GM Search

The Wolves are well into their process of selecting a new GM. (At least they had better be well into it by now.) I was hoping to do a good post of possible candidates, but I quickly realized that is a tough task for someone who does not have good contacts with personal knowledge of the candidates. One can scour the internet for the names that have been mentioned, but there is only so much out there. It's not like searching for draft prospects or even head coaches. The GM often does so much behind the scenes that there is not a lot of public information on these guys. Plus, even if there were more information, it would not be very interesting.

So instead of an in depth post, I'll just give a quick summary of my thoughts on the four candidates that have been mentioned the most.

First, we have the two internal candidates in Jim Stack and Fred Hoiberg. Stack has been in the Wolves front office for a while now and has surely at least been consulted in personnel decisions. I think he has been too tied into the organization to be "the" guy to make all the upcoming personnel decisions. Hoiberg is a likable guy and has supposedly been groomed to become a GM someday. However, he instantly lost credibility with the fans when he said the Wolves drafted Mayo to keep only to see Mayo get traded for Love a few hours later. The problem with both guys is that they can't offer a fresh perspective that is so vitally needed for this team.

Another leading candidate is former Timberwolf Lance Blanks. He has front office experience with both the Spurs and Cavs. Unfortunately, there isn't much info out there about him. Obviously, he would have the new point of view, but I haven't seen anything that makes me want to either endorse or dismiss him as a candidate. I'd take him over Hoiberg or Stack, but I couldn't get excited about him.

Finally, we have Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey. He is reportedly the leading candidate and we do know the Spurs have been contacted by the Wolves about him. Canis Hoopus has some decent info about him. It looks like this guy is highly regarded within the NBA. I don't know that there is enough info to get excited about landing Lindsey, but at least there are no red flags that pop up.

So, who will it be? Hopefully, we will find out next week. Based on the limited info I have seen, I'd endorse Dennis Lindsey if it had to be one of the leading candidates. Of these four, I'd only be disappointed if Stack or Hoiberg became the official GM. Of course, there could be some secret candidates no one knows about. Even choosing a secret candidate would probably be a step in the right direction. (As long as the secret candidate is not named Kevin McHale.)