McHale, Riley plan to return

One night after fans wore bags on their heads and carried signs calling for his firing, Kevin McHale said Thursday that he would return as the Minnesota Timberwolves’ vice president of basketball operations and plans to bring leading scorer and rebounder Kevin Garnett and Coach Randy Wittman back too.

“I don’t want to walk away with the team in this state,” said McHale, adding that this season’s 32-50 squad resembled the “dysfunctional” one he inherited when he was named vice president in 1995.

Minnesota also missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

“It was a bad season. There’s no other way you can say it,” McHale said. “It was a bad year and I did a bad job. That’s the way it is.”

Wittman went 12-30 after replacing Dwane Casey in January.

Garnett has an opt-out clause in his contract after next season, causing many to speculate that the Timberwolves could trade him to avoid losing him without compensation after next season.

“We’re not planning on trading Kevin,” McHale said of the forward who missed the last five games of the season because of a sore right quadriceps and was at home in Malibu by Wednesday’s regular-season finale.

*

Pat Riley, the Miami Heat coach and president who missed seven weeks this season for surgery on his left hip and right knee, told the Miami Herald he plans to return in both roles next season.

“My plans are to come back,” he said. “I’ve got three years left on my contract, and [Heat owner] Micky [Arison] and I have a great relationship. He has always told me I can work here as long as I want.

“I have no plans on ever going to another franchise. This is my home now, and this is my team and this is my city.”

Last summer, when Riley didn’t announce until late August he was returning to coach the Heat, it was speculated that this would be his last season.

*

Sacramento Kings General Manager Geoff Petrie would neither confirm nor deny newspaper reports that first-year Coach Eric Musselman will be fired as early as today.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Musselman’s ouster is “a mere formality” after a 33-49 season that ended eight straight playoff appearances.

*

Seattle SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett said he could decide as soon as today the futures of Coach Bob Hill and General Manager Rick Sund after the team’s worst season in 21 years (31-51).