Joseph Blair, Pablo Prigoni return as Timberwolves assistants; Micah Nori added

The Timberwolves finalized key members of Chris Finch's coaching staff Friday. The fact that two of the top three spots include assistants Finch inherited after taking over mid-season speaks to the impression Joseph Blair and Pablo Prigioni made.

Blair will continue to work with the defense, in a beefed-up role. Prigioni will work with the offense. The Wolves also added Micah Nori, a 23-year NBA vet who worked the last three seasons in Detroit and who worked with Finch in Denver before that. He will focus on in-game management, including special situations like end of the game, using analytics "on the fly,'' as Finch said.

Finch acknowledged that the norm is often to clear house and hire a new staff. But Finch was impressed with the contributions both Blair and Prigioni made, and Finch said he is dedicated to developing coaches just as he is with players.

"These guys did a really good job,'' Finch said. "I think they're high-level coaches with a bright future, they relate well to our players and were certainly a part of our growth as the season wound down. It's easy to chop and change. It's part of the nature of this business. But both of them can be NBA head coaches, and why would you not want that type of talent when you already have it in the building?''

Finch said he believes in creating specific roles for all his assistants, but also wants to use a collaborative approach that will allow Blair and Prigioni to give suggestions to one another.

For Blair — whom Finch also credited with much of the development shown by Jaden McDaniels and Jarred Vanderbilt — his job will be to squeeze all the defensive improvement he can out of the team. The ultimate goal, he said, is to be a top-10 defensive team. Immediately? Finding a way into the top 15.

"Let's be honest here,'' he said. "I think defense all comes down to effort. My job is really just to get the correct buy-in from the team.''

The key to that? Getting to know how each player is best motivated. Prigioni will be an offensive assistant playing for an offensive-minded head coach.

"He's super open [to ideas],'' Prigioni said of Finch. "Since he stepped in, I was always having ideas. I just throw those ideas to him. My job is to continue to throw ideas out and make him think about it.''

Nori will have a more overarching role.

Finch said he believes he's a good decision-maker in games, but thinks he can be a lot better, which is why he hired Nori.

"It's managing those small pieces of a game," Blair said, "whether it be the last 35 seconds, lineup combinations, trying to get ahead of the game so you have your best players on the floor at the right times. All that kind of stuff. Micah is going to be in charge of a lot of that. I have a pretty good handle on the offense. Pablo does a good job being able to shepherd that, and bring his own spin on it. And JB, he's a big fan of switching. I think there's a chance for us to do more of that in our defensive approach.

"And they're not afraid to be creative.''

Nor saw a good situation with a coach he's familiar with, a supportive front office and a young team with talent. "To me, it's the whole environment, if you will, and looking at the way it's all falling into place,'' he said. "It's very exciting.''

Finch still needs to finish up his staff. He said he'll do it with an emphasis on player development, perhaps adding positions in that area.