Minneapolis/St. Paul -  After nine straight years of missing the playoffs, including the last four with David Kahn as General Manager, the Minnesota Timberwolves are going back to the future. Kahn was released today and will be replaced by former Wolves coach Flip Saunders.

 The Wolves today announced that the team has declined to exercise the one-year option in David Kahn’s contract for the 2013-14 NBA season, and as a result, he will not return as President of Basketball Operations. Kahn was originally hired by the Timberwolves on May 22, 2009.
“We want to thank David for all of his efforts the past four years with our basketball team,” said Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor. “These are always difficult decisions, but at this time, we believe it is in the best interest of our organization to make a change. We wish David all the best in the future.”

Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that Kevin Love underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure on his left knee today to remove a buildup of scar tissue. The surgery was performed by Dr. David Altchek of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. A typical recovery time for this type of procedure is 4-6 weeks. 

Love has missed the past 47 games after breaking the third and fourth metacarpal in his right hand at Denver on Jan. 3. He underwent surgery on Jan. 15 at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Love originally suffered a fracture of his third and fourth metacarpal in his right hand on Oct. 17 while working out, and missed the first nine games of the season.

For the season, Love played in 18 contests and averaged 18.3 points and 14.0 rebounds.

Minneapolis/St. Paul – With tonight’s Minnesota Timberwolves’ 107-101 win over the Detroit Pistons, Wolves head coach Rick Adelman becomes the eighth NBA head coach to record 1,000 career victories, joining Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl as the only active members of the 1,000-win club. By reaching the milestone in his 1703rd NBA game, Adelman becomes the fifth-fastest NBA head coach to win 1,000 NBA games. In his 22nd season as an NBA head coach, tonight’s victory moves Adelman’s career coaching record to 1000-703, a winning percentage of .587.

Adelman, 66, has served as head coach of five NBA teams: Portland (1988 - 94), Golden State (1995 - 97), Sacramento (1998 - 2006), Houston (2007 - 11) and Minnesota (2012 - current). Some of his coaching highlights include: two NBA Finals appearances (1990 and 1992 with Portland), four Western Conference Finals (1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92 with Portland and 2001-02 with Sacramento) and four division titles (1990-91 and 1991-92 with Portland; 2001-02 and 2002-03 with Sacramento).

Adelman’s teams have reached the NBA playoffs in 16 of his 21+ seasons as a head coach, and he holds an all-time playoff record of 79-78 (.503 winning percentage). He is one of only five head coaches in NBA history to win 60+ games in a season with two different teams (Portland and Sacramento). Adelman has been runner-up for the NBA Coach of the Year award four times.

Adelman began his coaching career at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, where his teams amassed a 141-39 record over six seasons (1977-83). Chemeketa won or shared in three Oregon community college championships and one regional title.

NBA Head Coaches to have Registered 1,000 Career NBA Head Coaching Victories:

Coach                     Seasons       Wins     Losses          Winning PCT

Don Nelson             31                1,335     1,063           .557

Lenny Wilkins        32                1,332      1,155           .536

Jerry Sloan              26                1,221     803              .603

Pat Riley                 24                1,210     694              .636

Phil Jackson            20                1,155     485              .704

Larry Brown           26                1,098     904              .548

George Karl            24                1,088     727              .599

Rick Adelman       22                1,000     703              .587

NBA Head Coaches - Fastest to 1,000 Wins:

Coach                    Game      Date                      Opponent         Final

Phil Jackson           1423        Dec. 25, 2008        vs. Boston         92-83

Pat Riley                1434        Nov. 1, 2000          vs. Orlando       105-79

Jerry Sloan             1663        Dec. 11, 2006        vs. Dallas          101-79

George Karl           1679        Dec. 10, 2010        at Toronto         123-116

Rick Adelman      1703        Apr. 6, 2013          vs. Detroit        107-101

Larry Brown          1762        Jan. 13, 2006         vs. Atlanta        105-94

Don Nelson            1790       Dec. 29, 2001        vs. Atlanta         113-97

Lenny Wilkens       1838       Mar. 1, 1996          vs. Cleveland    74-68

Quotes from Around the League on Wolves Head Coach Rick Adelman:

