Minnesota Timberwolves Off-Season Thread... Training Camp, to Mankato they go.

JPZ I forgot about that :smh:

These writers have the power of the pen. Lucky for him he was able to get Love to bite on this angle but I'm glad Love came out and called him out on it too and said there far more positive things discussed that Woj never bothered to ever use.

Kahn is screwed either way (we know this) because the media mafia anointed him enemy number 1 and it's been open season on him ever since. Throw in the fact Kahn is in the Minnesota market and it's even easier to act like he is unwarranted.

The beauty of this here (and I am not defending Kahn) is that a year ago when he inked Love to this deal there was writer after writer questioning Kahn for even giving him max money whatsoever. "Love is not a franchise player." We had to defend it even on here. Hilarious.
 
Ricky Rubio tonight :pimp:

Yeah, that's true I totally agree. He's set up to fail no matter what.

PS... I don't subscribe to the belief that the draft is so system-ized like I think you've said you believe a couple of times by the way. Since Kahn has been here, he has been given four Top 6 selections in drafts. And he's only hit on one of them. One. Just imagine where we would be if he had at least gotten ONE other selection correct? You should AT LEAST have a 70% success rate when it comes to picks that high. I don't buy that no one really knows how these guys will end up/Top 1 is the only guarantee, and that every GM would have taken these guys this high. There are guys like Damian Lillard that get taken every year, and people go "What? How did he rise so this high?" Reason: Great scouting by the front office and specifically the GMs. And Kahn doesn't know how to do that. At all.

What NBA skills did Wes Johnson have coming into the association? How polished was Derrick Williams coming out of college? These were things that were easy to see. And just because most writers/analysts or people have those guys ranked in those spots, doesn't mean NBA GMs, the guys who are on the frontlines MAKING the decisions and receiving a paycheck to watch these guys play, should be allowed to think like that.

If you have less than a 30% success rate grading players in the Top 5 or 6, you're in over your head.
 
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Rubio back = More clock for Dwill his alley opp buddy :lol:

Maybe a knee jerk reaction but Rubio is gonna force his way into Best PG in the league discussion.



BUT MAN HIM GOING FOR THE BALL BY THE SCORERS TABLE :smh: :smh: :smh: :smh: :smh: haven't been scared like that in a while
 
Solid win last night.

Really happy the T-Wolves are 3 games over .500 and BY FAR the 6th seed in the West right now. Next closest is the Jazz and they have three more losses than Minnesota does. Almost 25% of the season in the books, 99% of which is without Rubio and about 50% without Love... and the T-Wolves are the 6th seed in the West as it stands?

:pimp: is all I really can express. Feels good. Now they just gotta keep up the winning ways.

Can't wait until they get their full roster going. Not to mention, guys like Brandon Roy (who will start practicing without any restrictions next week) and then Chase Budinger at some point in the latter third of the season, are going to return.

Beatable Orlando team on Monday.... Well lets go then.
 
Just to show the futility of David Kahn.... I've done a little research.

The Wes Johnson File

Averages 2.1 PPG, 0.8 RPG. Highest amount of minutes played all season is 16... and that was in a 30 point loss to Detroit. He has played a combined twelve minutes of basketball in the month of December.

The Jonny Flynn File

Our former #6 overall draft pick: Playing in Australia... at the age of 24. He's led his team to a record of... wait for it: 2-8.

The Michael Beasley File

Countless Blogger and Writers marking him as a team cancer.... even using the word "toxic".

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...illstone-yet-another-team-190115213--nba.html
http://www.slamonline.com/online/nb...kely-to-lose-his-spot-in-the-starting-lineup/
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/e...sley-is-toxic-to-suns-roster-shakeup-imminent
http://www.slamonline.com/online/nb...ouraging-to-be-benched-in-the-fourth-quarter/

The Lazar Hayward File

There isn't one. Our first round pick from two years ago is not on a NBA roster. Cut from the Houston Rockets on October 27th.

The Darko Milicic File

Asked to be released from the Celtics a month ago. They granted it. He's back in Europe, sure never to show his bleach blonde haired ugly mug in the States, ever again.

