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http://www.nba.com/2009/news/powerrankings/08/17/offseason.rankings/index.html

#27

The David Kahn era is less than three months old, but he's certainly made his mark. His is a long-term plan and the Wolves have got the building blocks for a bright future, but Kahn may be the only one who thinks drafting two point guards back-to-back was a good idea.

Thanks for posting .. it was an interesting read.

Part of me hopes that we were 30th, because I've resigned myself to our season starting in 2010. Foye and Mike Miller weren't stars, but I think we will feel their loss. However, I was surprised to see a few teams above us (like MIL).

I don't think we'll be as bad as some people think.

I don't know if that's a good thing.

shrink wrote:
I don't think we'll be as bad as some people think.

I don't know if that's a good thing.

Hopefully we won't be as bad as people think. That would imply that our young players our good. It's nice to have a high draft pick, but it doesn't mean as much if Jonny Flynn is a bust, Kevin Love regresses, and Al Jefferson never recovers from injury.

shrink wrote:Thanks for posting .. it was an interesting read.

Part of me hopes that we were 30th, because I've resigned myself to our season starting in 2010. Foye and Mike Miller weren't stars, but I think we will feel their loss. However, I was surprised to see a few teams above us (like MIL).

I don't think we'll be as bad as some people think.

I don't know if that's a good thing.

It's because of this I'm looking into the 2010 draft. I know it's too soon, but it's too bad a ton of the prospects are power forwards.

Basing this off the rankings, we have our own pick (most likely 1-6), Utah's 21st pick, Houston's 45th pick, and we won't be awarded Charlotte's pick (which makes me really happy).

I like that the Wizards are top ten I think a lot of people are sleeping on them.

better than I'd have thought, I'd think we'd be last, but he wisely realizes Jefferson/Love is massive beatdowns for everyone

*edit - just realized again another person pulls the "drafting 2 PGs was dumb" argument without offering up what a better solution would have been. You have.NO balls. Good day to you sir.

No way the Wolves are better than the Knicks this year. This roster is really bad right now. 29 or 30 is where I'd have them.

I hope we're not as bad as they think.

Jefferson is supposed to be our "star", like Kevin Durant is to OKC. IF Jefferson returns to original form and Love continues to develop, we should be better than most people think. If we are bad or even worse, we should really think if Jefferson is our guy to lead the way.

Then again, we have nobody on our roster worth respecting outside of Jefferson and Love.

theGreatRC wrote:I hope we're not as bad as they think.

Jefferson is supposed to be our "star", like Kevin Durant is to OKC. IF Jefferson returns to original form and Love continues to develop, we should be better than most people think. If we are bad or even worse, we should really think if Jefferson is our guy to lead the way.

Then again, we have nobody on our roster worth respecting outside of Jefferson and Love.

That's the thing. Al will be Al, Love is going to be better, but Flynn is a rookie, and will struggle. Gomes is very solid, and I think he'll have career numbers but the Wolves have the worst group of wings in the league. This is just a bad group outside a couple good pieces, and if the roster doesn't change much, I could see the Wolves with the worst record in the league.

Kahn isn't done yet. With all due respect to his moves so far, there is no way in hell we are going into the regular season with a starting backcourt of Flynn and Ellington/Brewer.

Yeah, after reading what I wrote, I realized our group is still young, and our vets aren't anything to tell your friends about.

mnWI wrote:No way the Wolves are better than the Knicks this year. This roster is really bad right now. 29 or 30 is where I'd have them.

I think it takes into account that the Knicks didn't sign Lee and Robinson yet...and Rubio or Sessions for that matter.

mnWI wrote:

theGreatRC wrote:I hope we're not as bad as they think.

Jefferson is supposed to be our "star", like Kevin Durant is to OKC. IF Jefferson returns to original form and Love continues to develop, we should be better than most people think. If we are bad or even worse, we should really think if Jefferson is our guy to lead the way.

Then again, we have nobody on our roster worth respecting outside of Jefferson and Love.

That's the thing. Al will be Al, Love is going to be better, but Flynn is a rookie, and will struggle. Gomes is very solid, and I think he'll have career numbers but the Wolves have the worst group of wings in the league. This is just a bad group outside a couple good pieces, and if the roster doesn't change much, I could see the Wolves with the worst record in the league.

