Aschburner: Timberwolves President David Kahn Done In Minnesota

Steve Aschburner of NBA.com reports that Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn will not return for the 2013-14 season and that ex-NBA coach Flip Saunders will likely replace him.

Former NBA head coach Flip Saunders is expected to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves as the team's next president of basketball operations, NBA.com has learned.

Saunders, 58, has been negotiating a contract that, with option years, could run through the 2017-18 season and could be worth more than $9 million over the full five years, according to league sources who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the hiring.

The move, which could become official as soon as next week, would end David Kahn‘s controversial tenure after four seasons and an 89-223 record during which the Timberwolves' failure to reach the playoffs stretched to nine consecutive seasons. Kahn's contract includes a team option for 2013-14 that will not be exercised.

Kahn, a former sportswriter for The Oregonian, has been involved in a fair number of stories with the Portland Trail Blazers during his tenure in Minnesota.

He traded the draft rights to Luke Babbitt for Martell Webster, but later sought a settlement because Webster missed time due to back injuries, a process that took years to resolve. Kahn was also involved in an extended, albeit unsucessful, courtship of Blazers forward Nicolas Batum in restricted free agency last year. He also signed former Blazers guard Brandon Roy out of unofficial retirement last summer, only to see Roy undergo an additional knee surgery this season.

Kahn also hired former Blazers coach Rick Adelman, former Blazers assistant coach Bill Bayno and former Blazers sideline reporter Terry Porter, and signed and/or traded for a number of former Blazers players, including Dante Cunningham, Chris Johnson, and Anthony Tolliver.

Thanks to Timmay! for getting there first in the FanShots. Photo via the Minnesota Timberwolves on Facebook.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter