apparently we got some guy that played in qatar that only the Timberwolves knew about

this was my favorite part of the draft, the analysts start talking about him and the euro expert says he didn't even have video or any info on the guy until a couple days ago and i'm pretty sure the game footage they had was from a YMCA gym

Several random thoughts about the draft. All in all, it was like Opposite Day for Kahn as he actually made numerous moves that made perfect sense in terms of the type of team they are trying to build.

- Drafting Williams the right move. As close to star potential as you're gonna see in this draft. Can easily be a 20 PPG guy in a year or two. Really hope Kahn is set on keeping him as he says.

- Flynn trade looked like anal rape on the surface but as you delved deeper, it was good for the Wolves, not fantastic. They ditched Flynn and another Euro forward who would get lost for minutes. In return, they got a plethora of lower draft picks (see next point) and a 'heavily protected' first-rounder. Regardless, we got multiple picks and a FIRST ROUNDER for Flynn. That alone is a win.

- The multiple picks that were picked up as the Wolves kept trading down were obv sold to pick up enough cash to fire Rambis since Taylor already promised they'd pay him the remainder of his contract.

It was mentioned in the main Draft thread but I'm pretty sure Taylor told Kahn if he was going to fire Rambis, he had to come up with the cash to do it (pay Rambis' contract and a new HC).

The continual selling of picks helped satisfy that. Keep in mind as well that the Wolves technically are going to be paying two top-5 picks this year in Williams and Rubio. It would have been nice to get another but if they had done that, I doubt they could have come up with the cash to dump Rambis.

So all in all, it was a *gasp* solid night for Kahn and co. They dumped Flynn, picked up an extra first rounder, acquired cash to ditch Rambis and got one of the few stars in this draft. Not sure if the second round pick - Malcom Lee - can make the team but he is a combo guard who can play SG which Wolves desperately needed.

I saw some fool on CBSportsline write an "instant analysis" article saying the Wolves were one of the biggest losers of the night. My "instant analysis" of that was 'are you ****ing serious?' Mainstream media dbags gonna mainstream media dbag.

OVERALL GRADE: A- AORN

I've never been so happy to be a TWolves fan, at least not since KG refused to punch AP back and C-Webb bricked that jumper.

I fell asleep before all the trades happened last night. I just read a couple of the summaries at CH & your guys' comments. My initial reaction: Kahn! Based on what I've seen so far, I think he did an excellent job this draft. I never thought I'd say that.

Nice write up ACG2x.

PS - for much better draft analysis than you'll see from the national media or the local papers, read what stop n pop and Oceanary say at Canis imo.

http://www.canishoopus.com/2011/6/24.../central-dogma

Long post about the Wolves' potential.

This will be a really fun team to watch for several years, IF we hire the right head coach, imo.

edit:

Malcolm Lee: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Malcolm-Lee-1355/

Targuy Ngombo: http://www.asiabasketballupdate.com/...a-hopeful.html

Targuy Ngombo is really Tanguy Ngombo, is really 26 years old, and is ineligible to be drafted by an NBA team due to his age. We likely will forfeit that pick. Nice job of due diligence.

http://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnes...ves-draft-pick

lol KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHN!!

I figured something would go wrong. Yesterday seemed too perfect.

Passed by David Kahn today in the skyway. He was shaking hands with a few people who (I think) were just fans and had the most smug grin on his face the whole time.

lol ngombo. oh well a 57th is worthless anyway and i'm sure they paid a pittance for it.

so you can't be drafted if you're too old? seems like a weird rule but w/e, would have been awesome if he came here for camp/workouts, blew everyone away and got a roster spot though

This is pretty funny. We bought the pick from Portland after Dallas made the pick and traded it to them as a part of a larger trade. There appears to be some question as to whether that trade will be null & void because the pick is nullified because Dallas is actually the team that drafted him. There might be a chance that we wouldnt have to pay the money, and it will screw up the Rudy Fernandez deal, lol. What a cluster****.

The deal is, foreign players are automatically eligible when then turn 22, and they can only be eligible for two drafts, so he was ineligible when he turned 24.

rofl that would be amazing and the Kahn hate around the league would grow, GMs gonna stop talking to Kahn if that happens

obv in that case the wolves should just make it right. accept the trade for nothing. or if that's not allowed, a worthless asset like the rights to a ****ty D-leaguer

or just give up the money the agreed to pay for the pick

or just give up we money the agreed to pay for the pick

there was a vote on ESPN who they thought would be rookie of the year amongst this years draft picks. D-Will was winning, but is he even the favorite on his own team? Serious question.

As far as numbers go, I could see him having better looking numbers than Rubio (because I dont think Rubios numbers will look all that impressive - low scoring, low FG %), but I think Rubio is much more important to the team's chances of winning games because he fills the need of ball handler and distributor so well.

It is possible Rubio could have absurd assist #s though, which would be nice. I've seen people projecting his Spanish league #s might translate to 10+ assists per game in the NBA if he plays enough minutes. If we got a good coach here & somehow win 35+ games, Rubio might get a lot of credit for the improvement.

btw, I think Rambis cost us at least 7 - 10 wins last year, as compared to what an Avg coach would have done with this team.

Bodog odds on ROY: http://sports.bodog.eu/sports-bettin...ayer-props.jsp

DW favored at 9-2, Rubio 8-1


also:

http://www.canishoopus.com/2011/6/28...le-kurt-rambis

I know nothing about Quin Snyder, but at least he isn't Rambis.

