Connelly. "And he has a lot of existing relationships with people on our staff and in this building. That always helps. And, first and foremost, he's about people. He doesn't take himself too seriously. He's not trying to be the smartest guy in the room, even though a lot of the time he probably is.''