http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16098574.htm Coach Sam Cassell. How does that sound? Cassell sees himself as a future NBA head coach, and he might even work with a familiar face someday. "I'm real good friends with Flip," Cassell said of Flip Saunders, the ex-Timberwolves coach now in charge of the Detroit Pistons. "One day, I might be working for Flip on his staff." It wouldn't be surprising if down the road Cassell becomes an assistant coach for Saunders or George Karl in Denver or for his current coach, Mike Dunleavy with the Los Angeles Clippers. All are possibilities, Cassell said Saturday night before the Clippers' game against the Timberwolves at Target Center. Cassell turned 37 on Nov. 18, and although he began the game leading Los Angeles in scoring and assists, he knows his career is winding down. He signed a two-year, $13 million contract with the Clippers this past summer. "I'm taking it one year at a time," Cassell said. "You live for today, but you have to plan your future. My ultimate goal one day after my playing days are over with is being a head coach in this league. If I had to be an assistant coach for 10 years, I don't think I'd do it." Cassell said he believes his playing experience has prepared him for coaching. "I do understand the game of basketball," Cassell said. "I scored. I was a guy who made plays. I was a guy who started. I was a guy who came off the bench." Wolves coach Dwane Casey said he thinks Cassell would be a good coach someday. "Sam knows the game," Casey said. "He's a very smart player. He's always talking the game. He can sell anything. His personality will help him be a coach. Guys like him. He'll do a good job if he decides to get into it." Wishful thinking: If Cassell had the power to acquire Wolves forward Kevin Garnett and add him to the Clippers, you can bet he would find a way to make it happen. The speculation continues on Garnett's future, and Cassell weighed in on where Garnett might ultimately land. "They say in L.A. somewhere," Cassell said. "I hope it's not with the Lakers. They've got enough over there." Cassell, one of Garnett's closest friends, would like to play with Garnett again. "He'd definitely be welcome," Cassell said reuniting with Garnett, this time in Los Angeles. "He's a great guy. He's an excellent teammate, but more importantly, he's a wonderful friend. Besides the X's and O's, he's just a great friend." Cassell said Garnett keeps quiet about the situation in Minnesota. "He's all right," Cassell said. "Kevin ain't going to complain too much. Kevin's going to be Kevin. He's never going to complain about too much of anything. He's going to make it a game of poker. He's going to play the hand that he was dealt and play it to the best of his ability. That's one thing I respect about him." Still upset: Cassell said it doesn't make sense to him why the Wolves traded him in August 2005 to the Clippers. More than a year later, it's clear the move didn't sit well with him. The team's struggles in 2004-05 widely were blamed on Cassell's and Latrell Sprewell's discontent. They complained about their contracts heading into that season. "I don't hold grudges," Cassell said. "What's done is done. But to blame me for our faults, the year after I helped take this team to the Western Conference finals (in 2003-04) when I was injured, was totally uncalled for. I'm over it now. "As I think back on it, how they tried to drag my name through the mud to say Spree and myself were the reasons for our downfall, you have to justify it some kind of way, so why not Spree and myself?" --

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