Kahn disappointed me in his first draft.

[GopherIt!]

Concerns:

We had four #1 picks and six overall to help remake our team and we only come out of it with one position addressed and now have a gapping whole at SG?

Are we really better off with Rubio/Flynn/fut 1st/3 dead weights vs Flynn/Lawson and Foye/Miller?

Congrats to the Wolves FO "intelligence" that had Kahn convinced Presti would take Rubio third and
leave us Harden to pair with Flynn.

Why not draft Curry at six? We really needed a shooter after trading Foye & Miller.

Is Flynn going to be better than Lawson? I'm not convinced that's the case. Why not move him instead? Ty Lawson was the engine that made National Champion North Carolina run.
He might turn out to be one of the best PGs in this draft so we trade him to a division rival? And we do it for a draft pick we are not going to see for possibly three to four years???

After trading all of our wings for a second PG, why not take a chance on Danny Green at pick 45 and and trade Calathes to Dallas if he is there at 47 instead? Green has a much better chance to make it on our team than Norel. We need wings NOW not a future second and a euro stash who will never be more than a third string PF on our squad.

I was feeling good going into the draft with our haul of 5/6/18/28/45/47. Our return on the Foye/Miller trade looks shaky in my book. I know it's early but I'm not very pleased with what Kahn managed to accomplish today.

edit - is that better 4ho?

[4ho5ive]

What a misleading title

[Calinks]

LOL yea misleading title. I do really like Flynn but if Rubio plays this year, do we need him? I guess he could be our backup 1 but I don't know, this is just strange. I think Curry would have been a great pick, Khan wants shooters and Curry can certainly do that. One of my bothers is heartbroken.

[FairDinkum]

I would have preferred Curry looking back, but theres obviously a lot we dont know that went on behind the scenes

If taking Flynn in order to trade him to Saci for Evans was the plan, and Khan knew this, I can only give him a pat on the back and say nice try. It's a shame if that trade did fall through as rumored, but hey nothing is set in stone yet, the draft finished 15 seconds ago. Let's see how this plays out first

I give Khan an A if trying to grab Evans was the reasoning behind the Flynn pick

[Tirion]

Flynn better than Curry potential wise and he wasn't a slouch in college either. If you're a young team, you have to think long-term. Flynn can explode to the rim at will and draw fouls at great rate. It's a new era for PGs in this league, you can't stop a penetrating fast guard without fouling him this days. Rondo, Rose, Brooks, Westbrook are all making a living in the NBA cause they can get to rack at will.

We traded a 18th pick at weak draft for a potential 12-15 pick in next year's much stronger draft. Value-wise that's a great move.

Our return on the Foye/Miller trade looks very shaky in my book.

Go tell that to Wizards fans.

[jade_hippo]

When Rubio is old enough to grow a beard like the Gasol brothers and Flynn realizes he can be a Terrell Brandon clone if he learns a midrange jumpshot and destroy defenses with his penetration and JeffLove pick-and-rolls, this day will make sense. We'll all be laughing with fingers full of championship rings while we drink our hot chocolate and icefish!

[Devilzsidewalk]

just remember how you felt when the Wolves got the #6 pick in the lottery and how you felt knowing those damn Grizz got to pair up OJ Mayo with Ricky Rubio. Miller/Foye for Ricky Rubio. We can't argue that part.

The #6 pick was just a matter BPA or reach on somebody to fill a position

I don't think Kahn expected Rubio to be the one available at 5 though

[TMo519]

Everyone's freaking out because we got two points. Seriously, there is no more important position on the court than the point guard, as the Wolves have shown over the last few years. If you don't have a good point guard, you're in trouble. I see no problem, if they liked both guys and their other picks were off the board, in drafting them and basically saying, alright, we'll try 'em together, if not, you hope one of two will blossom. Say Rubio flames out by Flynn turns out to be a stud. Now we still got a point for the future. You can get SGs all the time who can score, but finding decent points isn't easy. It wouldn't have been my methodology, but I'm willing to let this one play out. Plus, we got Wayne Ellington, who I liked, so that worked for me.

People need to realize you're not going to fix your entire team in one draft. If both Rubio and Flynn turn out to be beastly, but we need to part with one, that's quite a nice piece to deal.

