Today, the Timberwolves will hold a news conference to announce the hiring of David Kahn as their new basketball boss, and the Wild, a few hours later, will hold a news conference to announce the hiring of Chuck Fletcher as general manager.
An old poet once wrote that all comparisons are odious. He was obviously anticipating this comparison, which stinks for the Wolves.
The Wild's owner, Craig Leipold, took a hard look at his organization during a troubling season and, without hinting at his intentions or flogging anyone publicly, decided it was time to fire general manager Doug Risebrough. He did so, and immediately conducted a hiring process that proved exhaustive, logical and decisive.
He interviewed the best up-and-coming GM candidates in the NHL, as well as a few old heads. He narrowed his search to the most outstanding candidates, and finally chose Fletcher, who possesses an impressive résumé, has worked with many of the best brains in the business, and is a cog in a championship-caliber franchise.
Compare that process to what we've seen out of Target Center. Wolves owner Glen Taylor decided to remove Kevin McHale from the front office, but let him take over as coach, primarily to save money on a new hire. Taylor tried to run the team by listening to Jim Stack, Fred Hoiberg, Rob Moor and any family member with free time and a random opinion.
He vacillated over McHale's future role, and whether McHale would get to decide his own fate as coach.
Taylor, like Leipold, identified the best up-and-coming minds in the league. Three of them pulled out of consideration after either getting a good look at the Wolves' dysfunction, or using the Wolves to extract a better deal from their current employers.
Then Taylor hired Kahn, who has not worked for an NBA team for seven years.