KD will be KD, Green is going to be better, but Harden is a rookie, and will struggle. Westbrook is very solid, and I think he'll have career numbers. This is just a bad group outside a couple good pieces, and if the roster doesn't change much, I could see the Thunder with the worst record in the league. (Could switch Green and Westbrook, but you get my drift.)

klomp44 wrote:

mnWI wrote:

theGreatRC wrote:I hope we're not as bad as they think.

Jefferson is supposed to be our "star", like Kevin Durant is to OKC. IF Jefferson returns to original form and Love continues to develop, we should be better than most people think. If we are bad or even worse, we should really think if Jefferson is our guy to lead the way.

Then again, we have nobody on our roster worth respecting outside of Jefferson and Love.

That's the thing. Al will be Al, Love is going to be better, but Flynn is a rookie, and will struggle. Gomes is very solid, and I think he'll have career numbers but the Wolves have the worst group of wings in the league. This is just a bad group outside a couple good pieces, and if the roster doesn't change much, I could see the Wolves with the worst record in the league.

KD will be KD, Green is going to be better, but Harden is a rookie, and will struggle. Westbrook is very solid, and I think he'll have career numbers. This is just a bad group outside a couple good pieces, and if the roster doesn't change much, I could see the Thunder with the worst record in the league. (Could switch Green and Westbrook, but you get my drift.)

The situations aren't even comparable. This is essentially starting the first year of a rebuilding plan with the Wolves. They traded some proven pieces for younger talent, and became worse on the court this offseason as a result. The Thunder are in the third year of a rebuilding plan, and have much better pieces than the Wolves right now. I think people on this board underestimate how bad this Wolves team will be this year.

I'd be willing to wager that the Thunder finish with a better record than the Wolves. Probably way better.

We will be very, very bad. Hopefully we're at least decent to watch, even when all the young guys struggle, and the team shows some steady improvement under Rambis.

And hopefully the Bobcats and Jazz are both mediocre and we end up with two picks from 13-20 to go with our own likely top 3 pick.

Esohny wrote:We will be very, very bad. Hopefully we're at least decent to watch, even when all the young guys struggle, and the team shows some steady improvement under Rambis.

And hopefully the Bobcats and Jazz are both mediocre and we end up with two picks from 13-20 to go with our own likely top 3 pick.

Truth

I think Flynn is gonna be ultra bad ass though...

mnWI wrote:The situations aren't even comparable. This is essentially starting the first year of a rebuilding plan with the Wolves. They traded some proven pieces for younger talent, and became worse on the court this offseason as a result. The Thunder are in the third year of a rebuilding plan, and have much better pieces than the Wolves right now. I think people on this board underestimate how bad this Wolves team will be this year.

I'd be willing to wager that the Thunder finish with a better record than the Wolves. Probably way better.

Actually, we've been rebuilding since we traded KG. We're just doing a better job of it since the arrival of KAAAAAAAAHN.

I understand we'll be bad. We might even be worse than the Thunder. But we won't be the worst team in the NBA. Not when Zach Randolph and OJ Mayo are on the same team.

klomp44 wrote:

mnWI wrote:The situations aren't even comparable. This is essentially starting the first year of a rebuilding plan with the Wolves. They traded some proven pieces for younger talent, and became worse on the court this offseason as a result. The Thunder are in the third year of a rebuilding plan, and have much better pieces than the Wolves right now. I think people on this board underestimate how bad this Wolves team will be this year.

I'd be willing to wager that the Thunder finish with a better record than the Wolves. Probably way better.

Actually, we've been rebuilding since we traded KG. We're just doing a better job of it since the arrival of KAAAAAAAAHN.

I understand we'll be bad. We might even be worse than the Thunder. But we won't be the worst team in the NBA. Not when Zach Randolph and OJ Mayo are on the same team.

It's too early to say what type of job Kahn is doing. And we undertook a rebuilding under McHale, yes, but the process has started over with the arrival of a new GM. So we're taking a step back into the year one of a rebuild (by trading away productive veterans), while OKC has had a set plan since the arrival of the very intelligent Sam Presti, and they have quality starters at just about every position now, and a couple decent players off the bench.

I think Memphis finishes with a better record than the Wolves too (pending injuries of course). The Kings are the only team I could see potentially being worse right now, but I may change my opinion depending on any moves before camp on our end. This team could even be historically bad if left as is.

historically bad? Its not that bad of a team, holy christ