David Kahn came to an Target Center news conference this afternoon sleep deprived and dress casually in sandals (no socks) and spoke about yesterday’s deal that sent Mike Miller and Randy Foye to Washington for the fifth pick tomorrow night and three players.
Some highlights:
* He said the team definitely WILL NOT trade 5 and 6 for 2. “I want to be really clear on this,” he said. “We will not do that under no circumstances.”
# Kahn said he expects to hire a coach in July but called it “highly unlikely” that he would have someone in place for the start of the summer league season in Las Vegas on July 12.
# Kahn, on Foye getting a fresh start with the Wizards: “I just felt that he’ll just be better at the next place. Because here he went through kind of, what position is he? He had some injuries. He needs to find his groove, and I think he will.”
“I believe Darius could help us not just this season, but if he chooses to stay – he has an option for the second year. Darius can help us. He’s what’s known in the nomenclature as a spacing four, which is a power forward that steps out and shoots. Which with our team and Al Jefferson is a very effective quality.
“And lastly, I’m very intrigued by Pecherov. He was the 18th pick taken in the 2006 Draft. He’s a seven-foot forward. He’s really not a center or low post guy. He’s very young like everybody we deal with these days. We’ll have an opportunity to see him this summer and in training camp before we make a determination if we want to pick up his option for 2010-11.”
These are the Timberwolves, however, so of course all the excitement generated comes with a caveat. Most analysts and experts view the 2009 draft as one of the weakest in recent memory, with even the hottest prospects showing warts.
Kahn doesn’t buy that evaluation.
On Wednesday, Kahn shook off the notion that this move would have been a blow to a still-employed McHale.
“I thought he was very accepting of the notion that as long as it was a fair deal and we were getting value back, you can’t become too attached to players,” Kahn said Wednesday.
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