More Yahoo Kahn bashing

[Busch Legion]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_d ... nba,251975

<i>Sometimes you have to wonder if David Kahn is pulling an Andy Kaufman-esque stunt in the hopes of making us realize the inherent flaws in NBA front-office executives. How else to explain a draft used to choose several point guards, followed by a second draft choosing several small forwards? It's almost like he's trying to show us that making mistakes is part of being the president of basketball operations, and that if you accept and embrace that aspect of the job, you can be successful. Or something like that. I don't really get it, because these seem like a bunch of inexplicable moves coming in rapid succession.

However, for all his weird drafts, alienation of potential draftees and general badness, Kahn is in the midst of planning his finest transactional malady. From the Pioneer Press' Ray Richardson:

A day after Wolves management used Thursday night's draft to become a more athletic and open-court team, president of basketball operations David Kahn suggested that the 7-foot center from Serbia Montenegro could be the difference in whether Al Jefferson(notes) returns to the Wolves next season.

Kahn acknowledged Friday that he is looking into trading Jefferson, the team's leading scorer last season, if Milicic, an unrestricted free agent, is re-signed.

"It's the right time finally for us to explore this," Kahn said of a possible Jefferson trade. "I've met with Al and discussed this. If Darko comes back, there could be a need to create some playing time. We really need to get our front line settled."

You read that right. David Kahn is going to try to trade Al Jefferson because he re-signed Darko Milicic(notes). Yes, the same Darko Milicic that is regarded as one of the NBA's biggest draft busts, more for what the players chosen behind him became rather than his workmanlike production thus far; and yes, the same Al Jefferson who was the centerpiece of the trade that made it OK to let Kevin Garnett(notes) leave Minnesota. If this does happen, when coupled with Minnesota's draft-day trade of Ryan Gomes(notes), none of the players the Timberwolves got in return for KG will be a part of the team just three years after the swap. I'll let you write your own punchline, but I'd recommend something involving Gerald Green(notes).

Sure, it's true that the forward combo of Jefferson and Kevin Love(notes) isn't working as their skill sets are too similar, but this is just a pair of Bad Idea Jeans, if you ask me. Because of his knee problems, Jefferson is more valuable to Minnesota than any other team. That means Kahn is going to end up giving up a young, productive big man in order to make room for Darko Milicic? C'mon, son.

On the bright side, it's only two more years until Ricky Rubio(notes) comes to America. By then the NBA might have morphed into a "one point guard, four small forwards" league and Kahn will look like a genius. Just like Andy Kaufman. </i>

[TwinTimberVikes]

Yahoo's a joke, I'm switching my e-mail provider...

I think Kahn has done a pretty decent job as GM in Minnesota so far. He has brought in some talented players who have a lot of potential in Johnson and Rubio. They have a new offensive system which isn't taught over-night, plus they are a very young team. I have all the confidence in Rambis as coach and him being able to be succesful with the triangle offense here in MN. I see him and Kahn working well together, where Kahn really values and listens to Rambis and Ronzone's input and who they feels would fit well. Some GM's don't want coaches input when it comes to drafting. I mean even Webster said he heard in the background Rambis asking for his number. To me it sounds like Rambis was pretty jacked about him coming here otherwise he wouldnt have called right? Sure Kahn has made some questionable moves in the eyes of the NBA and even the Timberwolves fans, but maybe they have their reasons that people outside the orginization don't see just yet.

[shangrila]

Another thought inspiring article from Yahoo sports media. And only about a week behind the curve.

[TrentTuckerForever]

Think too about roster imbalances Kahn inherited... the PG and SF drafts (2009 and 2010) might not have happened on a team with two legit PFs and little else. Not to mention our annual lotto screwing. If the Wolves had the 2nd pick and had gotten Evan Turner, they'd be geniuses right now, on their way to a dynasty.

This is just like the Wojanowski stuff, reactionary and shallow. The Wolves had NO ONE at the three last year. I love Ryan Gomes, but he's a 7th man on a good team, a combo forward off the bench.

