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Wolves look to future: McHale Sacked
ESPN - 24/10/2007
Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor announced today that GM Kevin McHale had been asked to step down from his duties. Taylor decided after an off-season of significant changes, seeing the departure of the teams franchise player Kevin Garnett, that the time was right to hire a new GM to lead this young team back to prominence in the future.
Taylor announced the new GM as Ty Land, a young Australian business man who has achieved significant success in Australian sporting circles. At the ripe age of 22 years, the hiring of GM Ty further emphasises Taylor's backing off the teams youth movement and desire to establish a team focussed on long term success.
At the press conference held this morning, the team owner backed his hiring of the young Australian and stated that coach Wittman was here to stay. Responding to questions from the press, GM Ty outlined his aims for the team: "I am looking for this team to be competitive from the get-go. We want to challange for the play-offs from day one, and that will be our goal. In saying that, this is a young team with a lot of potential to be a major contender in a few years. Names like Jefferson, Foye, Brewer, Telfair and Green are central to the teams future. Therefore, we have to nurture and develop these young players, ensure their is capspace to resign them in future, and get the right players to fit around them."
When asked about the prospect of any trades, the new GM responded: "We will assess our options. Some players are untouchable, others will be considered if the right trade is available. To that regard, it shouldn't be expected that we will shake the team up dramatically." GM Ty said "we have a young and promising core that holds the future of this team, we have a group of veterans who will play a key role in leading this group and helping their development, we have a coach who is going to push this team to be active on both ends of the floor and will hold players accountable if they don't put in." Owner Glen Taylor closed the conference by saying "this team holds a lot of promise for a few years down the road, but we will ensure we put on the best show until we get there."
Current Roster (Opening Roster)
Centres:
Kwame Brown
Theo Ratliff
Michael Doleac
Power Forwards:
Al Jefferson
Ryan Gomes
Mark Madsen
Chris Richards
Small Forwards:
Corey Brewer
Alando Tucker
Shooting Guards:
Gerald Green
Rashad McCants
Greg Buckner
Point Guards:
Randy Foye
Sebastian Telfair
Marko Jaric
Projected Starters:
Kwame Brown
Al Jefferson
Corey Brewer
Gerald Green
Randy Foye