Hartman: Wolves owner Taylor rights two wrongs by bringing back Saunders

Glen Taylor didn't become a billionaire by making a lot of mistakes in business. The Timberwolves owner has been successful in most every venture he has touched.

But he made one bad move when it comes to the basketball team he owns when he fired Flip Saunders as coach on Feb. 12, 2005, after the team had gone to the Western Conference finals the previous season.

Now after making another mistake in hiring David Kahn as general manager and president of basketball operations, Taylor is looking to rectify both errors by bringing Saunders back in place of Kahn.

The move isn't a surprise because Taylor has admitted that he has been in contact with Saunders during the season looking for ways to make the franchise successful. The Wolves haven't made the playoffs since Saunders' firing.

Taylor is ready to make amends for that mistake in firing Saunders and is bringing him back as GM.

There also is a possibility that Saunders might be able to put a group together to buy the team, something he has been working on. Taylor always has had respect for Saunders' ability to judge talent, and in a recent conversation Taylor talked about how he ranks Saunders as one of the best in the business at doing that.

The Wolves had got off to a bad start in the 2004-05 season, and one of the reasons for that was contract problems with Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell, two players who had been big reasons for their success the prior year.

The word was that Taylor was informed that Kevin Garnett had said Saunders had lost control of the team, and for that reason Saunders was dismissed and Kevin McHale took over as coach.

Saunders had taken the Wolves to the playoffs eight times in nine seasons, and all of a sudden he had lost control of the team? It made no sense, and Saunders promptly showed he was still a coach in demand when the Pistons hired him as coach that summer.

There was another surprise firing by the Pistons after the 2007-08 season, despite taking that team to the Eastern Conference finals, where Detroit lost to the Celtics.

His next job was rebuilding a terrible Wizards squad, and he lasted three years with Washington before being fired in January 2012.

Yes, Taylor got a big break when Saunders didn't land the Gophers coaching job.

Since Rick Spielman became the Vikings general manager in 2012, one of the constants of their two drafts under him has been the selection of college teammates in the same draft — often even selecting teammates who have played in the same offensive or defensive unit.

Last year, the Vikings selected Matt Kalil with the fourth overall pick in the first round and then took his Southern California teammate and blocking partner Rhett Ellison in the fourth round. In that round, they also selected Jarius Wright and Greg Childs, both wide receivers from Arkansas. They also selected safety Harrison Smith in the first round and cornerback Robert Blanton in the fifth, both defensive backs out of Notre Dame.

That trend continued this year. The Vikings selected two linebackers out of Penn State, Gerald Hodges in the fourth round and Michael Mauti in the seventh.

They took two players out of UCLA in the fifth and sixth rounds, first drafting punter Jeff Locke and following that by taking guard Jeff Baca. And after using one of their three first-round picks on Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes, they took another former Seminoles player in the seventh round in defensive tackle Everett Dawkins.

• Speaking of good coaching jobs, how about McHale and his Houston Rockets team beating top-seeded Oklahoma City on the Thunder's home floor on Wednesday night. The Rockets are still down 3-2 in the series but with Game 6 in Houston and with Oklahoma City without injured star Russell Westbrook, they certainly look like a threat to eliminate one of the NBA's best teams.

• Reid Travis, the outstanding DeLaSalle football and basketball player, is getting visits from coaches in both sports, according to GopherHole.com. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and Michigan State have had basketball representatives talk to Travis. And in football, Pittsburgh is recruiting him as well as Ohio State and Vanderbilt.

• Gophers fans donated $13,700 to the Gary Tinsley Memorial Scholarship Fund at last week's spring game. The game was free, but donations were welcomed to honor Gary Tinsley, a Gophers linebacker who died from an enlarged heart at age 22 last April. Fans who gave $10 got a T-shirt.

• Gophers freshman Alex Mayes had his whole family up from Texas visiting campus for the spring game, including his brother, Connor Mayes, who is ranked by Scout.com as the best center in the class of 2014. Connor will be playing in the Army All-America game.

• Minneapolis native Pat Coleman of D3sports.com received the Jake Wade Award, presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the media to the field of intercollegiate athletics. Coleman has provided statistical and rankings services for NCAA Division III institutions for more than 15 years. Coleman is also the social media manager for Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The award is presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

• The spring semester at the University of Minnesota ends May 17. On June 10, all Gophers football players, including new recruits, will return for summer school and a chance to work out daily and get ready for the season.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on 830-AM at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. • shartman@startribune.com