How does an unemployed former general manager, one with no other apparent prospects, withdraw his name from the Minnesota Timberwolves' list of job candidates?
That's exactly what former Miami Heat GM Randy Pfund did on Friday. He told the Wolves he was going in a different direction. And the guy doesn't even have another direction. Apparently, he'd rather collect on his final year of salary due from the Heat than to cast his lot with the Timberwolves. It that weren't so pfrightening, it would be pfunny. There is a growing suspicion that any new general manager will be required to accept Kevin McHale as the team's coach. That leads to a question of control. I'm betting the new guy won't be as independent as he'd like. He's going to be strapped to some of the "old ways."
Remember that owner Glen Taylor has left it up to McHale to decide if he wants to coach next season. Also remember that it was Taylor who engineered the Kevin Love for O.J. Mayo trade on draft night. In addition, the Wolves have been grooming Fred Hoiberg to become a general manager for quite some time. Who wants a guy in the wings looking over his shoulder?
Still, this is a chance to be a general manager in the National Basketball Association. These chances don't come along very often. So it's really kind of scary that a career Basketball man wants no part of it. Granted, the franchise is in tough shape. The previous regime did something I didn't think possible: sour the fans on the greatest athletic show on earth. Too many bad decisions. Too many bad trades. Too many screwed up drafts.
A new general manager needs to be unfettered in his attempts to turn things around. He can't be expected to move forward while carrying baggage from the previous failed efforts. Perhaps Pfund realized that and the Wolves still don't get it.
I don't know how serious the Wolves were about Pfund. Perhaps they really weren't interested in him at all. But clearly he decided he wasn't serious about them. That seems like a kick in the pants.
