After weeks of rumors, The Minnesota Timberwolves made it official on Friday, hiring Washington Wizards vice-president of player personnel Milt Newton as their new general manager. The team made the announcement through a statement on their official website.
“We are pleased to add Milt Newton to our organization.” said Flip Saunders, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “I have followed Milt closely during his career and have always been impressed with his basketball knowledge, work ethic and professionalism. His front office experience in the NBA, as well as his ability to combine analytics evaluation with his basketball playing and scouting background will greatly benefit our organization.”
The position described is slightly different from the typical NBA GM role. Saunders will continue to have final decision making power on basketball moves, with Newton helping “in the evaluation and acquisition of players and in the overall management of all Basketball Operations for the Wolves.” In reality the position sounds more like that of an assistant-GM than one of a true general manager.
Newton was part of the Wizards front office for the last ten years working his way up to his vice-president position. He is familiar to Saunders as he was part of the Wizards group when Saunders was coaching in Washington.
Newton has also worked as an executive in the NBA D-League, an assistant-director with USA Basketball and as a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. He played professionally in the CBA, and was a starter on the 1988 University of Kansas Jayhawks National Championship winning basketball team.
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