Former Pacers exec lands Timberwolves job-WEB ONLY

The Minnesota Timberwolves have hired former
Indiana Pacers executive David Kahn to run their basketball operations, four
days after being rejected by Portland
assistant general manager Tom Penn.

The move was confirmed to The Associated
Press today by a person with knowledge of the hire. The person spoke on
condition of anonymity because an announcement wasn’t planned until tomorrow.

Kahn fills the vacancy created when owner
Glen Taylor moved vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale to the
bench to replace fired coach Randy Wittman in December.

IBJ Sports Reporter Anthony
Schoettle reported Kahn was in the running for the job in his
sports blog, The Score, on May 7.

Kahn worked for the Pacers front office for nearly nine years. He played a big
role in helping the franchise move to Conseco Fieldhouse in 1999. He served on
the NBA’s competition committee and also was considered an expert in the
collective-bargaining agreement.

Kahn left the Pacers in 2002 and has been
out of the league since. He has been part owner of several NBA Developmental
League franchises and also led a group that tried to bring Major League
Baseball to Portland, Ore.

Taylor had said
McHale was not a candidate to return to the front office, but the owner was
hoping he would return as coach. McHale has been waiting to see who was hired
before deciding on coaching. The person familiar with Kahn’s hire said it
wasn’t clear what McHale will do.

Also unclear is the status of current Wolves
GM Jim Stack and assistant GM Fred Hoiberg. Both were considered in-house
candidates for the position and have continued to work on evaluating prospects
for the NBA draft.

The Timberwolves have the No. 6 lottery pick
Tuesday night and also have two more first-round draft choices through trades.

The picks, coupled with ample room under the
salary cap and a young star in Al Jefferson, gives Kahn plenty to work with as
the franchise continues a rebuilding plan that started almost two years ago
with the trade of Kevin Garnett.

The Timberwolves thought they had their man
when they offered the job to Penn last weekend. But Penn surprised the team by
taking a promotion with the Blazers.

He was the third candidate to withdraw this
month, joining San Antonio‘s
Dennis Lindsey and former Miami Heat GM Randy Pfund. Kahn came at the
recommendation of commissioner David Stern and interviewed for the position
this month.