Chris Finch talks about his new contract, the future of the Wolves and his love for Minnesota: “This is my home”

Chris Finch, proud owner of a brand new contract extension, relaxed on a patio in Minneapolis’ bustling North Loop neighborhood Monday night. As he reflected on how far he and the Minnesota Timberwolves have come since his arrival during the turbulent winter of 2021, he used a word that has rarely passed his lips during his globetrotting coaching career spanning more than a quarter-century.

“This is definitely my home,” Finch said.

His coaching career began in England in 1997 and took him overseas via Germany and Belgium. Finch came to the U.S. in 2009 with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League and then served as an assistant with the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans and Toronto Raptors before being hired midway through the 2020-21 season to take over a Timberwolves team with the worst record in the league.

Despite all his travels, he spent the longest time in the NBA, five years in Houston, but even then he knew he might have to move on to find a chance to manage a team.

The four-year contract extension he signed with the Timberwolves on Monday was significant for several reasons. First and foremost, it was recognition from Wolves owner Glen Taylor and his wife Becky that Finch had outperformed the contract extension he signed in 2022. He has led the Wolves to the playoffs in all three of his full seasons, including the Western Conference finals in May. His 160-127 regular-season record is the second-best coach in franchise history behind Flip Saunders (427-392). Finch’s .557 winning percentage is at the top of the franchise list.

But that’s just one of the reasons the Taylors and basketball president Tim Connelly decided to essentially void his existing contract, which in its existing form ran through the 2026-27 season. Finch has earned their trust not only through his success on the court, but also through the way he has helped connect all facets of the organization, from basketball to business.

“Chris is a wonderful coach and an even better person,” Connelly said in a team statement. “We are thrilled to see him rewarded with a well-deserved contract extension. Under his leadership, the team has improved each year and he is the perfect leader for our organization.”

When Finch arrived in February 2021, the Wolves were 7-24 and had just fired Ryan Saunders. Former senior manager Gersson Rosas drew criticism for the process he led in hiring Finch, including a rare rebuke from the National Basketball Coaches Association. Rick Carlisle, the group’s president, later apologized for the organization’s statement.

The Wolves lost their first five games under Finch before the All-Star break with results so one-sided that Finch previously said The athlete that he asked himself: “Will we ever win?”

“You feel like all the answers come to you quickly,” Finch said on the phone Monday evening, thinking back to his idealistic beginnings in the job. “Then you get a little shaken, your confidence might get shaken, and then you just have to trust your path. What has the journey shown you and how can you trust it?”

Beyond the X’s and O’s and roster changes, Finch recognized early on that an unstable franchise needed a facilitator. He quickly set about building relationships with the players, including Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, four players who remain a big part of the core of a winning team four years later. He built bridges with CEO Ethan Casson and the business side of the operation. And he kept the lines of communication open with Taylor, relying on transparency to get the Wolves through a period of roster upheaval.

He has also navigated many changes himself. Taylor brought Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez into his ownership group and put together a three-year transition plan that fell apart in March. The two sides are currently locked in a bitter battle over the team, with Taylor retaining all decision-making power during arbitration.

Rosas, the man who risked everything to hire Finch and has known him for more than a decade, since their time together on Houston’s G League team, was fired just days before Finch’s first training camp as Wolves coach in the fall of 2021. Finch adapted, working closely with interim president Sachin Gupta to lead a young, easily enthusiastic roster that flew around defensively and thrived in chaos until it finished seventh in the West and suffered a first-round playoff loss to Memphis.

In Finch’s second full season, Connelly was hired as his new head basketball coach and the daring trade for Rudy Gobert was made, marking the beginning of a new, deep roster construction that took the Wolves a year to complete.

“Basically, this job is about leadership,” Finch said. “It’s a lot more about leadership than basketball. Obviously, you have to have the acumen and the ability (to coach). But there are so many talented basketball players on our team or out there in general that can help you.”

Wins certainly help, and Finch got them in Minnesota in a variety of ways. The Wolves were riverboat gamblers in 2021-22, using Patrick Beverley’s edge, KAT’s skill and Edwards’ energy to earn their first playoff berth in four years. The next season was a battle of frustration and angst while Gobert settled in, but it still ended with the first back-to-back playoff appearances in two decades.

