Report: Wolves to discuss POBO opening with Billups, others

The Minnesota Timberwolves and former guard Chauncey Billups will soon meet to discuss a front-office job with the team.

Per Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Billups will meet with the team to discuss Minnesota’s vacant President of Basketball Operations role.

The Wolves are also nailing down interview dates with other candidates including Denver Nuggets assistant GM Calvin Booth, LA Clippers GM Michael Winger and Houston Rockets VP Gersson Rosas, reports Charania and Krawczynski.

Chauncey Billups and the Minnesota Timberwolves will meet in near future to discuss the franchise's President of Basketball Operations role, league sources tell me and @JonKrawczynski.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 19, 2019

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1119299839991459841

Billups said last summer that he was ready to take on a front-office role with a team. Currently an NBA analyst for ESPN, Billups had talks with the Cleveland Cavaliers about their GM opening in 2017 before pulling out of the running for it. He was reportedly linked to a front-office job with the Detroit Pistons last year, too.

From 2000-02, Billups played for the Timberwolves, averaging 10.9 points. 2.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists in a stretch that helped revive his then-stagnant career. From there, Billups signed with the Pistons in the summer of 2002, helping lead Detroit to the 2004 championship where he was named Finals MVP.

When Detroit overhauled its organization before the 2018-19 season, Billups seemed like a potential fit there, but that didn’t happen.

“My desire is to one day run a team, be in a front office and try to build a champion,” Billups told The Associated Press last summer. “I know that I will and I know I’m going to do a good job. When that opportunity presents itself, and it’s a good opportunity, I’ll be ready to go.”

The Pistons were run by Stan Van Gundy — their coach and president of basketball operations — for the past four seasons, but they moved in a different direction last summer. Dwane Casey was hired as Detroit’s new coach, and Ed Stefanski came on board as a senior executive.

“I thought Stan did a good job. Stan is a very good coach, but sometimes you just need a new voice,” Billups said last summer. “Coach Casey obviously has been a very good coach the last few years, he’s really ascended to the top of the ranks in the league. Whatever happened in Toronto presented an opportunity for him to come here.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.