"I didn't make him interim coach," said Taylor, who stripped McHale of his front-office duties and asked him to coach in December. "He's the coach."

McHale -- heckled by fans during the team's blowout home loss to Golden State on Tuesday -- again deferred questions about his future beyond this season. An NBA player, executive or coach for the last 29 years, McHale was asked if he can envision himself not involved with the game.

"Oh, absolutely," he said, laughing. "Are you kidding me? There's a lot of stuff I want to do."

He said he loves the competition and teamwork involved in pro basketball and said he will know when to walk away just as he did when he stopped playing.

"I long ago played for the love of the game much more than anything else and that's what it is today," he said. "I didn't enjoy playing anymore and once I don't enjoy it, I said I'm not going to do it."

Taylor said he hasn't decided if he will hire a vice president of basketball operations to replace McHale or if he will hire a general manager with less sweeping personnel powers. He said he is evaluating how other NBA front offices are organized and said he would consider current executives Jim Stack, Fred Hoiberg and Rob Babcock as well as candidates outside the organization.

He said anyone he hires will have to agree with the franchise's plan to rebuild with young players and future draft picks. He does not expect the front office will remain as it's currently configured.

"I want to look both internally and externally because I think this is a really important decision for the team," Taylor said. "I don't want to do it quickly. I want to give it as much thought as I can."

McHale and Taylor are expected to meet soon after the season ends April 15 to determine the future. McHale complains of coaching's demands -- the travel, time away from his family, media commitments -- but also earns considerably more to coach than he did to manage the team.

"He said he'd let me know at the end of the season," Taylor said. "That's what he says every year. I expect him to be back. I have always expected him to be back, but you should ask him. I expect him to be back not because of what he says. I see how he talks to the players. I see the enthusiasm he has. I see how he cares about these guys.

"To me, that transcends into a guy who really loves his job, no matter what he says."

WARRIORS 118, TIMBERWOLVES 94: The Wolves on Tuesday announced their three-point plan to sell discounted season tickets for next year.

They would have been lucky to give them away to a sparse audience -- announced at 14,780 -- that grew surly after the home team trailed Golden State by 31 points just before halftime Tuesday.

The Warriors arrived with 20 victories to the Wolves' 18 and without star guard Monta Ellis, who missed his fourth consecutive game because of a stiff ankle. They led 31-13 before the game was 10 minutes old, 53-23 midway through the second quarter and 81-51 in the third.

His head lowered, his spirits further down than that, Wolves coach Kevin McHale mumbled through his postgame press conference. After a succession of one-word answers, he crumpled up the evening's stat sheet, tossed it in a garbage can and limped back to the locker room.

If only this one was so easy to dump.

"That's about as bad as you can play," said McHale, whose team lost its seven straight and 12th of the past 13th. "There's no excuses for that. That's my fault. We didn't get back. We didn't defend. We didn't do anything."