[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

It has been well-documented that Kevin Love is frustrated with the state of the T-Wolves and wants management to surrond him with more talent.  I couldn’t help but think of the KG situation with Minny when the best management could do is surround him with Wally World, Trenton Hassell, Spree, and Sam Cassell.  KG stayed Minny about 4 years too long and it was unfortunate for him that Mchale wasted the prime of one of the greatest players of all time because he couldn’t surround the Big Ticket with enough talent to compete for a championship.  Granted Marbury left Minny and that combo could’ve competed in the Western Conference had they had stayed together.  I’m not calling Love KG, but I don’t think he will have the patience and loyalty Garnett had. 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Without Rubio the T Wolves lose. Rubio shows up they start to win. Rubio gets hurt they lose again. What was the question?

[drk3351Participant]

 They need to find balance on their roster and not to play players out of position. If means trading derrick williams for a 2 guard then they should. Also give wesley one more chacne and this time playing sf with budingger there too. And also you dont need both barea and ridnour to back rubio up, so maybe trade one of them for more depth somewhere else.

[GlenTaylorSucksParticipant]

I’d argue they’ve done a worse job building around Love than they did with KG. At least they surrounded KG with players who complemented his skillset relatively well. The best costar they’ve gotten for Love so far is Rubio, and it took him 2 yrs to get to Minny. Other than Rubio, who’s stood out? Al Jefferson doesn’t count…he’s an offensive black hole, and a horrible complement to Love. Jonny Flynn? Wes Freaking Johnson? Can you imagine how much better off the Wolves would be with a Rubio/Stephen Curry backcourt? Or a Love/DMC frontcourt?! Hell, even Paul George or Gordon Hayward rather than WJ! These were very realistic scenarios that the Wolves flopped and passed up on.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that Rambis (LOL) didn’t even START Love until he had that 30-30 game a year and a half back…yeah.

[Raef LaFrentzParticipant]

I’m sorry, but Wesley Johnson isn’t the answer at SF. People say that the Wolves have been playing him out of position, but in reality he played SF basically all year long.. Remember, we started a Rubio-Ridnour backcourt until Ricky went down with his ACL/LCL tear. Then after that we started Barea and Ridnour at those two spots.

Wesley Johnson, your time is definitely ticking..

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Dear Kevin Love,

Sorry Mr. Love. I really would like to build a great team around you, but there aren’t enough good white players out there.

Sincerely,

David Kahn

[theballerwayParticipant]

seriously though Rubio is the MVP/Franchise player if your talking about gettoing wins and making others better.  I hope Williams develops to but is he really a small forward

 

[HotSnotParticipant]

Compared to the greatest stars the NBA has to offer, Kevin Love is overrated.

Lebron took scrubs to the Finals.  DH12 took a team led by Rafer Alston at the PG spot to the finals (where a rusty returning Nelson ruined it).  Kobe took a team with Smush parker in the starting lineup to the playoffs.  Chris Paul has led mediocre teams to the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

When Love starts elevating the teams and players he plays with to new heights, then he can talk smack.  Right now he’s more concerned with stats then the complexities of winning basketball. 

For the moment, Love is figuring himself out, but he’s being impatient about it.  Minny has alot more talent to work with then other stars have had.  Love has had 2 amazing statistical seasons since he lost the weight and got more playing time.  He was playing for a contract.  Maybe this season he starts playing for wins.

[mds0549Participant]

I’ll be the first to admit that their talent level has been poor, but even if D Williams is in a position shared by Love then I think it was the right pick because he was the best player available.  He may have just been drafted to be a trading chip but they have already added Roy, I have a feeling that Portland will try to keep Batum from coming to MN unless they can pull off a trade and make the Wolves give up something valuable.  If they lose out on Batum, look for Lee to be in the mix. I still hope they can created some bench depth in FA by getting Shved, Hill and trade Ridnour so he can get some quality minutes somewhere like Dallas.