View media item 177540
He reminds me of that guy we all saw in our History textbooks as kids.... Chinese dictator Mao Zedong.

View media item 177541
 
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Trading away Corey Brewer and Kosta Koufos for Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry was an underrated bad move.
 
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I used to think Jonny Flynn would have a decent NBA career.
Im suprised no team wanted him, Im sure if given minutes he could easily average 15ppg 7 apg on 30 minutes
Im pretty sure he would have a better career than Jameer Nelson.
Dude averaged 13.5 ppg in his rookie year, but then it went downhill :smh:
But yeah I was angry when they drafted Wes Johnson, you knew that kid wasnt going anywhere.
Jury's still out on Derrick Williams, but I wasnt over the moon with that pick.
 
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PMatic said:
Trading away Corey Brewer and Kosta Koufos for Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry was an underrated bad move.
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At the time I think all TWolves fans liked the move because Anthony Randolph was still a rising stock despite not getting any playing time in NY. Not to mention, there were rumors that Kahn was going to send Love to Golden State for Randolph, and to think not shortly thereafter they were just getting him for Brewer and Koufos intrigued folks.

Bad move. Getting Eddy Curry helped the Timberwolves cap wise though.
Brondiesel said:
I used to think Jonny Flynn would have a decent NBA career.
Im suprised no team wanted him, Im sure if given minutes he could easily average 15ppg 7 apg on 30 minutes
Im pretty sure he would have a better career than Jameer Nelson.
Dude averaged 13.5 ppg in his rookie year, but then it went downhill :smh:
But yeah I was angry when they drafted Wes Johnson, you knew that kid wasnt going anywhere.
Jury's still out on Derrick Williams, but I wasnt over the moon with that pick.
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I wasn't ecstatic or angry either way about the Derrick Williams pick... I just knew he was pretty raw. And if it's even possible, he feels even more raw than when he came in.

Everyone said Flynn "would be good" and when he wasn't, they said "he'll do better on another team"... Well, that didn't happen either. He had stints with the Rockets and the Blazers and flamed out. He just wasn't that good, to put it simply. I really doubt he would have been better than Jameer Nelson in any situation, going off what we know now.

Wes Johnson was the biggest head shaker. Didn't fit the team, old for how young he was, no distinct NBA skills... just didn't understand it. :smh:
 
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It's going to come down to Love or Kahn in two years. It was pretty easy for me to pick my side.
 
I still think Flynn is a back up it's just weird how he never really got a chance to show that after signing Luke and Ramon ( which is STILL my biggest issue) they were more loyal to them b/c they were paying him and he was injured and he could be moved.

Derrick for sure just needs the time and patience of a coach I think he'll be decent player not top player status...maybe Josh smith?
 
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I agree with the comments.

Kahn's moves have been pathetic. It seriously still keeps me up at night, and this DWill situation is BEYOND frustrating (whatever the reasoning is). But what I have said before, and maybe I was too bold in saying it, was that Kahn to me is just another GM and NBA GMs aside from about 5 of them now do nothing for me whatsoever. What I look for now is can they handle the cap and can they have a vision that allows the team to compete year in and year out. I'm done worrying about the drafting part because it's such a crapshoot as these guys have proven over and over again.

This is the hardest sport to predict future prospects that it's not even funny. The initial Wolves expansion front office couldn't do it, McHale couldn't do it (yes he picked KG and Marbury but go look at his other draft and FA decisions which we all remember well) and now Kahn can't do it. Even well-respected GM's like Dumars and others have CRAPPED THE BED with some of their picks.

What would we be saying about Kahn if HE chose Darko over Carmelo and DWade, or if he chose Hasheem Thabeet #2, or Adam Morrison #3, or if he passed on Durant at #1 like Portland did or passed on Chris Paul and Deron Williams to take Marvin Williams like Atlanta did.