[Vega06]

Everyone's freaking out because we got two points. Seriously, there is no more important position on the court than the point guard, as the Wolves have shown over the last few years. If you don't have a good point guard, you're in trouble. I see no problem, if they liked both guys and their other picks were off the board, in drafting them and basically saying, alright, we'll try 'em together, if not, you hope one of two will blossom. Say Rubio flames out by Flynn turns out to be a stud. Now we still got a point for the future. You can get SGs all the time who can score, but finding decent points isn't easy. It wouldn't have been my methodology, but I'm willing to let this one play out. Plus, we got Wayne Ellington, who I liked, so that worked for me.

People need to realize you're not going to fix your entire team in one draft. If both Rubio and Flynn turn out to be beastly, but we need to part with one, that's quite a nice piece to deal.

We have a winner. Good post.

[MLC84]

To get #5 you gave up Miller and Foye. Not gold, but 2 pieces with value.

Now you have 2 lottery-pick points and a whole lot of issues.

If Kahn picked Rubio on some contingency to get Evans from Sacramento - as some people are saying to rationalize/explain the pick - he is incompetent.

What was the plan with going out and getting the #5 pick? I don't have an issue with taking the best 2 players on your board. But not having looked into all the contingencies and figured all the scenarions out when you are only dealing with a limited number of possibilities is not good.

You have to figure one of these 2 guys gets moved.

I'm willing to see how it plays out, but you have to end up with Rubio on this team next year in order for this draft to be a success.

[Devilzsidewalk]

Rubio was one of 2 almost-consensus blue chip prospects in the draft and the Wolves got him for Foye and Mike Miller, there's no way you can spin that into a loss for the Wolves. Rubio wants to play in the NBA and the Wolves are the only door. Enough said.

[FairDinkum]

I think we messed up

Firstly, I don't think we expected Rubio to drop, so we sort of made a panic move and just went BPA and took Flynn at #6

Secondly, I think we expected to be able to move in for Evans but that didn't work out either and now we're stuck with Flynn

Sure, we can try and play them both but I think that's going to stunt their growth at the natural PG position and if we make them compete for minutes I can see Rubio losing out

My money is on Ricky going back to Spain for 1 year and Flynn getting first crack at the team

[the_bruce]

So we have Rubio now. This was actually my least loved draft scenario, but whatever it could
have been worse. Here are some positives in next year.

Flynn: Can run, get to the rack at will, good defender, will be good in spot up situations created by rubio judging from the dx pg article breakdown from may. Should easily be able to defend 1's.

Rubio: This is going to be rough imo. He's fairly long and tall, but can he guard 2's with Flynn on the court. I simply don't think so, but I'm willing to laugh at the attempt of running this lineup.

Brewer, Ellington, & Gomes: All should do well in spot up situations with rubio running the floor.

Love & Al should in theory work well with Rubio.

Songalia should actually be a great fit @ the 4 with Al.

Smith is actually a really good fit next to Rubio.

Thomas bruiser 3rd big is ok, but can we move him for a swingman

Opec....uh I don't know much about him. He's more of a 4, rail thin, but apparently a very good
rebounder and I think he has a faceup game?

Carney...I think we need to resign Carney to a modest contract.

Swinging the 18 for the cats pick is very solid imo.

We missed heavily on some picks imo. I think buddinger would have been a better fit than Ellington with the 28. ellington may be the better player, but buddinger would have worked well with Rubio and Al, big miss imo.

Should have taken Danny Green with the 45.

[Krapinsky]

16 months.

CHILL

[ChazzleDazzle]

Love the fact that we turned Foye and Miller into Rubio. He's not a sure thing, but he'll be fun as h#ll to watch, and could turn into a superstar.

I also loved Flynn, and I'm not sure it's a foregone conclusion that they can't play together. Flynn is a strong kid, if short, and Rubio is still growing. I, for one, want to see who we get to coach this team. I don't think they have to trade either one, and if Rubio has to end up staying in Spain for another year, we've still got someone to play the point and grow with the team.

Love the Lawson trade too. That Charlotte pick could turn out to be a really good one, and that was the #18 pick in a weak draft. Lawson could very well pan out, but I don't think there's any arguing that we didn't need 2 6' point guards on the team.

Ellington. Ok pick. Like his scoring. We'll see.

Wish we could have kept Calathes and let him develop in Greece, but I get the trade (was it straight cash? Anyone know?)

