haha, actually I used to play with CHA quite a bit back when he was on bodog. ahhh the good old days.

As for what the wolves didn't do this summer - I guess it's a little out of our control whether a lot of the guys want to come here or not or whether their contracts work out etc. I was just a little excited because I had heard for like 2 years this was the HUGE free agency year. Finally the wolves have an attractive franchise to play for imo, and we end up with Carl Buddinger turkey and a 30 yr russian gun. Just a little bit of a let down

Naw, not a huge FA year imo. Only huge for the media b/c of Dwight and Deron imo and the increased focus on "where will the huge superstars team up next?" storyline of the last few years.

But I dno, I may just be imagining that too. But it seems hard the last year or so to predict the FA market in terms of significant movement. I think a couple more years need to pass before the new CBA is really in full effect, everyone who will be amnestied has been, and those longer and larger pre-CBA contracts are off the books. At that point I think it will be easier to predict FA markets (lol predicting any market...but at least expectations may be possible).

Only a few teams are real players in that super duper star players storyline (Lakers, Kicks, Nets, Dallas - at least they thought they were in that mix). I'm probably forgetting some teams but basically no one else really has a shot at doing that via free agency. I guess a couple teams could if their owners went ape**** (like Portland).

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention is getting an amnestied player via auction. I think most teams have used their amnesty, but that is something that I guess it may suck a bit the Wolves can't be big players in. Like, Elton Brand was amnestied I think and he is a pretty valuable player (although a MUCH worse fit than Kirilenko I think). But yeah, there's that I guess for getting blue chippers.

yeah, Brand & Scola were nice amnesty possibilities, but somewhat redundant for us because of Love. He could play some minutes next to either of them, but the way everything worked out, we're a lot better off now.

Kahn says they're considering one more significant move that would be for a big man - the talks were initiated by the other team, and we're waiting til after the Olympics for discussions to continue. Some names being floated include P Gasol, D Howard, Verajao (sp?) - I have no idea if any of those are legit possibilities or not. How about DW + Barea + some future draft picks for Howard? Before everyone assumes he'd leave after this year, consider the fact that doing so would mean he'd leave a good team and ~$30 mil on the table to play for a (likely) worse team and ~$30 mil less over his next contract.

this offseason has been absolutely brilliant. and yes, signing kirilenko to a short term deal is better than overpaying batum long-term.

God I am so excited about the Wolves this year.

Excited enough for an EDM mixtape?

Hunh?

HUNH?

ARRRRRRRRRRE YOU RRRRRRRRRRRRRREADY!

I've actually been building one in my head, I'll figure something out for it for sure.

Lol jfc

Is it October yet?

Well it's definitely way too much money but:

1) It's only 2 years. A short bad contract isn't nearly as crippling
2) I think he'll be a good fit
3) You're gonna have to overpay players to come to MN to play for the Wolves
4) I think this team should be really fun to watch with all these passers
5) It's not my money
6) The deal is already signed

I lol'd

Ok you guys all made some pretty good points, I'm open minded about AK as long as he doesn't rock this haircut.

His haircut looked better from yesterday....not spikey though. But not super mullety/long either. Closer to that though .

Hopefully Adelman can help keep his hair in check.

Some rare good national publicity for the Wolves:

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...-s-hoops-stars

Alexey Shved (Russia)

The 6-6 guard has been the most exciting non-American player in the tournament, dazzling with deft ball handling and creative passes. He leads the Olympics in assists and his mastery of the pick-and-roll is outstanding for a 23-year-old player. Not only does he have all the skills to be effective -- a pull-up jumpshot, slick handle, great vision -- he really knows how to use a screen. He’s patient and will gladly smash his defender into a screen a couple times before he gets the angle he wants. The downside is that he’s almost equally bad at defending pick-and-rolls. Shved will play next season in Minnesota, where he is sure to become a fan favorite even as his turnover totals mount.



Andrei Kirilenko (Russia)

After leaving the NBA to return to Russia, Kirilenko is turning in an all-time "Remember me?" performance -- making his two-year, $20 million contract with Minnesota look reasonable. At times before he left Utah, Kirilenko looked sluggish and disinterested. But with his countrymen beside him, he’s been the rangy, slashing, two-way force that made him an NBA All-Star. The Russian national team’s Princeton-informed offense involves plenty of passing and cutting, and Kirilenko has looked great catching on the go then performing a quick move to reach the basket. That’s great news in Minnesota, where coach Rick Adelman runs similar sets.

What spot will Shved play for us?

What do you guys think the season win total on the tpups will be?

They both stunk it up against Spain today.

At first I thought he'd be moslty a 2. After watching Russia's first few games I think he could play a lot at 1, especially before Rubio comes back. He might see a little time at 3, but probably not much.

I thought I heard the over/under line is ~45, but I cant find it listed anywhere online. If that's true and if I go to Vegas before the season starts, I'll be putting significant money (for me) on the over.

I didnt see the game - did you?

I heard Shved didnt run the plays the coach wanted him to and didnt play much defense, so he only played 7 minutes and sat and sulked. Not good news.

I looked at the box score, and although AK didnt score much, he did a few other things

I only saw the box score and read the recap. Should have put a "FWIW" before or after my comment. It's only one game.

Before reading cha's comment about what he thought the Vegas o/u was I thought they would win about 47.

Just turned on the Russia-Australia game at the start of the second half,

AK47 all over the place

Shved, haven't seen

AK47 just had an absolutely circus and 1 where his off arm was being held on the entry pass over the top at the low post, so he caught the ball with one hand and quickly flipped it high off of the glass.

Ended with 13 points in 17 minutes.

Russia lost, but maybe they weren't giving 100% since I think they won their group already.

I didnt see this, but I read that Shved was talking to a teammate at the same time the coach was talking. The coach got mad and told him to stop talking. I imagine if he's that immature when he's playing for the Wolves, he will find a home at the end of the bench. Its a shame if that happens because he has a lot of skills.

We signed the Russian coach?

No, but Adelman wont put up with that kind of ****.

I'm not too worried about any of that carrying over to the NBA next season.