The Timberwolves have an even younger roster today than they did last season when they went 24-58. New president David Kahn has spent his first summer on the job reshaping the roster with an eye toward being a major player on the free agent market next year. He said this week that wins may be sacrificed to give those youngsters some experience next season.

Swingman Corey Brewer, who was drafted in 2007, is the longest tenured Timberwolves player. There are building blocks in Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Jonny Flynn and, eventually, Ricky Rubio.

But this team is still expected to go through plenty of growing pains - and losses - in the next year or two.

"I know losing is part of it and if the players handle the situation, I'll help guide them through that," Rambis said. "Developing a distaste for losing yet all the while growing from the experiences so they can help avoid it in the future is going to be paramount for me as a coach and it's going to help them learn as players when we finally turn this franchise around and start winning."

Still, there is some trust involved for Rambis to leave the Lakers and take a job in a league with a high turnover rate for head coaches. Rambis said he wasn't sure how long Jackson would continue coaching the Lakers and jumped at the opportunity to take over a team with plenty of financial flexibility, draft picks and young talent.

"I like his ideas and I like how excited he was," Jefferson said. "He left a great job to come here and that meant a lot to me."

Owner Glen Taylor said the clincher for Rambis over finalists Mark Jackson and Elston Turner was that Rambis was recruiting the Wolves as much as the Wolves were recruiting Rambis.

"He really wanted the job and that impressed me coming out of the organization that he's been in and the opportunities that he might have there in the future," Taylor said.