Today at about 10:30, David Kahn and Rick Adelman will address the media for the final time this season. A couple of bullets to ponder in the meantime:
-Based on Adelman’s comments last night after the game, I think it is safe to deduce a couple of things. 1. Kahn and Adelman are not on the same page in regards to the bulk of the roster (the non-core as it were; and assume that is what I mean from here on out when referring to a rebuild), and 2. Adelman and the rest of the fanbase/universe ARE on the same page. Now this is a good thing in a sense. If you want to draw a single positive from the way the season ended, it’s that Kahn might finally get a clue that he has assembled a dreadful roster. Hopefully Adelman giving it to him straight will prove to finally be the straw that breaks Kahn’s back in terms of building his team around false conventional wisdom and ridiculous fallacies. I’ll spare the wet blanket of expounding on that. It’s Friday.
-As cynical as we want to be about Kahn getting another first round pick (like giving a knife to a child, like giving a fat person a $1,000 spending spree at a candy store, etc), having a first round pick this year is a good thing. I fully expect it to be moved. In fact, I think most of the team personnel will practically DEMAND Kahn move the damn thing. Now, what value it has remains to be seen, but packaged with some of the players on this team it could potentially net a rotation player.
-Derrick Williams had very few moments that deemed him worthy of a 2nd overall pick this year. However, he showed he has some really nice skills that could prove useful to a rebuilding team. We have slowly seen the value of Kahn’s lottery picks deteriorate as he holds onto them too long. It would be within Kahn’s best interest to trade D-Will for the highest possible value before it goes even further south. It happened with Flynn (wait and see how pissed everyone will be when Donatas Montiejunas becomes a good player for Houston, and understand he was packaged with Flynn for Brad Miller and a pick) and Wes, and it will happen with D-Will so long as Rick keeps him on a leash. It is just too hard for him to get minutes on this roster, as assembled, and develop into the player he could potentially be.
-I expect to see plenty of changes to the bench. The Wolves have several free agents, and a decent chunk of cap room. The FA crop this year isn’t anything spectacular, but it is certainly full of players who can help this team. However, with Kahn running the helm you just never know. Kahn’s body of work can be summed up as this analogy: the man dipped his hand into a jar with 400 pieces of candy in it. 10 were secretly cyanide pills. He picked all cyanide pills. Can he really pull that off again? Point being: Kahn can practically replace ANY of these guys with ANY available free agent and it would probably be an upgrade. He has done THAT poorly as a GM. Worse than McHale.
-This year is a rude awakening in a sense. It hopefully demonstrated to that odd faction of Wolves fans (a group that astoundingly still exists), that potential is a ruse word that means little in terms of the Wolves. If you think this roster (again, non-core) still has potential, you are just plain wrong. The young players assembled are by-and-by busts and have little hope of developing into major contributors in the future. It is time to cut bait and start over on building the bulk of the team. It should also serve as a reminder that even Rick Adelman cannot turn water into wine. A coach is only limited to the talent the GM assembles. And lastly, while injuries derailed the season, injuries effect every team in the league. Good teams step up. No one, other than maybe JJ Barea, really elevated their games when injuries effected key players.
-This last month proves how important Ricky Rubio was to this team. Having a playmaker, pass first guard in the mix. Without him, the team was completely lost. I am seemingly in the minority on this, but adding a playmaker PG to this team to hold the fort until Rubio fully recovers would be a good move. The last thing this team should do is rush Rubio back to salvage the early part of the 2013 season and risk injury aggravation. In the meantime, Kahn should add another point guard who can run a basic offense that doesn’t have a quick trigger finger and/or dribble the air out of the ball. If only Jason Kidd or Steve Nash were realistic….
-As a first time season ticket holder, I was very happy with the purchase. The last month and a half of the year was truly awful, Rambis-esque basketball. But the first 2/3 of the year was a fantastic ride and very memorable. It brought back memories of KG and Steph’s first year….16 years ago.
-Anyhow, despite all of this…where to even begin? This team needs a slap in the face in a bad way. Plenty of teams have cap space and better picks to use in trade. Kahn is going to have his work cut out for him this summer. I can tell you this much: Robin Lopez (yuck…but you KNOW Kahn loves him) and Jamal Crawford will not be enough of a boost. Cut bait on the losers and start fresh on the bench. Kahn: everyone will thank you for it. ‘Patience’ is no longer a word that applies to Wes Johnson…’awful?’ Now we’re getting somewhere. Everyone sees it but you.
More to come as the offseason begins….but for now, the playoffs are starting and there are going to be some memorable series’ to check out. Time for a break from the Wolves for a bit, eh?
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