Ryan Saunders has been fired from his position of Head Coach with the timberwolves after a Sunday loss to the Knicks which landed them a league worst record of 7-24. It had been reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic that assistant Toronto Raptors coach Chris Finch is set to replace Saunders as the new Head Coach at Minnesota. A formal announcement of Finch's new opportunity with the Timberwolves will be with fans on Monday.
Chris Finch started his playing and coaching career in Sheffield. He had been the Sheffield Sharks Coach from 1997-2003, he won three pieces of BBL silverware & Coach Of The Year in the 1998-99 season. From there he went on to coach in Germany & Belgium until 2009 where he became the Head Coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the G League and in time there he was awarded coach of the year and they (the Vipers) won the G League Championship.
Finch has also had coaching experience on the International stage being Great Britain's Head Coach from 2006-2012, where in 2012 he coached in the Olympics for team GB.
After his G League stint Finch took on several Assistant Coaching roles with may NBA teams (Rockets, Nuggets, Pelicans and Raptors), where he earned the highest of praises, which led him to almost getting the Indiana Pacers Head Coaching position. Ultimately, Coach Finch landed in Minnesota and is expected to sign a multi-year deal with the Timberwolves on Monday.
Finch had been scouted and interviewed for many Head Coach roles in the NBA for a few years so despite it being unusual for a team to allow one of their key assistants to sign elsewhere, Toronto was very happy not to get in the way of Coach Finch's progression. The Timberwolves are a bad NBA team but with his world experience and priceless built up IQ being a coach in the NBA for so long it shouldn't be a surprise if Finch helps switch things around in Minnesota for the better.
To asses and analysis Finch's approach to his new role will be interesting to say the least, but one thing is for sure, it is going to be a rollercoaster of a season in Minnesota.