Since the Knicks decided to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau, several candidates have emerged to take the job, with Jason Kidd, Ime Udoka, and Johnny Bryant leading the charge. But another name emerged from Ian Begley, who reported that New York is interested in interviewing current Timberwolves lead man Chris Finch.
Finch has done a great job in Minnesota, leading the Wolves to back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances and four straight playoff appearances. He has made major waves in his first NBA head gig and would be a great choice for the Knicks given his familiarity with Karl-Anthony Towns.
Whether the T-Wolves allow this to happen is another story, and there has been no indication if he’ll interview or not. But if he does ultimately end up taking the job and fleeing to New York, that could start an interesting domino effect in Minnesota that could end up benefiting the Nuggets in a major way.
Finch exit could lead Tim Connelly back to Denver
If the Wolves let their head coach get away, their current free agent GM, Tim Connelly, may start to think differently about returning to the franchise. Connelly has done a masterful job of building up the T-Wolves into the contenders they are now with a bevy of controversial trades that have seemed to work out.
But if they get cheap with Finch, that may indicate that they don’t want to pay top dollar to retain Connelly either, and maybe want to start from scratch at both positions going forward. Connelly would immediately become the hottest name on the market, and where is there a marquee opening for someone to run a team? That’s right, his old team, the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets haven’t named a new GM since firing Calvin Booth, and surely, they would love to bring back the man who helped build Denver’s core for the 2023 championship. He wouldn’t be cheap, but Josh Kroenke should be ready to pay up after what happened last year.
He’s saving money by promoting an interim head coach in David Adelman, so he should be willing to pay up for proven talent. The Nuggets can’t afford to take chances with the end of Nikola Jokic’s prime, and who better to right the ship now than the man who started it all?
Wolves would be crazy to let Connelly go
Still, this is mostly speculation, and there’s no reason to believe the Wolves will let Finch get away, let alone Connelly. The time since Connelly and Finch joined the organization has arguably been the best stretch in franchise history.
With their superstar player, Anthony Edwards, still just 23 years old, Minnesota would be crazy to let these guys get away now. They are about to embark on a 5-7 year journey that should see this team competing for the first title in franchise history. They’ll want a guy like Connelly to build the squad around Edwards that gets it done.
With flashy new owners in town, it would be a shocker if they don’t do everything to bring Connelly back. But crazier things have happened, and the Nuggets should certainly be keeping a very close eye on the situation.