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The Minnesota Timberwolves and head coach Chris Finch have agreed to a four-year contract extension, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Finch has coached the Timberwolves for the past four years. This past season was his best yet, as Minnesota finished with the second-best regular season record in franchise history at 56–26 behind stars Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. He was named the Western Conference team’s coach in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.
The Timberwolves eventually advanced to the West finals, where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in five games.
ESPN Sources: Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has agreed on a four-year contract extension through the 2027-‘28 season. Finch led the franchise to the Western Conference Finals — his third straight postseason trip. pic.twitter.com/Y2MfEqYUN7
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2024
The 2024 postseason was particularly eventful for Finch. Amid the Timberwolves’ climb to the West Finals for the second time in team history, the coach suffered a torn patellar tendon in his right knee after a sideline collision with Mike Conley during Game 4 of their first-round NBA playoff sweep of the Phoenix Suns.
Finch required surgery to repair the tear and, as a result, required his right leg to be immobilized in a brace. Yet he was on the bench for Game 1 of Minnesota’s second-round matchup with the Denver Nuggets. However, Finch couldn’t stand or walk up and down the sideline, delegating that task to assistant Micah Nori.
(Nori, by the way, reportedly interviewed for head coach openings with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.)
The Timberwolves went on to defeat the defending NBA champion Nuggets in a seven-game series. In that Game 7, Minnesota rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit, the largest in NBA Game 7 history, and a 20-point margin in the second half to defeat Denver.
Finch took the Timberwolves’ job in unusual fashion. He was hired midseason during the 2020-21 campaign from the Toronto Raptors‘ staff to replace the fired Ryan Saunders. As Minnesota’s head coach, he has compiled a 160–127 record. Those 160 wins are the second most in franchise history, while his .557 winning percentage is the best.
Prior to his stint in Toronto, he spent 10 seasons as an NBA assistant coach with the Houston Rockets, Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans. Before joining an NBA staff, Finch coached the NBA G League’s Rio Valley Grande Vipers to a league championship and won Coach of the Year honors.