Patrick Reusse: Complacent no more

¹²³ · Aug 12, 2009

David Kahn has been nothing short of ruthless in bringing broad changes to a Wolves organization mired in complacency.

The allegation was made and oft-repeated that David Kahn was a third choice to be the Timberwolves' new basketball boss, behind San Antonio's Dennis Lindsey and Portland's Tom Penn.

Whatever the qualifications of Lindsey and Penn, we know this: They could not have dived into the task of rebuilding the ruins of this franchise with more assuredness and aggressiveness than has Kahn.

He has made several dramatic moves in his 12 weeks in Minnesota, and yet it was a minor move last month that proved he brought to the job not one whisper of sentiment.

Mark Madsen had spent six seasons with the Wolves. As "Mad Dog," he was the uniformed version of a team mascot and a superstar in community relations.

Last month, Kahn put Madsen in a deal that also sent Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith to the Los Angeles Clippers for veteran Quentin Richardson. They joined Mike Miller and Randy Foye as players traded away by Kahn with time remaining on their Wolves contracts.

On Tuesday, Kahn said there was a chance Richardson will be moved before the end of the week. That would make him the second player -- joining Etan Thomas -- to be both acquired and traded by Kahn.

There are six players on the roster from last season: Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Kevin Love, Corey Brewer, Brian Cardinal and Bobby Brown. Another holdover, Rodney Carney, is questionable because he's a free agent.

Kahn's first major decision was to drop Kevin McHale as coach. That announcement came in mid-June. On Tuesday, he introduced the replacement -- Kurt Rambis -- at a news conference.

When it comes to curb appeal, this is the most impressive coaching hire in the team's two decades of existence. That's because he is the first with enough leaguewide appeal to have other options.

Bill Musselman. Jimmy Rodgers. Sidney Lowe. Bill Blair. Flip Saunders. Dwane Casey. Randy Wittman. Kevin McHale (twice). They had this in common: When hired here, no other NBA team had an interest in them as a head coach.
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Patrick Reusse: Complacent no more

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