Now with that said...the one thing Kahn does NOT have is at least some success to fall back on. McHale had some success, Dumars obviously did, other GM's have. Kahn has been gifted Rubio and been given Love and Pek (both players were McHale picks). He has done almost nothing other than that besides clearing cap (credit there but not that hard) and clearing junk players as well as making ******ed statements every month. He also bypassed Curry to take Flynn. :smh:

Time will tell what happens with all this, but the fact of the matter is the team's drafting has set them back a decade and that is painfully obvious. They have dropped the ball completely. But they seem to have found an angle with signing Euros and they did throw the bank out to land Adelman who has a system and a plan. We are a hell of a lot better off right now than three years ago.

From the sounds of things I would not be shocked to see Adelman's son take over the entire operation in the future and quite frankly that is fine by me, although we know basically nothing about him :\
 
He sucks in drafting, yeah. I think he's done a very good job at building this team via trades and free agency though.
 
Good point about the bigger draft busts that other teams have had. I guess my only comeback would be at the time a lot of people thought taking Darko, Thabeet, etc. that high was reasonable, so at least at the TIME it made sense. Did people think the Flynn pick made sense at the time? No. What about the Wes Johnson pick? No. But I totally see what you're saying. And I feel like those GMs don't get barraged and chewed out in the media as much as Kahn. Yeah, I will give credit to Kahn for finding quality players, even though it's a little funny to me that he has to go to go all the way to Russia to do it. :lol:

But what do I care, as long as they're good basketball players, fly them 5,000 miles to the Target Center and have them suit up.
 
This discussion and game tonight got me thinking to the point that I wrote about it. Read at your own risk. :lol:

Minnesota Run

Tonight the Minnesota Timberwolves host the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's a early season meeting that could very well serve to be a preview of a playoff series matchup. The Thunder seem to be the class of the Western Conference, on their way to earning the number one seed in the entire conference through the brilliance of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The Timberwolves, who have been dealing with injuries before the season even began may sneak their way into the playoffs after spending years toiling in the bottom of the Western Conference.

It's easy to forget that it was not that long ago the Thunder were in the shoes of the Timberwolves. They did after all have to walk before they could run. The franchise managed to play their way into the high lottery by way of finishing the 2007-2009 seasons with bottom five league records. However unlike the Timberwolves under general manager David Kahn, the Thunder (with a little luck) hit home runs on all three lottery draft picks with Durant, Westbrook and the now Houston Rocket James Harden. Since being hired as the general manager of the Timberwolves in 2009, Kahn has has four cracks at high lottery draft picks. Kahn hit a home run with Rubio, but has otherwise struck out the other three times up to this point. Those three strike outs include Jonny Flynn, Wes Johnson and Derrick Williams.

Flynn is currently out of the NBA, reportedly in Australia trying to revive his career after three forgettable seasons with the Timberwolves, Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers. He turned the ball over frequently, could not shoot for a scoring point guard and to top things off was a defensive liability. Flynn was picked ahead of guards Steph Curry and DeMar DeRozan, who both could have theoretically fit in with Love and Rubio. Johnson may not be far behind his Syracuse alum, as he is rotting at the end of the bench for the Phoenix Suns. Johnson was billed as a ready to contribute swingman coming out of Syracuse. But he didn't exhibit any consistent shooting in his two seasons in Minnesota (39/33/69 from the field, three point line and free throw line), nor much ball handling skills which is a problem as he was miscast as a shooting guard. Perimeter players drafted after Johnson include Gordon Hayward and Paul George. Williams has been inconsistent and unreliable in his young career, to the point that he may be on the trade block.

For franchises located in small markets like Oklahoma City and Minnesota that will have trouble attracting free agents, high lottery draft picks are a vital part in building a good team. They cannot afford to strike out so badly on high lottery draft picks. It's not that end all be all in building a good team, but it's pretty close. Some teams can get away with mistakes in the high lottery like the Memphis Grizzlies, but they prove to be the exception more than the rule. So here we are, with the Thunder owning the best record in the entire league in large part to their fortunes in the high lottery and the Timberwolves competing for a playoff spot because they couldn't even get average play out of their lottery draft selections under Kahn. Just keep that in mind that when you are watching Love gobble a rebound that results in a Rubio led fast break. Love and Rubio could have had Curry and George running with them tonight and in a deep playoff run.
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