Sept. 22, 2018, will stand as one of the weirdest dates in Timberwolves history.
Early that day, owner Glen Taylor had a conversation with president Tom Thibodeau and General Manager Scott Layden to get everyone on the same page: The Wolves were going to trade Jimmy Butler, who earlier in the week had made a formal request to Thibodeau. Thibodeau had been reluctant to deal Butler initially.
It was a chaotic time for a franchise that had designs on making another playoff run. But later that night came a glimmer of hope, one of the few things that has gone right for the franchise amid a season of turbulence: Karl-Anthony Towns agreed to sign his maximum contract extension. He signed it the next day.
For everything that happened this year, from Butler's trade to Thibodeau's firing, the Wolves at least have a two-time All-Star in the fold for years to come. Towns gave the organization some continuity. Now he'd like the same in return.
"It would be something really different for me to have some stability and actually know what's happening the next day," Towns said after a recent win in Dallas. "I'm not going to jinx it because nothing is given when you're a Timberwolf. I'm just going to go along for the ride and continue to work on myself, my game and be the best player out there."
Towns was speaking specifically about the coaching position, and how since he was a senior in high school he has experienced a lot of turnover.
He had just one year under John Calipari at Kentucky, played under Sam Mitchell for a season after the death of Flip Saunders, played two-plus seasons for Thibodeau and now about half a season with interim Ryan Saunders.
Taylor has some decisions to make after the season, and he will begin by searching for a new president of basketball operations, a source told the Star Tribune (which Taylor also owns) late Tuesday night and the team confirmed in a news release Wednesday. Nothing has been decided regarding the fate of Layden and Saunders, even if players such as Towns stump for Saunders.