Snyder:
- went to & played for Duke
- has two degrees (law & ?)
- was the top assistant at Duke
- coached Missouri - was chosen ahead of Bill Self & Calipari
- went to 4 straight NCAA tourneys - went to final 8 once
- got fired (or resigned depending on which story you want to believe) because of numerous minor NCAA rule violations
- was a successful, hands on head coach of the Austin Toros - a very good D league team owned by the Spurs, formerly owned by none other than former Toro owner David Kahn who apparently hired Snyder
- is currently an assistant for Doug Collins with the 76ers

The stuff I'm reading about this guy makes me think he's similar to coaches like Bill Mussleman & Tom Thibadeau. Hard worker, always barking at either the players or refs, works hard to develop players and seems to care about them, is respected by his players.......he's basically everything Rambis isn't.

Hire this guy imo.

i like holding on to rambis until the lockout is settled. because the lockout is probably going to happen and the savings are supposedly significant.

I hate it because it makes me more nervous about the possibility of him returning to coach...eh, I mean ruin this team some more. Also, its not my money

**Longish - but I just started writing and kept going**

So I was thinking today about an overall "360" review of Kahn's tenure so far with the Wolves. I remember reading when he was hired that one of the ways he sold Taylor on his merit was by stating "No one will outwork me".

In essence, I think that's true. Whenever there are trade winds circulating, it seems as if the Wolves are always involved. Draft nights are the best (worst?) - for example Kahn did so much wheeling and dealing this go round that it was hard to keep track of which players the Wolves actually had beyond Derrick Williams.

I think it would be inaccurate to say that Kahn has detractors in the mainstream media. To be blunt, most mainstream media writers consider him and the entire Wolves franchise a laughingstock. Obviously, nobody has really given them reason to think otherwise. However, it's grossly unfair to apply a blanket statement for every move Kahn makes with a cutesy smartass comment ("KAAAAAHHHHNNNNNNNN", etc.) because he has brought some good to the Wolves.

My opinion about Kahn is that he really is a hardworking GM and is constantly trying to make the Wolves better. In fact, probably one of the best things he's done is hire Ronzone as an assistant GM. Ronzone has full GM potential written all over him and is an amazing international scout. Plus, he's much more polished in communicating with other teams and the media - something that gets Kahn into trouble.

I think that passion sometimes gets him a little too excited to pull the trigger on deals and make comments in the media that make both him and the Wolves look like fools. Remember, by far and wide the mainstream media are not very educated to anything happening outside a major media market like New York, LA and/or Chicago. Thus, they see Kahn as easy fodder for bad puns and jokes which are even easier to make given the number of wins under his tenure.

I'm willing to forgive Kahn a bit for the number of wins under Rambis because by many accounts, Kahn went out and supplied Rambis with the type of players he said he needed for his system. Were they top of the line talent? For the most part, no sans Love who was inherited from McHale.

That said, the way he's handled this Rambis situation has been embarassing. Even as a diehard Wolves fan, I have no defense for letting Rambis twist in the wind. Either can him and move on or give him one more year with the new blood - and do it quickly. What he's actually doing is building a reputation amongst the league of being a terrible guy to work for which will do the Wolves no favors in attracting any FA talent - coaching or player-wise. Not that we ever did to begin with, but this makes it far more difficult.

In summary, I respect Kahn's passion for his job and the game of basektball. I truly believe he is a hard worker who is doing what he feels is right for the team - so in essence what you'd expect a GM to do. He hasn't bended (so far) to media pressure and proceeds in what he feels is the best direction for the franchise.

However, his execution continues to be the issue; as does his inability to see the forest beyond the trees. For example, not realizing that regardless of what happens with the Rambis situation, it will leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who may have entertained thoughts of coming to the Wolves.

Additionally, one thing I haven't read or seen is any players or front office staff coming to his defense. For example, you don't see Love tweeting "Leave Kahn alone, our GM has us on track..." or Rubio giving interviews about how respectful and patient Kahn was in letting him decide when to come to the NBA.

So for passion, desire and work ethic, I give him an A. For execution and polish, C- at best.

i must be the only one but i think the rambis situation is fine. don't cry for rambis, he's one of the worst coaches of all-time and he's getting paid either way. it makes perfect sense (financially) for the wolves to refrain from hiring another coach until the lockout is resolved. i just don't see the problem.

i mean if he wants to coach elsewhere he can quit and void his contract imo. otherwise, he has a contract to adhere to.

Kahn's main fault as far as I'm concerned - he makes decisions too much based on what he sees in small sample sizes and disregards/doesnt understand stats. This is what led to the Johnny Flynn pick, which was the worst draft choice in this franchise's history (based on wasting that high of a pick on a worthless player).

He does appear to work hard. I'd rather have someone who works smart and hard who pays more attention to things that matter. Ronzone is a decent hire, but I'm not ready to say he's GM material.

Minor gripe from yesterday: wtf. Why would you extend the contracts of two worthless players? Ellington & Hayward have negative trade values. Picking up D league players better than them for a lot cheaper should be fairly easy. Plus we have ~15 players already under contract.

I saw convincing arguments yesterday that last year, Ellington was possibly statistically THE worst player in the NBA (I'd say Flynn was worse, but whatever). We just guaranteed he'll be here for two more seasons (unless we can dump his sorry ass in a trade). He's had plenty of minutes and two years to show something and he hasn't shown the ability to handle the ball, play defense, create off the dribble, or anything useful aside from hitting wide open 3s. He's a turnover machine who cant guard anyone.

Hayward is basically useless. He played the 4 and 5 in college, and is too small and unathletic to play either in the pros. He's too slow to play to 2 or the 3.

More on Ellington, copied from a post at canis:

Ellington was bad last year.

Ranking for players with at least 1,000 minutes played:
PER: 252 out of 255
WS/48: 250 out of 255
eFG%: 214 out of 255 (this one’s particularly troubling if he’s supposed to be a marksman off of the bench)

Potential is a subjective thing. Wayne could get better, but his second-year stats are actually worse than his first-year stats. That’s not a good sign.