Minnesota Timberwolves

Wolves add Bryan Gates as assistant coach under Saunders

Published Jul. 5, 2019 7:09 p.m. ET

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have rehired Bryan Gates as an assistant coach, joining the staff of new coach Ryan Saunders.

The Timberwolves announced the hire on Friday, along with the signing of rookie center Naz Reid to a two-way contract.

Gates spent the 2015-16 season with Minnesota before serving as an assistant coach with Sacramento the last three years. He worked five seasons on staff with New Orleans before his first stint in Minnesota. Gates is a member of the Jr. NBA Leadership Council, which supports the league's global youth basketball programs.

Gates joins associate head coach David Vanterpool and assistant coach Pablo Prigioni as the top advisers to Saunders. Kevin Burleson and Brian Randle are player development coaches, and Jason Hervey is the quality control coach.

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Reid, who went undrafted out of LSU, averaged 13.6 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds as a freshman as the Tigers reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Teams can sign two players to two-way contracts in addition to the 15-man regular-season roster. Such players can accrue no more than 45 days of service with their NBA club during the regular season, with the remainder of their time spent with the team's NBA G League affiliate.