Timberwolves Officially Dump President David Kahn

The Minnesota Timberwolves officially announced Thursday that president David Kahn will not return for the 2013-14 season.

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that the team has declined to exercise the one-year option in David Kahn's contract for the 2013-14 NBA season, and as a result, he will not return as President of Basketball Operations. Kahn was originally hired by the Timberwolves on May 22, 2009.

"We want to thank David for all of his efforts the past four years with our basketball team," said Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor. "These are always difficult decisions, but at this time, we believe it is in the best interest of our organization to make a change. We wish David all the best in the future."

The decision was first reported by Steve Aschburner of NBA.com last week.

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.

Bill Simmons of gambling, entertainment, gossip, interior design, acupuncture, gardening and sports website Grantland.com -- also known as "The Sports Guy" -- had a takedown of Kahn this week that included a rehashing of some of the Blazers drama.

Photo via the Minnesota Timberwolves on Facebook.

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