Minnesota Timberwolves, Grizzlies’ Dave Joerger to meet for interview
By Aaron Blue
News continues to swirl around the Memphis Grizzlies’ front office following the departure of CEO Jason Levien and Assistant GM Stu Lash. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune is now reporting the Minnesota Timberwolves have received permission to interview Grizzlies’ head coach Dave Joerger.
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The granting of an interview is contrary to reports that the Grizzlies’ front office had no intentions of letting Joerger go. Joerger led the Grizzlies to a 50-32 record in his first season as the head coach after replacing Lionel Hollins.
The Grizzlies’ head coach is a native of Staples, Minnesota and often attended Wolves practices during Flip Saunders’ tenure as the head coach for 1995-2005.
The Wolves are expected to interview the young coach sometime this week, but a potential hold up may occur as Zgoda mentioned in his report.
"Bottom line, according to the source: Joerger wants out and Grizzlies ownership wants him out, but Joerger doesn’t want to leave the rest of his multi-year contract on the table and the team doesn’t want to pay him off."
Joerger signed a 4 year contract with the Grizzlies last June at roughly $2 million per year with the fourth-year including a team option.
The Wolves have not mentioned other candidates in recent weeks, but will likely look to have a new coach in place by the draft in late June. The Grizzlies may seek to end the matter sooner to allow for their own search of a new head coach.