“I’ve said it many times, I think he’s the most underrated coach in the league… Even the guys that he’s coached in the past that are on other teams now, they still do the things that he taught them offensively. He’s very creative in that sense… He’s one of those guys, he doesn’t try to get the camera. He couldn’t care less. He just wants to do his job and go home. And he does it well. - San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich

“Coach Adelman has been one of the best in dealing with this generational pull, and at the same time he’s become one of the most creative offensive minds that this game has ever known. He truly and is simply one of the best coaches in the history of the game, and I hated coaching against him because I knew he was going to pick us apart. He’d find a way to exploit what we were doing defensively. When you get to 1,000 wins, you’ve been around a long time and you’ve been on both sides of the equation. You’ve had a lot of wins, and you’ve had a lot of losses. So, I think that’s one thing about longevity in this league. There aren’t a lot of coaches that can hang in there for 20-25 years.” - Miami Heat team president Pat Riley

“He sees the game within the game, and he sees where the league is going and he’s making adjustments before everybody else makes adjustments. The whole thing comes down to, as you get older, it’s the ability every year to deliver a team of excellence and improvement. The betterment, I think, he plays a system that makes his players improve in the league. The development of excellence year in and year out is a tremendous compliment. I’m happy that he’s going to get there, and I’m sure he’s going to get there this year. -Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl

“I think Rick is probably one of the most underappreciated coaches in all of basketball. I think he’s a Hall of Fame coach, I really do. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s won. He just kind of does it under the radar, I don’t know if he’s easy to work with or not. I just know he’s a really good coach.” - Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers

“It couldn’t happen to a better guy. He has a unique style of coaching. He’s been able to get his players to play the game he wants without any problems with the players. The players seem to buy into his system, and that’s helped him get to where he is today. A thousand wins is a great achievement. That means Rick has done it with different teams and different talent. That’s the mark of an excellent coach. No matter where he’s gone, he’s been successful.” - ESPN Radio Analyst Dr. Jack Ramsey

“I don’t know how to say it, but I’m so happy to be with that coach. It seems like he knows everything. I feel comfortable with him. It’s something that he has and you can’t explain it. Once you are on his team, he’s giving you advice, it’s like a clinic every single day…He lets us play and that’s pretty cool for me. I like when I’m out there and playing like it’s a playground and it’s the NBA. It’s fun. He deserves it, especially this year. He stayed with the team and he has all my respect for that. We just want to make a run here and give him good news.” - Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio

“I think one of the greatest parts about him is that it’s not about him. It’s never about him. It’s definitely a big deal to him that he’s coming up on a thousand wins, but you’d never know it. He always lets it be the players’ team. It’s all about us. It’s all about us getting better, and it’s never about the notoriety about him.” - Timberwolves forward Kevin Love

“When he’s talking, everybody is listening. Every time he’s talking, you want to listen. Every advice he’s giving you is very valuable. He’s not the guy who is going to repeat (his message) five times trying to put it into your head. He said it once, and if you don’t get it, that means you don’t want to listen.” - Timberwolves forward Andrei Kirilenko

