MKRob Sports

New Minnesota president of basketball operations David Kahn has gone on record in saying he won’t look for a replacement for fired coach Kevin McHale until after the NBA draft, but multiple sources have told Pro Basketball News that Mark Jackson has emerged as the leading candidate for the position and will wind up with his first coaching gig.

Jackson, 44, has worked as a lead analyst on broadcasts for ESPN/ABC since 2007 and was linked to the New York Knicks opening filled by Mike D’Antoni last offseason. He’s made no secret of his desire to coach in the NBA, telling reporters in Los Angeles just last week that it’s “been a dream of mine, like anyone who’s ever played the point guard position and has been the extension of the coach on the floor. I’ve been tempted to run a show my entire life.”

Kahn, who has more than a decade’s experience with the Indiana Pacers and owned the NBDL’s Reno Big Horns for a spell, has already made one splash in firing McHale and vows to make another at next week’s draft, where Minnesota will have three first-rounders.

As far as making a splash with a coaching hire, Kahn would have to recruit Bobby Knight or Avery Johnson to get a bigger name than Jackson, who played for Kahn twice during Kahn’s nine-year stint in the Pacers front office and has been tabbed as a future coaching star from the minute he retired.

Kahn traded him once, traded to get him back and now may lean on him to spark the Timberwolves’ revival. Since it looks like Minnesota’s new boss is interested in turning the organization on its ear and promoting a new energy, it seems natural that he’d be willing to team with Jackson, who mixes a new voice and old-school attitude with legitimate street cred.

Jackson, meanwhile, said as recently as last week that he’s hopeful the opportunity will come sooner than later.

“The right situation will come and I look forward to making that guy who has the courage to pull the trigger, I’m looking forward to making him look awfully good,” Jackson said.

The Timberwolves parted ways with former coach and front-office executive McHale earlier this week — a decision made by Kahn.

Following the announcement of McHale’s departure, Kahn said the Timberwolves would wait until after the June 25 draft to hire a coach, aiming to have one in place by mid-summer. The Timberwolves have three first-round picks, five picks overall.

“I have no candidates,” Kahn told Minneapolis reporters Wednesday. “Not lined up on the back of a napkin. Nothing. We will put a list together immediately after the draft and start a search. I think we will have a pretty robust list.”

Jackson would become the Timberwolves’ fourth coach in four years, following Flip Saunders (1995-2005), Dwane Casey (2005-07), Randy Wittman (2007-08) and McHale.

Jackson played for seven different teams in career that spanned from 1987 to 2004, winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1988 with New York. He was traded in 1992 to the Los Angeles Clippers, when he played for coach Larry Brown and helped lead the team to a playoff appearance.

He later spent time with Indiana, Toronto, Denver, Utah and Houston, finishing with career averages of 9.6 points and 8.0 assists per game. Jackson made his lone Finals appearance in 2000 as the starting point guard for the Pacers, and lone All-Star Game appearance during the ’88-89 season with the Knicks.

After retiring as a player, Jackson joined the YES Network’s broadcasts of New Jersey Nets games, providing color analysis next to Marv Albert. He left that job in 2008, fueling speculation that he would be named coach of the Knicks.

Since 2007, Jackson has joined play-by-play man Mike Breen and former Knicks and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy on the ABC/ESPN team.