He wants his organization to be much more “extroverted” in its dealings with other teams and he wants to create a winning culture that will attract prospective free agents by being “upbeat” and “energizing.” He also said McHale’s biggest appeal as coach of such a young team is “he’s relentlessly optimistic and positive” and “able to communicate in a positive fashion.”
• He’d like to complement a core that he considers Al Jefferson, 24, and Kevin Love, 20, with players in the same “age range” who can all grow together. “It’d be great if we could figure out a trade and bring in somebody 25, 26, 27 who could help our team grow from within,” he said. “Otherwise, it is a very painful process.”
Kahn acknowledged that the Wolves have talked to McHale about bringing in a No. 1 assistant with head-coaching experience and indicated it isn’t an issue.
# St. Mary’s point guard Patrick Miller, Louisville forward Earl Clark, Wake Forest forward James Johnson and Florida guard Nick Calathes were the four players to work out Friday.
Today’s group consists of guards Gerald Henderson (Duke) and Terrence Williams (Louisville) and forwards Bryan Davis (Texas AM) and Ryan Amoroso (San Diego State).
# Kahn said the Wolves will hold their first comprehensive draft meeting Sunday and that there has been a lot of interest from other teams in their No. 28 selection.
Curry’s move is intended to aim him to New York and the Knicks, which pick eighth overall. Curry had an impressive workout for the Knicks Wednesday and is eyeing those Manhattan endorsement possibilities.
“News to me,” Wolves boss David Kahn texted Friday night when asked if Curry had pulled out.
Of course, Curry’s refusal to work out for other teams won’t preclude them from taking him on June 25. Kahn a couple of weeks ago, though, suggested the team wouldn’t take a player it hasn’t gotten a good look at in pre-draft workouts.
From Jonah Ballow/Timberwolves site:
Assistant General Manager Fred Hoiberg addressed the media after evaluating the four prospects on Friday morning.
“I think today you saw a lot of guys that had different skill sets, Earl Clark and James Johnson, I don’t know if they have an actual position but they are very versatile players, especially those guys at 6′ 10″, one of them 6′ 8″ and the other. They are very good ball handlers, they can shoot, they can keep the defense honest, and you can put them in a lot of different decisions, so it was a good workout today, those guys really worked hard.”
Hoiberg reacted to Nick Calathes’ decision to sign with Panathinaikos and how that affects his status for the upcoming draft. “It’s interesting, he still has a couple of days, he has till June 15 to decide whether he is going to pull out of the draft, which would make him automatically eligible next year after going to play at Olympiakos this season, so it’s interesting that he has already signed a three year contract to play over there, if you take him, keep his rights and get a good player for the future, or does he pull back and think his draft stock will be helped next year with how he plays this coming season, it’s an interesting case, it will be fun to see him play this year.
Guard is a top priority for the Timberwolves in the June 25 NBA draft and today’s workout list included two prospects that might be available with the last of their three first-round picks (No. 28 overall).
Patrick “Patty” Mills is a 6-foot-0 point guard from Australia who averaged 14.2 points in last summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing and 16.4 points and 3.7 assists in two seasons at St. Mary’s.
Despite his lack of size, he said, “I see myself right up there with the best of them” in this year’s point-guard crop.
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