Minneapolis/St. Paul - Prior to tonight’s BBVA Rising Stars Challenge draft, TNT’s Kenny Smith, the Honorary Commissioner of the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, added Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio and Isaiah Thomas of the Sacramento Kings to the player pool. Rubio was selected to play on TEAM CHUCK, coached by TNT analyst Charles Barkley, in the 2013 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, Feb. 15 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Rubio joins teammate Alexey Shved, who was selected by a pool of NBA assistant coaches on January 30, and will also be on TEAM CHUCK. The game will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. (CST) and will be broadcast live on TNT. TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, general managers for the 2013 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, made their player selections live on TNT.
Rubio, 22, will make his second straight Rising Stars Challenge appearance after recording 12 points, seven assists and three minutes a year ago for TEAM SHAQ. In 21 contests, 11 starts, this season Rubio is averaging 6.1 points, 6.0 assists and 1.7 steals in 24.7 minutes per game. He has upped those numbers to 10.8 points, 10.2 assists and 2.3 steals in 29.7 minutes per game over his last six contests. Monday night vs. Portland he tied a career high with 14 assists, including 10 in the fourth quarter which tied a franchise record for most assists in a quarter by a single player. He followed that effort up with an 11-assist performance last night vs. San Antonio.
Rubio missed the first 20 games of this season recovering from surgery to reconstruct a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and a torn LCL (lateral collateral ligament) in his left knee. A season ago Rubio handed out 10+ assists 15 times and became the youngest player in league history to average 8.2 assists (minimum 30 games). He was also the only rookie to rank among the top 10 in scoring, rebounds and assists a season ago. In 41 games, Rubio completed his rookie season with averages of 10.6 points, 8.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals in 34.2 minutes per contest.
The 2013 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge features two teams drafted by Barkley and O’Neal who will serve as the opposing general managers. Each team has nine man rosters, consisting of both NBA rookies and sophomores drafted from the available pool selected by the NBA’s assistant coaches. The head coaches for both teams will be the lead assistant coaches from the 2013 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs — Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Fans will have the opportunity to vote online for who should be in the starting lineup for each team.
The 2013 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge will be played Friday, Feb. 15, in Houston as part of NBA All-Star 2013. During the game, fans will be able to vote for the MVP via Twitter, online and on mobile devices at NBA.com, through the NBA Game Time and NBA Game Time from Sprint apps, and SMS texting. This is the first time that fans will be able to vote via social media for the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge MVP.
This marks the second straight year rookies and sophomores will be mixed together on teams. Last year in Orlando, Irving netted a game-high 34 points and MVP honors as he led TEAM CHUCK over TEAM SHAQ 146-133.
The BBVA Rising Stars Challenge will be televised live nationally on TNT at 8 p.m. CT and also will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio, while NBA.com will make live audio available to fans in multiple languages.

Rosters for the 2013 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge are as follows:
TEAM CHUCKPlayer Team Pos. Ht. Wt. Home Country Exp
Bradley Beal Washington G 6-5 207 Florida/USA R

Anthony Davis New Orleans F 6-10 220 Kentucky/USA R

Kenneth Faried Denver F 6-8 228 Morehead State/USA 1

Brandon Knight Detroit G 6-3 189 Kentucky/USA 1

Kawhi Leonard San Antonio F 6-7 225 San Diego State/USA 1

Ricky Rubio Minnesota G 6-4 180 FC Barcelona/Spain 1

Alexey Shved Minnesota G 6-6 182 CSKA/Russia R

Isaiah Thomas Sacramento G 5-9 185 Washington/USA 1

Tristan Thompson Cleveland F 6-9 227 Texas/Canada 1

Nikola Vucevic Orlando C 7-0 240 USC/USA 1
TEAM SHAQ

Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. Home Country Exp
Harrison Barnes Golden State F 6-8 210 North Carolina/USA R

Andre Drummond Detroit C 6-10 270 Connecticut/USA R

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Charlotte G-F 6-7 232 Kentucky/USA R

Kyrie Irving Cleveland G 6-3 191 Duke/USA 1

Damian Lillard Portland G 6-3 195 Weber State/USA R

Chandler Parsons Houston F 6-9 207 Florida/USA 1

Klay Thompson Golden State G 6-7 205 Washington State/USA 1

Dion Waiters Cleveland G 6-4 215 Syracuse/USA R

Kemba Walker Charlotte G 6-1 185 Connecticut/USA 1

Tyler Zeller Cleveland F/C 7-0 250 North Carolina/USA R

Just over a year ago, Derrick Williams began his rookie season with big expectations. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft, was supposed to step in, play big minutes and immediately rack up double-doubles with regularity. Instead, Williams averaged 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 21.5 minutes, shot 41% and posted just 2 double-doubles in an inconsistent rookie campaign.

So far, his second season has been more of the same, but there is hope. An injury epidemic has left the Wolves desperate for offense so, with limited options, acting coach Terry Porter inserted Williams into the starting lineup on Thursday, where he figures to stay for the immediate future. If the former Arizona star does take advantage of this latest opportunity however, he could be punching his ticket out of town. Williams name has been swirling in the trade winds for months.

