David Kahn, the Wolves' president of Basketball operations, made it clear Monday that he was thinking long term with his choice of the Los Angeles Lakers assistant, who will be introduced today at a 1 p.m. news conference.

"Our team is many years away, at least two, perhaps even three," Kahn said. "But I think that league-wide there is a sense that there are some pieces here that are nice pieces and that there is the opportunity to be part of something special."

The latest big piece is Rambis, who was scheduled to arrive in town Monday night with his family and received what is believed to be a four-year contract worth more than $8 million.

Kahn said he evaluated every coaching candidate he interviewed based on three issues: player development; the desire to be a running, up-tempo team; and a willingness to play young players for the first year or two, even at the possible expense of some wins.

"I think Kurt will excel at all three of the issues," Kahn said. "His reputation around the league is he is a wonderful teacher who is hands-on on the court and understands that part of our business and will really energize it."

Those teaching skills will be important to the Wolves, who are coming off 22- and 24-win seasons and rebuilding around young players.

One of those core players, second-year forward Kevin Love, said in a Twitter post that he was glad to finally have a coach again, 54 days after Kevin McHale was let go.

"I do like the hire," Love wrote. "(Mark) Jackson was a great dude who will have a job in the future ... but Rambis, Coach Rambis will do us well."

Rambis, 51, was one of 14 candidates and among three finalists, along with Jackson, the former point guard and ESPN/ABC analyst, and Houston Rockets assistant Elston Turner.

Jackson was the early favorite but could have been a risky choice, given his complete lack of coaching experience.

Rambis has logged 10-plus seasons as an assistant with the Lakers and went 24-13 as the team's interim coach during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.

He also had a couple of excellent veteran mentors with the Lakers as someone who played for Pat Riley and has spent the past seven seasons as an assistant under Phil Jackson.

"Kurt has been the workhorse of my staff the past few years," Phil Jackson said in a statement. "He's worked with the youth of our team, coming in early and staying late, to help players develop. Last season he took on the responsibility as the defensive coordinator, a valuable part of our championship run. We will miss him, but know this is his time to do what he's destined to do."

Kahn said he expects the Wolves to be an improved defensive team under their new coach and envisions them running a fastbreak offense with low-post capability, similar to the Showtime Lakers teams Rambis played on during the 1980s.

The Wolves won't run Jackson's triangle offense, but Kahn said Rambis could incorporate some elements of it into the team's system.

Coincidentally, the Wolves had scheduled a series of workouts for this week that many players will be attending, so Rambis will have a chance to meet them before today's news conference.

Despite reports that longtime NBA assistant Dave Wohl will be brought in as Rambis' top aide, Kahn said he won't be coming in with a new coaching staff.

Rambis will meet individually with the Wolves' four holdover assistant coaches on Wednesday to get to know them, with any decisions supposedly coming down the line.

"I think that it's logical to assume that we'll add a person or two," Kahn said. "But absolutely nobody has been interviewed or considered at this point. ... And at that point, too, I think we'll be able to also start finally doing some restructuring of the Basketball (operations) staff."

The Rubio problem: Now that the Wolves have a coach, the big question is whether they can get No. 1 draft choice Ricky Rubio in uniform this season, and Kahn conceded the point guard's big buyout clause with his Spanish team will make it difficult.

"I have no idea right now whether a solution can be reached," he said. "It's still problematic."

Briefly: Center Ryan Hollins officially joined the roster after the Dallas Mavericks, as expected, declined to match the offer sheet the Wolves made the restricted free agent last week.