Don't know much about Norel--didn't seem like much of a prospect, but Philo knows his stuff. Doubt we ever see this kid over here.

Overall, I thought this was a good draft. I would have liked Rubio/Evans more, and fully expected them to go with Curry instead of Flynn, but I'm not sold on the fact that this can't work. I think even as is (and I agree that we have to resign Carney now), this is going to be an extremely entertaining team to watch.



IMO (and meaning no disrespect) too often "They made a horrible mistake" translates as "they didn't draft according to my wish list". My guess is, they'll go full speed into the coaching search (and free agency) now, and based on what their candidates are telling them, and who they end up hiring, THAT's when we'll find out of Rubio or Flynn gets traded. But if the new coach agrees with Kahn that they can play together, that's what we'll see...

[Tirion]

Majority of the fans are just bi-polar idiots (I know, I'm one of them). Last year they we're crying about Love trade, which turned out great, even if you consider Mayo-Love swap a wash (which I don't). This year they are crying about Flynn's pick. Wolves got Ricky **** Rubio, instead of Ndudi Ebi/Rashard McCants/Randy Foye. Just be happy for once.

[tviper]

as I posted last night, I thought Rubio was drafted to trade, and Flynn was the PG they had highest on the draft board after the first 4 were selected...however, after taking Rubio's teammate in the second round, perhaps Kahn was thinking ahead and is going to allow Rubio to develop a jump shot in Spain and bring the two of them over together to smooth the transition...at least the Wolves have options now as Rubio is a very valuable asset if they have to trade him, and I think he will bring a lot back in exchange...he has very unique skills...

[GopherIt!]

just remember how you felt when the Wolves got the #6 pick in the lottery and how you felt knowing those damn Grizz got to pair up OJ Mayo with Ricky Rubio. Miller/Foye for Ricky Rubio. We can't argue that part.

The #6 pick was just a matter BPA or reach on somebody to fill a position

I don't think Kahn expected Rubio to be the one available at 5 though

yeah, four point guards and michael jackson died, a parking violation and a maggot on my sleeve. yesterday was just not a good day.

IMO (and meaning no disrespect) too often "They made a horrible mistake" translates as "they didn't draft according to my wish list". My guess is, they'll go full speed into the coaching search (and free agency) now, and based on what their candidates are telling them, and who they end up hiring, THAT's when we'll find out of Rubio or Flynn gets traded. But if the new coach agrees with Kahn that they can play together, that's what we'll see...

I was trying to be careful with my wording despite my frustrations. I'm disappointed. Being disappointed is different than "the sky is falling", "horrible mistake" et. al. I am aware that it is a 16 month plan, we need a coach, etc.

[Esohny]

Honestly I feel fine about this. I actually really liked the Lawson move, (I might have preferred trading up for Clark) Kahn picked up what should be a higher 1st rounder in a much better draft. I liked the Ellington move. I agree that I would have liked Budinger, but by packaging the 2 second rounders to go a bit higher and grab him earlier in the 2nd round.

The only question is the Flynn-Rubio thing. Rubio was a no-brainer pick. Flynn less so to me, but I still think with the place our team is at, it's fine to just keep picking up a bunch of assets. Flynn can be moved for some good talent. As I might have mentioned in another thread, I'm not feeling great about Rubio-Flynn together, but I'd be interested to see how it worked. But having Telfair buried on the bench is huge relief to me.

[shrink]

Anyone who hates Rubio at the #5 is manic depressive. We were trying to trade up for him less than 48 hours ago, and we got him straight up for the 5. He's got more potential than anyone in the draft not named Blake Griffin. Chill.

As for Jonny Flynn, I've got no problem with that one either. I don't think anyone can say, "What a mistake because "Player X" is obviously better!" there were several guys who could have been chosen, and if they think he's the best player available, take him.

Two points:

1. I agree with Kahn's approach that the NBA is a superstar league. If you have lottery picks, try to get potential superstars. We are not a contender - we don't need solid but lower ceiling players.

2. Who freakin' cares if Rubio and flynn play the same position? We weren't going to be a 2009 contender anyway! In fact, our team is designed for 2010, with the cap space, three 1sts, and tremendous youth on the club. I think its just impatience that's causing anyone to stress over this, and they forget what's best for the wolves longterm.