Living the Fantasy: Return Sam Mitchell to his NBA Roots

We all have a fantasy.

For some...it's spending the rest of their days on a white sandy beach sipping pina coladas.

For others...it's Heidi Klum wrapped up with a bow under the Christmas tree.

For others...it's a world without lip-synced pop music.

For me...it's Sam Mitchell becoming the next coach of my beloved Timberwolves.

Before you get all sour on me for disrespecting Minnesota's current head coach Randy Wittman, hear me out for a second.

I am a man of karma. In fact, borrowing the profound words of the greatest scribe known to man, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, I am a "Road Man for the Lords of Karma". As such, I have never - and will never - try to get a good man fired on NBA.com or NBA TV.

As you will see, if you keep reading (which is probably a big IF at this point), I have a fantasy involving my Wolves that hooks up both Mitchell and Wittman.

If I were Glen Taylor, owner of my beloved Timberwolves, I would have already hired Sam Mitchell.

By the way, I respectfully disagree with the Raptors' decision to fire Sam, even as it pertains to the appeasement of soon-to-be free agent Chris Bosh, who reportedly liked playing for Sam. If Sam lost his job because of 2010, then I ask you this: does Bosh like playing for "interim" coach Jay Triano more than Mitchell? If not, I fail to see the logic in this move for summer of 2010, or any other season.

Triano is an up-and-coming coach who deserves a chance. I'm just not sure his chance should have come at Sam's expense.

Triano is officially listed as "interim" coach, but based on the fact that he has survived the regimes of Lenny Wilkens, Kevin O'Neill, and Sam Mitchell, the organization obviously thinks highly of him. And when you merge that warm-fuzzy vibe with the fact that Triano is arguably the best Canadian basketball coach, it isn't hard to see the Raptors removing the "interim" tag if this team makes significant noise in this year's playoffs.

If I were Glen Taylor, I would have called Sam's agent the moment I heard the news. I would have offered to takeover Sam's contract, which pays him a reported $3 million per season.

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of dough, and it is. But when you win Coach of the Year, the cushy coin soon follows. Unfortunately, so do inflated expectations, which is one of the reasons Sam got fired with an 8-9 record.

If I were Glen Taylor, I would complete the circle for the second-best player in franchise history.

Have there been more talented players than Sam Mitchell in Timberwolves' history? Of course, players like Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, Chauncey Billups, Christian Laettner, Tom Gugliotta, Tony Campbell, and even JR Rider, possessed a lot more talent than Sam.

However, only Cassell and Billups could rival Mitchell in terms of intangibles, and none of those players rank above Sam in franchise points, rebounds, steals, games, minutes, or personal fouls - and I bring up fouls because Sam once led the NBA in that category and I love that stat.

Sam is No. 2 in Timberwolves' history in all of the aforementioned categories only behind, the man he helped groom into a superstar, Kevin Garnett.

If I were Glen Taylor, I would upgrade to one of the NBA's better coaches in Sam Mitchell.

A coach who is not afraid to admonish a player - regardless of salary - for unsatisfactory play. A coach who is keeping the old-school mentality alive, in terms of playing every minute of every game like it's your last. A coach whose players didn't turn on him nearly as much as management did.

If I were Glen Taylor, I would take care of Wittman, who is doing the best he can with limited resources.

I would make Randy the lead assistant and move every other coach down one rung on the ladder, but I would not fire any of them or adjust their salaries. Why, you ask? Like I said, I am a Road Man for the Lords of Karma....as well as the billionaire owner of my beloved Timberwolves in my stupid fantasy.

I'm not even going to say Wittman isn't head coaching material. He has paid his dues as a player and coach, he's a no-nonsense throwback-type guy, and I have heard from those who know more than me that he is a terrific basketball man.

All that said, Wittman is not a better coach than Sam Mitchell.

My Wolves have disappointed me time and time again from a decision making standpoint. Like the decision to trade Brandon Roy for Randy Foye...or the decision to fire Flip Saunders...or the decision to let Billups go to Detroit via free agency...or the decision to trade Ray Allen for Stephon Marbury...or the decision to offer a washed-up Latrell Sprewell a three-year, $21 million contract (which, of course, he refused, because he couldn't feed his family)...or the decision to...

Enough!

Please, Wolves...please...this one time...just this one time...listen to your No. 1 fan and bring Sam back to his NBA roots, back to the team he came up with in 1989, back to the team he finished with in 2002, and back to the team he would resurrect before it all gets weird in 2012.


Rick Kamla is in his seventh season of writing Living the Fantasy, which appears biweekly on NBA.com. Rick can also been seen on "Fantasy Insider", airing live every Monday at 8 am eastern, and re-airing throughout the day. Rick Kamla and Steve Smith co-host "Game Time" every Friday and Saturday night on NBA TV.