REPORT: WOLVES HAVE NEW BOSS

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been without a real personnel boss since moving Kevin McHale to the bench during the season. You could joke they've been without one for a helluva lot longer than that, but we'll stick with facts.

Owner Glen Taylor has apparently stopped dragging his feet on the matter, and is set to announce a hire.

* David Kahn will be announced tomorrow as the team’s president of basketball operations — a new title that in language is one step up from Kevin McHale’s vice president of basketbll operations. * He will arrive with no stipulations as to who — including Kevin McHale and Fred Hoiberg — he does or doesn’t keep from the current front-office staff and will use the next five weeks before the draft to evaluate Hoiberg, Jim Stack, Rob Babcock, etc.

Kahn comes from the NBA Developmental League, and most recently had NBA work with the Indiana organization. He was targeted early in the process, but became the guy for the job when Portland executive Tom Penn pulled out of the running.

ESPN reported earlier this week that Taylor has mandated that the new general manager allow McHale to make up his own mind on coaching the team. One has to think this deterred some solid candidates from taking the job, as most new general managers want to be able to make their own decisions on coaches. As good a job as I think McHale did with this team after he took over, most owners recognize that these mandates don't work very well.

Then again, Glen Taylor hasn't become one of the worst owners in the NBA because he knows what he's doing with this team.

BREAKING: WITTMAN OUT, McHALE IN

Wait. This has happened before.

Kevin McHale is the new coach of the Timberwolves.

If anything, there is at least one piece of good news that comes out of this. As he takes over the coaching gig, McHale is giving up his front office job.

FanHouse colleague Tom Ziller points out that Wolves owner Glen Taylor seems to have an affinity for firing ineffective coaches, but he has no problem continuing to employ an ineffective club executive in McHale. Perhaps if McHale is as ineffective as a head coach as he was in the front office, this will be the last straw for his Timberwolves reign.

We can only hope.

Of course, one could argue that it would be hard to look worse as a coach than Randy Wittman did. He was always a solid assistant in Minnesota under Flip Saunders, but any coach could look good when he had Kevin Garnett to work with.

I still like the Mayo trade, but the Brandon Roy deal was a disaster, and Corey Brewer may never develop (he's out for the year with a knee injury).

Taylor and McHale will address the media this afternoon, but Taylor does make it sound like McHale is toast if he doesn't turn this around.

"There were certain goals and expectations that we had for this team at the start of the season and we have not lived up to them," Taylor said in Monday's statement, after proclaiming Wittman safe roughly two weeks ago.

"I am disappointed in our record and believe that we have more talent than our record indicates. A change had to be made and, with three-fourths of the season remaining, there is still time to make substantial progress this year. ... Kevin has assembled the players on this team and believes in their talent and skill level.

"It is my expectation that Kevin will be able to get the most out of our team and our players in his new role as head coach. He has been involved in the NBA game for almost 30 years, is a tremendous teacher and has a wealth of basketball knowledge. I am confident that our players will respond to the new voice and perspective that Kevin will provide."

Good luck, sir. Getting this team to not suck is much easier said than done.

The defense has alternated between mediocre and dreadful (they've allowed 47 percent shooting for the year, and over 100 points per game, ack), and the Wolves just don't have enough guys who can score, especially off the bench. Mike Miller is shooting well but not often enough, and Rashad McCants is shooting too much.

McHale's specialty is post play, so maybe a new voice will turn around the Wolves' defensive work and give them a more physical presence on both ends. They need it.

Believe it or not, 4-15 isn't as bad as it could be. It's McHale's job to make sure things don't get any worse.

Not helping matters: Minnesota is near the bottom of the NBA in attendance, drawing under 14,000 a game (and that number is probably inflated).