Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor hasn't considered firing Ryan Saunders as head coach.

The Timberwolves are only 16-37 on the season. They will likely miss the playoffs for the second straight season, but Taylor isn't going to move on from Saunders like he did with Tom Thibodeau last season:

“No, no, no, he is hired,” Taylor said about Saunders, via Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. “A young guy and he is going to get better as time goes on and we just have to give him that time.

“[Saunders] is excited about this change that now he has guys that can play the kind of basketball he wants. He is really a believer in the three-point shot, moving the ball fast, and getting up and down the court. He needed some players that were better three-point shooters than what we had previously.”

The Timberwolves acquired All-Star point guard D'Angelo Russell from the Golden State Warriors at the NBA trade deadline, a move Minnesota star big man Karl-Anthony Towns was really excited about. Towns and Russell are very close friends off the court and have been wanting to play with each other for years.

The Timberwolves will use the rest of this season to see how Russell and Towns fit together (assuming KAT's wrist injury isn't too bad) and evaluate what other pieces they need around the two youngsters. Next season, the playoffs should be the goal for Minnesota, although it's going to be hard since the Western Conference is so rugged from top to bottom.