According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Denver Nuggets are adding former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders to their coaching staff.
Denver is the latest stop for Saunders, who arrived in Minnesota after his father, Flip, became the Timberwolves’ president of basketball operations in 2014. After serving as an assistant for the Timberwolves from 2014-19, he spent 2.5 years as head coach, compiling a record of 43-94 before being fired in February 2021.
Ironically, Saunders heads to Denver where new Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly worked for the past nine years. And as it turns out, Connelly became close friends with Flip when they worked together with the Washington Wizards.
“He just had great energy and was a sincere guy,” Connelly said of Flip in an interview with KFAN’s Dan Barriero last week. “He didn’t take himself seriously…getting to know Ryan, Deb and his daughters, they’re just quality people.”
Ryan Saunders has been out of the NBA since being fired by Minnesota.