The breakthrough came this season – with the league’s best defense, a first-round sweep of Phoenix and a thrilling win over the defending champions in Denver – before the Wolves lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the conference finals.

“We’ve all kind of grown up here over the last few years,” Finch said. “And the players not only allowed me to coach them, but they allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them until I got my first coaching job here in the NBA.”

The players swear by him. Edwards, the face of the franchise and a rising star in the league, has thrived under Finch’s leadership and welcomes the tough criticism his coach often gives him in film sessions. Towns trusts him after Finch became his fifth head coach in his first five and a half seasons in the league. Gobert appreciates that Finch stuck with him after a disappointing first season in Minnesota.

“He’s our leader,” point guard Mike Conley said during the playoffs. “He’s the guy who made this whole thing work from the beginning.”

Finch has assembled a top-notch staff that includes assistant coaches Micah Nori, Elston Turner, Pablo Prigioni, Kevin Hanson and Corliss Williamson. He also has a player development staff that includes Joe Boylan, Chris Hines and Max Lefevre, who have made Minnesota a place where young players get better. The contracts of all members of his staff, including assistant coaches Jeff Newton and Moses Ehambe, expire at the end of June, but Finch said he believes progress is being made to keep the group together.

Nori, who filled in on the sidelines at the end of the Phoenix series when Finch injured his knee, has been a candidate for several head coaching positions this summer, with the Detroit Pistons remaining as the only vacancy.

“That was paramount to me,” Finch said of his employees. “It was hugely important to our success. And it starts with just getting good people. Good, talented people.”

Assuming the business side of things is taken care of, the team faces the organization’s biggest challenge yet. Their run to the Conference Finals, the second time in franchise history the Wolves have made it past the first round, was exciting. But their performance against the Mavericks in a 4-1 loss showed just how far they are from that. Finch has said the offense needs to improve to get it closer to its stellar defense, with decision-making and reducing turnovers being two areas of focus in the offseason.

There’s always the possibility of another significant signing, but most at the Wolves expect there to be only minor changes to the roster. That will make internal improvements very important if the Wolves want to go one step further next season. The players, most of whom have never experienced a long playoff run, have also learned what it means to play well into May. Finch believes the excruciating first two rounds, including his torn patellar tendon against Phoenix that forced him to sit on the bench and a win for the ages in Game 7 in Denver, took a lot out of his team.

“I just think we’ve run out of steam emotionally and physically,” Finch said. “We’ve got to continue to build that playoff endurance. But that doesn’t start when the playoffs start. During the regular season, it becomes more of a machine. I think that really helps.”

With ownership still uncertain and unlikely to be resolved before the fall, Taylor made it a point to provide as much stability as possible at the leadership positions. Connelly pushed the opt-out date on his contract to next summer, giving him the flexibility to wait to see who prevails in arbitration before making a long-term commitment. But it also ensured that the man running the front office will continue to do so through the draft and free agency this summer.

And the Taylors didn’t have to do anything for Finch. He had a contract that ran through 2026-27. But he was underpaid compared to his success in the job and this move shows how much they value him. He thanked the Taylors, Connelly and Casson for starting talks about his contract much earlier than many teams would have done.

“They tore up the contract and re-did it,” Finch said. “That doesn’t happen often and I’m very grateful for that.”

Lore and Rodriguez were also in favor of extending Finch’s contract, team sources said. The athlete, So this would be consistent with their long-term vision for the franchise should they win arbitration. Finch said he has always appreciated the support he has received from them.

His new contract runs through the 2027-28 season. Given the fickleness of the profession, peace of mind is a rarity for an NBA coach. But as he sat on that patio in downtown Minneapolis on Monday night with his second contract extension in his pocket, Finch, 54, laughed as he recalled how much he’s moved around in his coaching career.

He lives just blocks from Target Center, in the heart of a fan-base resurgence. He feels it every time he walks into town, where he’s greeted with warm congratulations and requests for selfies from Wolves fans who are used to their team changing coaches every two or three years. Next season will be his fourth full season in Minnesota. Now, more than ever, Finch feels like he’s found a home.

“I love this area,” he said. “That’s why I’m not moving.”

(Photo by Chris Finch: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)