Zach LaVine has insisted that the Minnesota Timberwolves are determined to finish the work started by Flip Saunders.

The Timberwolves returned to practice on Monday just a day after it was announced that head coach Saunders had passed away following a battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Saunders had returned for a second spell with the team in June 2014, but he was diagnosed with cancer in the summer and had been hospitalised for the past month.

"You just got to thank the world for him," Timberwolves guard LaVine told reporters. "I'm going to go out there and do everything I can to show him and show the world and this organization his vision for this team, it's not going to die. We're going to go out there and put on for him."

Interim head coach Sam Mitchell will lead the team in their season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.