Michigan State’s Tom Izzo to Serve as Advisor to Flip Saunders

Flip Saunders took over as general manager and president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves this off-season. With that said, Saunders is looking to make an impression right away.

To help with the NBA Draft process, Saunders called an old friend, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo to help evaluate potential prospects.

"“He’s good because he’s seen a lot of these guys play, and so he’s recruited a lot of these players or seen these guys four years ago. He’s coming in just to look and talk, and just talking about the players helps just to give you added insight.”"

Those are the words of Saunders describing the role that Izzo has taken on for the Wolves organization this summer. Izzo was in attendance for a workout including Brandon Paul, Derrick Nix, Jared Berggren, and Rodney Williams at the Target Center on Tuesday.

"“One of the biggest things you want to do in our business is your background checks so you know as much about players and you know where they were four or five years ago, maybe what improvement they’ve made. Have they reached their full potentiao, or do they still have a lot more to go?”"

One thing is clear, the Timberwolves are counting on Saunders to turn the struggling franchise around in the post-Kahn era. With Ricky Rubio running the point guard position for years to come, and the organization confident that restricted free-agent Nikola Pekovic will return, and the uncertainty of All-Star Kevin Love’s future, Saunders has made it well known that he plans to stress the importance of shooting via the draft, trade, or free agency.