From Don Seeholzer/Pioneer Press:
“If it means that we have to wait a year, we’ll wait a year,” Kahn said. “If it means two years, two years. He’s 18.”
Rubio did not attend today’s afternoon press conference at which the Wolves introduced their other two first-round picks: guards Jonny Flynn of Syracuse and Wayne Ellington of North Carolina.
New York Knicks president Donnie Walsh said he plans to call Kahn to ask about Rubio.
“I haven’t spoken to Minnesota; I will,” Walsh said today at a press conference introduce draft picks Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas, according to the New York Post’s Web site.
* He said he received calls from three NBA executives Friday inquiring about Rubio’s availability and didn’t rule out trading anybody said some day, but said he had no intention of doing that now. Knicks boss Donnie Walsh, Kahn’s mentor, said in a New York news conference that he will call Kahn about Rubio.
* Rubio is unlikely to play for the Wolves Vegas Summer League, which gathers July 9 for practices and games. Flynn and Ellington both are expected to participate.
“We will put no pressure whatsoever on Ricky or his family or his agent during this process,” Kahn said. “Again, it’s something that starts with a threshold issue. It’s a contractual issue that he will have to resolve. To the extent that we can be helpful, I said we will. We won’t be banging our fists on the table or saying things that are intended to make things more difficult.”
The irrepressible Flynn will be more than happy to handle the point guard duties full-time until Rubio arrives. A natural leader, the Syracuse guard has no doubt he can play with Rubio.
“I think we can really do this,” Flynn said. “To be able to have two good decision-makers out there who can facilitate from anywhere on the court, that’s just lethal. I’d love to get him here and really try to work this thing out.”
The Timberwolves took Flynn over the more highly touted shooter, Stephen Curry, another point guard. Kahn said he envisions Flynn as one day becoming one of the best on-the-ball defenders in the league along with having the ability to play off the ball with Rubio.
“We love Jonny Flynn,” Kahn said. “It’s as simple as that. We love Jonny Flynn.”
“The NBA is full of great players. You look at all the successful teams in the NBA, you have superstars at every position. I think if you can play the game of basketball well, you should be able to play with anybody on the court. Hopefully we can get this thing resolved and we can be here with Ricky. And me and him can be on the court together and he can me look well and I can make him look well.”
Flynn on whether he can defend taller point guards:
“I think at my size, every point guard in the NBA is bigger than me. I’m going to have to get used to that right away. The way the workout was set up, we played a lot of one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three and things like that. So I got to guard Tyreke a lot. He’s an amazing basketball player with great talent. It was good just to get that under my belt and see how that was.”
“It wasn’t that he wasn’t a fit. I think we get trapped sometimes saying that wouldn’t have worked. That wasn’t the case at all. He was very high up on our draft board and we have enormous respect for him. We love Jonny Flynn. It’s as simple as that. We love Jonny Flynn. Seriously, one thing though that I will say that is remarkable is I’ve been listening for the last 15-16 hours, ‘How could you take a second point guard?’ And frankly Steph Curry has been telling everybody, his father has been telling everybody – Dell – his agent, ‘He’s a point guard. He’s a point guard. He’s a point guard. He’s not a shooting guard.’ So if we had taken Steph Curry, we would have had a point guard. I’m kind of puzzled.
Kahn said he plans to start interviewing candidates next week and hopes to hire someone by the end of July.
“But if it’s Aug. 1, I hope that people aren’t terribly disturbed,” he said. “I think that the critical issue is getting it right.”
Kahn wouldn’t discuss any candidates and said he has no timeline.
He did say that any decision on assistant general manager Fred Hoiberg, GM Jim Stack and the rest of the personnel department will have to be tabled until August while the coaching search runs its course.
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