Source: Wolves tap Kahn to head basketball ops

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The Timberwolves finished the 2008-2009 season with a dismal 24-58 record.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves have settled on former Indiana Pacers executive David Kahn to run their basketball operations, four days after being shunned by Portland assistant GM Tom Penn.

The Wolves hired Kahn on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the hire said. The source requested anonymity because an official announcement wasn't planned until Friday.

After a drawn out interview process that lasted much longer than they anticipated, the Wolves thought they had their man when they offered the job to Penn last weekend. But Penn surprised team officials by rejecting the offer and taking a promotion with the Blazers.

He was the third candidate to pull his name out of the running this month, joining San Antonio's Dennis Lindsey and former Miami Heat GM Randy Pfund.

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Kevin McHale
Kevin McHale was named head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves this season, after the team's owner fired former coach Randy Wittman.
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With Penn staying in Portland, the Timberwolves went back to Kahn, who came at the recommendation of commissioner David Stern and interviewed for the position earlier this month.

Kahn worked for the Pacers front office for nearly nine years. The majority of his work was on the business side, but he also played a big role in helping the franchise move into Conseco Fieldhouse in 1999. He served on the NBA's competition committee and also was considered an expert in the collective bargaining agreement.

Kahn left the Pacers in 2002 and has been out of the league since then. He has been part owner of several NBA Developmental League franchises and also led a group that tried to bring Major League Baseball to Portland, Ore.

In Minnesota, he fills the vacancy created when owner Glen Taylor moved vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale to the bench to replace fired coach Randy Wittman in December.

After the demotion, Taylor said McHale was not a candidate to return to the front office, but the owner was hoping he would return as coach next season. McHale has been waiting to see who was hired before he made a decision on whether he wanted to be considered for the coaching position.

The AP source said it still wasn't clear what McHale will do.

Also unclear is the status of current Wolves GM Jim Stack and assistant GM Fred Hoiberg. Both were considered in-house candidates for the position and have continued to work on evaluating prospects for the upcoming NBA draft.

The Timberwolves were slotted with the No. 6 pick in the lottery on Tuesday night and also have two more first-round draft choices gained through trades.

The bevy of picks, coupled with ample room under the salary cap and a young star in Al Jefferson gives Kahn plenty to work with as the franchise continues a rebuilding plan that started almost two years ago with the trade of Kevin Garnett.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)