[prefuse73]

Our small forwards last year = Gomes / Wilkins / Pavlovic / sometimes Brewer

We got Wes / Hayward / Bjelica. we lost Gomes and Wilkins/Pavlovic will not be resigned. Webster is more of a SG/SF than just a SF and Bjelica can literally play pg/sg/sf/up-tempo pf. That seems to me to be upgrading the roster not creating a super glut at SF. I hate all this bashing. This draft was called one of the weakest drafts ever.... so I guess I just don't get it.

Heres to hoping that Wes is ROY and Darko/Webster fight it out for MIP.

[Foye]

Yeah Kahn bashing.

I love how all these analysts only articles are about how bad of a GM David Kahn is. You have a hard time finding an article about the Wolves whose purpose isn't bashing on the Timberwolves or David Kahn.

[Calinks]

Honestly, I think it's pretty damn stupid to let Darko determine if we keep a 20 and 10 guy too. I just have to assume Rambis knows what he is talking about in wanting this so bad. If Darko doesn't pan out though and we do movie Al, I will never let that go.

[Foye]

Honestly, I think it's pretty damn stupid to let Darko determine if we keep a 20 and 10 guy too. I just have to assume Rambis knows what he is talking about in wanting this so bad. If Darko doesn't pan out though and we do movie Al, I will never let that go.

I agree with that but I don't like all those articles written with the sole purpose of bashing the Wolves.

[jpatrick]

I've come to despise Wojo over at Yahoo, but I can't really disagree with this article. If we let Al go for pennies on the dollar, it's going to be hard to continue defending Kahn.

[Calinks]

Although I am not nearly as upset with Kahn as I was on draft night my faith in him is definitely shaken. We will see where this goes. Personnel moves are not all just him either, Rambis has his ear and if Rambis didn't want all of those forwards or if Rambis didn't prefer Darko over Love or Al then these moves might not be happening. If things go south he deserves some blame too. If things turn to gold he deserves some credit. Ultimately, the final decision is in Kahn's hands however.

[funkatron101]

A bit scathing, but I can't really say he is wrong.

It's still early, we need to see how this shapes up. I won't start judging Kahn until the roster is set this season, and still I can't really say much until we get a good sample size. This is the year Kahn shows if he is capable or not.

[Carpe Diem]

It seems that Kahn's personality alienates the Internet media and they are kicking him as the honeymoon in MN comes to an end.

[TMo519]

The problem is, people are holding Kahn at fault for even mistakes made before he was even here. They talk about the history of Timberwolves failures, and they just roll Kahn right up into it, like he had something to do with it. This team had terrible PGs and wing players, so wouldn't it make sense that the next two drafts are focused on those positions? I don't get why that's so odd, really, I don't.

As far as moving Jefferson, well, I disagree with doing that. But if you can get a good scoring SG that fits the team we are trying to build, then who am I to argue the move. It really all depends on what we get. But that's why these kind of articles are so stupid, they take small pieces and make full judgments on moves before things have really even played out. Kahn didn't bring Jefferson in, he has no ties to Kevin Garnett, he didn't make that trade. So why even bring it up? It's a small factor, but Kahn can't sit there and not make moves he thinks are necessary just cause Big Al was traded for KG. That's not his problem.

[SSUBluesman]

The guy drafted a spot-up shooter who played zone with the #4 pick. He deserves everything he gets and then some, even though (almost) all of it is complete nonsense.

Does anyone really believe he's moving Al because of Darko? Seriously? He's looking to save money and has decided to install a system/style that does not fit the talent or win in the league. But instead of getting called out for that we get crap like this.

Oh yea, AL DOES NOT HAVE KNEE PROBLEMS YOU ****ING HACK.

[collin_k41]

I think what he means to say is, "Darko fits our style of play better, so we will explore a trade for Al Jefferson." The problem is that we're never going to get fair value for him. Rather than us getting severely low-balled on a trade during the offseason I think we should at least give the guy until the deadline to prove himself. He'll show that he's back to his old self and that he still doesn't fit into our system so it'll make the return we get much much higher.

As for the constant bashing of our Wolves franchise.....I can't wait until we shove it straight back into their faces when we make it back to the playoffs.

