The Timberwolves have plotted part of their future by reaching into their past, reaching agreement with former Wolves player and current scout Scott Roth to coach the franchise's new Iowa team in the G League.
A member on the Wolves' inaugural 1989-90 expansion team, Roth is a career coach out of the same Bill Musselman coaching tree that produced Wolves coach and President of Basketball Operations Tom Thibodeau, who hired him.
Roth has spent 11 seasons on NBA benches with Dallas, Vancouver/Memphis. Golden State, Toronto and Detroit. He has also coached and consulted for the Turkish, Dominican Republic, Canadian and Chinese national teams. He also has worked for such head coaches as Bo Ryan in college basketball and Don Nelson, Dwane Casey and Stan Van Gundy in the NBA.
A former University of Wisconsin standout, he coached the D League's Bakersfield, Calif., team in 2008 and scouted for the Wolves last season.
He's now entrusted with installing the same strategic concepts Thibodeau teaches in Minneapolis and with developing young players for the Wolves' new minor league team just purchased last winter. Roth throughout his career has been involved in the development of such young players as Kristaps Porzingis and Willy Hernangomez when he coached in Spain three seasons ago and Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Jonas Valanciunas, Steve Nash and others when he was an NBA assistant.
Thibodeau interviewed Roth thoroughly for more than three hours weeks ago and at the Minnesota State Fair on Monday said Roth is the right man for the job because of his varied experienced in the NBA, internationally and in minor leagues first known as the CBA, then the D League and now called the G League.
Thibodeau said Roth's experience developing big men will help first-round draft pick Justin Patton, the former Creighton center who broke a bone in his foot in June but is likely to spend some time play for the new Iowa Wolves team in Des Moines.
"He has got experience at a lot of levels, and we liked what he did as a scout for us last season," Thibodeau said. "He's a good fit for us."