I caught up with the 21-year-old forward after Friday’s practice and chatted about his uneven, young career.

DZ: You got the start last night, how important is that to you?

WILLIAMS: It’s really important. It gets my confidence up a little bit and shows the coaching staff and everybody believes in me. We needed a little change up and inserted myself and Ricky into the lineup. I think it really helped. We are still struggling shooting from the field, but as soon as we start hitting shots and things start to fall, we’ll be all right.

DZ: It’s been a crazy year for a lot of reasons, but personally for you, your minutes have been up and down; how do you deal with that?

WILLIAMS: It’s a little tough, my minutes have been a little sporadic – I might play a lot and then sometimes I might not. You just have to stay ready. In this league, it’s all about who is the most focused and ready when their name is called.

DZ: When your minutes do go down a little bit and you do get into the games, is it hard not to think “if I miss my first couple shots, I’ll be back on the bench”?

WILLIAMS: It is a little tough. At first, when we were healthy with Kevin in the line-up and myself coming in for him, I think you do think about that a little bit. It’s a little tough playing behind a guy like Kevin, he’s out there averaging 25 and 12 a night and he’s going to play 35, 40 minutes a night. At the same time, you can learn from guys like this.

DZ: Obviously, it’s your second year, what do you know now that you didn’t know a year ago?

WILLIAMS: You just have to be focused every game, that’s really one of the biggest things – staying ready. I don’t think last year – I wouldn’t say I wasn’t ready – but, sometimes I lost a little focus. It could be because every night you are playing in a different city – the travel and things like that. It takes a toll on you. You just have to keep your mind and body ready at all times.

DZ: Being drafted as high as you were, there is a lot of pressure coming in, people want to see you blow up right away. When that didn’t happen is it hard not to get down on yourself?

WILLIAMS: A little bit. I think it’s all about opportunity. Sometimes when you are drafted so high, you are on a bad team. We are actually not a bad team. We are struggling right now, but before we had a couple of injuries last year, we were in 6th place and in the playoffs - things fell apart towards the end.

Sometimes when you are on a bad team and get drafted so high and people expect you to average 25 and 10 rebounds, but we are a good team, we have good players. We had a few guys in the same position I was in. It was tough, but you have to keep pushing. I use Gerald Wallace as an example. When he was on the Kings, he didn’t play too much, sporadic minutes like me and then, all of the sudden, he becomes an All Star. It’s all about opportunity.

DZ: Your name got mentioned in a few trade rumors, they were big ticket trades, that shows you have some value. How do you deal with that when you hear those kinds of things?

WILLIAMS: It’s tough when you hear your name in trades like that every other day. You just try not to focus on it. At the end of the day, you play for the love of the game and then there’s the business side of the game. You can’t really look into it. I am here to play basketball; I am not in the office making decisions like that. I don’t want to be in the office, it is a little tough for people like that. I am just out here playing the game that I love and whatever happens happens.

DZ: I’ve heard veteran players say that the first time you hear your name mentioned in trade rumors, you take it personally and after you’ve been in the league a while, you know that’s just the business. Is there anyone you talk to about that kind of stuff?

WILLIAMS: Yeah, I talk to B-Roy all the time. Him being a high draft pick like myself back in the day and going through what he’s gone through, being one of the best players in the league at one point and to where he is right now. I am always talking to him about the ups and downs in the league, ups and downs of injuries, ups and downs of minutes and things like that. He’s one of the best guys I’ve ever talked to in regards to all of the things I just said. I’ve always looked up to him; he’s always going to be one of my favorite players. He’s even better off the court, because you can talk to him about anything – basketball or whatever it might be.

DZ: One last thing, you guys are in town all weekend through I think Monday or Tuesday and it’s supposed to get really cold. You grew up in California, what’s that like for you?

WILLIAMS: It’s tough after growing up in 75 degree weather with the ocean breeze and then going to Arizona where it’s a 110 and then coming here where it’s -10. You just have to deal with it. At the end of the day, you are not here for the weather; you are here to play basketball.

See more of David Zingler’s interviews with Timberwolves players:

December 28: Greg Stiemsma