[Worm Guts]

The guy drafted a spot-up shooter who played zone with the #4 pick. He deserves everything he gets and then some, even though (almost) all of it is complete nonsense.

Does anyone really believe he's moving Al because of Darko? Seriously? He's looking to save money and has decided to install a system/style that does not fit the talent or win in the league. But instead of getting called out for that we get crap like this.
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I disagree with most of your criticisms as much as Wojo's. He's not installing a system that doesn't work, and it's very doubtbul he's trying to trade Al to save money, but he did get terrible value at every spot in the draft.

[Twolves98]

Obviously these writers have never watched a Timberwolves game or listened to Kahn because Rubio is coming over next year and Milicic fits are offense unlike Jefferson plus he can play defense and he is only 24(I think)

[MN Die Hard]

Before we start assuming Jefferson is being traded for pennies on the dollar and that we're not getting fair value for him why dont we just wait and see what happens when/if he's traded. Kahn has repeatedly said he's not going to just give Al away.

And, it's not a matter of choosing Darko over Al; we have to look at it like Darko + whoever comes back in a Jefferson trade, e.g. Iggy. So would we be in better shape with Darko and Al or Darko and Iggy? Saying it's just between Darko and Al is short-sighted.

On the same token, not that we have to continue to defend the KG trade, but when you say Al is the last player remaining from the KG trade, wouldn't we have to look at what's on the roster now that we've received in exchange for those Boston players? Yes Gomes is gone, but Webster is here in his place. We got a 2010 2nd from Houston for Gerald Green....I'm not sure but I think that's the pick that became Prestes.

The Kahn bashing comes from the same type of thinking as the "Rubio ain't coming to MN" thinking.....light on facts and high on short-sighted assumptions.

[SSUBluesman]

The guy drafted a spot-up shooter who played zone with the #4 pick. He deserves everything he gets and then some, even though (almost) all of it is complete nonsense.

Does anyone really believe he's moving Al because of Darko? Seriously? He's looking to save money and has decided to install a system/style that does not fit the talent or win in the league. But instead of getting called out for that we get crap like this.
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I disagree with most of your criticisms as much as Wojo's. He's not installing a system that doesn't work, and it's very doubtbul he's trying to trade Al to save money, but he did get terrible value at every spot in the draft.

No running team has won a title in the last ten years. The only two to have any sustained level of success were the Suns and Nets, and they were led by Nash and Kidd. The Nets benefited from an incredibly weak EC while the Suns best teams were when they scaled back their emphasis on running and played some defense and had a bench.

You may refuse to call trading Al for expirings as saving money, but that's exactly what it is. It's highly doubtful that he gets moved in a SandT and slightly more likely that he's moved for a contract of similar value/length.

If, after last year's draft, Kahn said he was building around Harrison Barnes, who was going to be selected by the Wolves and play in 2011, people would have (rightly) decried his plan as absolutely idiotic. However he does largely the same thing with Rubio and people cheer him on it for it. I already know what the response is going to be, and it's not as illuminating as people assume. The point is that you're building for a player that is not here and will not arrive (if ever) for 2 more years. Rubio's not on this team until he's on this team.

[Worm Guts]

No running team has won a title in the last ten years. The only two to have any sustained level of success were the Suns and Nets, and they were led by Nash and Kidd. The Nets benefited from an incredibly weak EC while the Suns best teams were when they scaled back their emphasis on running and played some defense and had a bench. .

I don't see any reason being an uptempo team should be an inherent disadvantage, if anything it should increase the efficiency of your scoring. If you can give me a reason why it won't work, maybe I'll buy into it but I tend think it's mostly just a trend that teams have decided not run.

You may refuse to call trading Al for expirings as saving money, but that's exactly what it is. It's highly doubtful that he gets moved in a SandT and slightly more likely that he's moved for a contract of similar value/length.

Trading Al for expirings doesn't save money, it just adds flexibility. Flexibility I'd assume the Wolves use. The Wolves aren't losing money because they're spending too much, but because they're not making enough. The only way to fix that is to be competive.
The Wolves don't have much committed salary anyway. They could easily keep Al while still being towards the salary minimum. There just isn't much value in dumping Al with purely financial motives.