Wolves fire Ryan Saunders, will hire Chris Finch as new head coach

Following a 103-99 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves relieved Ryan Saunders of his head coaching duties.

According to Stadium’s Shams Charania, Minnesota will hire Toronto assistant coach Chris Finch as its new head coach. Finch has served as an assistant coach for Houston (2011-16), Denver (2016-17), New Orleans (2017-20) and Toronto (2020-21).

Chris Finch is becoming the new Timberwolves head coach on a full-time basis, not as an interim, sources said. The Timberwolves fired Ryan Saunders tonight after loss to the Knicks in New York. https://t.co/HFVdycuEUv

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 22, 2021

Saunders was named the team’s interim head coach on Jan. 6, 2019. He owned a career 43-93 record while leading the Timberwolves bench.

“We would like to thank Ryan for his time and commitment to the Timberwolves organization and wish him the best in the future,” president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said in a statement. “These are difficult decisions to make, however this change is in the best interest of the organization’s short and long-term goals.”

Minnesota returns to the floor Tuesday for a road tilt against the Milwaukee Bucks.