T-Wolves deny Casey reports
The Minnesota Timberwolves denied published reports on Thursday that the team was negotiating with longtime Seattle assistant Dwane Casey to become Minnesota’s next head coach.
“We haven’t offered the job to anybody,” said Kevin McHale, vice president of basketball operations. “Unless I missed it, and usually I’m involved in that, so we haven’t got to that point, yet.”
McHale said the team had finished interviewing several candidates for the job, including Casey, but had not made an offer to any of them.
McHale said the hiring process had taken longer than he had hoped, but said the team would name a coach fairly soon. “We’re moving in that direction,” he said.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor had said he hoped to have an announcement by the end of this week.
Several media outlets in Seattle and Minnesota had quoted anonymous sources saying that the team was in contract negotiations with Casey.
“Well, you’ve hired five coaches so far,” McHale said to a group of reporters, referring to several speculative reports this off-season. “You guys haven’t been right yet, why would you be right now?”
McHale is looking for a coach to turn around a team that tumbled out of the playoffs this season after being in the Western Conference finals in 2004.
Casey, 48, has never been an NBA head coach. He has worked on the Seattle bench for the past 11 seasons and was promoted to associate head coach when Nate McMillan took over in 2000.
Sides to resume talks
Billy Hunter had promised to make one more call to NBA commissioner David Stern, and he wasted little time picking up the phone.
As a result, collective bargaining talks between owners and players will resume today.
No meetings have been held since June 1, when the sides met for 2 1/2 hours in New York.
The past two weeks have been marked by public posturing from both sides, with the latest salvo coming Wednesday when Hunter, director of the players’ union, traveled to the NBA Finals to explain his side of the story as to why talks have been stalled.
Hunter said he would call Stern before the current labor agreement expires June 30, and that call apparently was made Thursday.
Around the league
Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles signed his four-year contract extension, a week after agreeing to the deal. … The Los Angeles Clippers have exercised the fourth-year option on center Chris Kaman. The move means Kaman is property of the Clippers for two more seasons. … The Cavaliers cleared out salary cap space by waiving reserve guard Lucious Harris, who never found his shooting touch during a dreadful season in Cleveland.