An announcement that the Minnesota Timberwolves have hired Kurt Rambis as their next coach appears to be just a matter of time. Yahoo.com reported early this morning that the Los Angeles Lakers assistant, after meeting with owner Glen Taylor and Wolves executives, was putting together a coaching staff in anticipation of receiving a formal offer today.

According to the report, Rambis is expected to hire longtime assistant and former Boston Celtics assistant general manager Dave Wohl as his top assistant and could keep one current Wolves assistant — Ed Pinckney or Dean Cooper — on staff.

The report also speculated that Rambis' hiring could help the Wolves' chances of luring No. 1 draft choice Ricky Rubio from Spain, because Rambis has a good relationship with the point guard's agent, Dan Fegan.

Wolves president of basketball operations David Kahn had no comment Wednesday night on reports that Rambis had flown to the Twin Cities to meet with team officials.

Rambis is one of three finalists for the job, along with ESPN/ABC analyst Mark Jackson and Houston Rockets assistant Elston Turner.