[Dr.RedParticipant]

Since Kahn came on board to run the operation, things have been terrible. Let’s revisit some of the history… He inherited a team that went 24-58 in McHale’s last year. McHale had started the housecleaning and began amassing young talent (Love, Pekovic).  Kahn comes in and cleans house, gets rid of McHale, and hires Kurt Rambis and his horrible version of the Triangle Offense (that is dependent on at least 1 superstar, if not 2). In his first draft, he takes Rubio and Flynn, then Lawson (whom he traded), and Ellington. Then signs Ramon Sessions. Acquires Darko at deadline, and pronounces him the franchise’s saviour at C (???). That team finishes 15-67. Next draft: Wes Johnson, Lazar Hayward, Nemanja Bjelica, Paulo Prestes. Trades Sessions for scraps and signs Luke Ridnour. Pekovic comes over from Europe. Trades for Michael Beasley. Mid-season he acquires Anthony Randolph for Corey Brewer and Kostas Koufos (???). That team finishes 17-65. Draft time, and Kahn takes Derrick Williams, a tweener combo forward, when he could have easily traded back and acquired more assetts and found a better fit for the Wolves’ needs. He also passed on a handful of good players with the 20th pick so he could trade it along with former #6 pick Jonny Flyyn for Brad Miller and cash, and a series of other trades netted them more cash and Malcom Lee. Lets not forget the Tanguy Ngombo deal in that draft. SMH. Rubio finally came over, and Love was shafted by Kahn, who wanted to save the max deal for a guy who had never played a game in the NBA, instead of giving it to one of the most vastly improved players in the game and the only notable franchise-caliber player on the roster. After a slow start things started to come together and everyone praises Kahn for the Rubio deal, etc., before they were hit with a rash of injuries. Kahn decides not to make any moves at deadline, even though it was obvious this team was falling to pieces. That team finishes 26-40. And so far this off-season, Kahn has disregarded need again and traded the 18th pick for Chase Budinger (???), who basically duplicates a couple guys who were on the roster, albeit for much cheaper. Now has signed Brandon Roy, and it appears Alexey Shved is on the way. I doubt Batum ends up in Minny, and for that contract, I’m not sure he is worth it. The team is better now than it was 4 years ago, but not by much…

To summerize… 4 lotto picks, 4 other 1st rounders, and a variety of cap space, etc., and this team may be able to grab that 8th spot in the playoffs in the 4th year of Kahn’s reign. And I stress, MAYBE! Other than maybe Phoenix, New Orleans, and Sacramento (whom might be better), I don’t see a team in the West worse off than Minny. I can totally understand why Love is pissed. All he has done is get better and better, while the Wolves have shown very little improvement. Without Rubio, the team was the same as the 2 previous seasons – HORRIBLE! Unless the Wolves make some major progress, Love will be walking in 3 years. Rubio soon to follow… Well done, KAHN!

[Andrew1984Participant]

@HotSnot: The ’09 Magic  team that Dwight Howard took to the Finals was really good. They weren’t superstars, but they were playing out of their minds. Pietrus, Hedo, Reddick, and ‘Shard were absolutely on fire for like 10-12 straight games. They were knocking down long range bombs left and right, and the space they were able to create for Dwight made guarding him impossible. Alston and Courtney Lee were attacking the basket and making great kick-outs.

With the height that Hedo and ‘Shard had, you couldn’t really make them put the ball on the floor even if you closed out hard on them, they’d just shoot over you.

When you look at that roster on paper, you might not see any other future HOFers, but when a team with that many shooters is clicking, they’re hard for anyone to beat. In fact, if Courtney Lee didn’t blow a buzzer-beating alley-oop layup as time expired in LA in Game 2 of the Finals, they’d have been heading home to Orlando for three straight with the series tied 1-1. But Lee blew the bunny and Kobe did his thing in Disney.

As far as Kobe taking a team that started Smush Parker to the playoffs, that’s a dumb argument too. A lot of great teams have a starter who isn’t necessarily a stud. LeBron won a ring with a team that started Joel Anthony! Oh wow, Miami must’ve been lousy this year! And they beat OKC, who starts Thabo Sefolosha! What a pathetic team!

[HotSnotParticipant]

Well I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.  Truth be told, I find your arguements just as "dumb" as you find mine.  Lets run down the championship teams of the last decade and the caliber of player that was on them?  There was Boston, Lakers, Miami, San Antonio… all stacked with multiple allstars and future HOFer’s.  Your really gonna say that the talent level Dwight had to work with was anywhere near those teams?  Lets not forget that last second missed layup by Courtney Lee that would have been a series changer.  The Magic were really close to winning it that year.  If you were to throw that Magic team into the rest of the Title Teams group… you have one really odd duck in there.

I was tempted not to respond to this post because its obvious, you don’t really know what your talking about.  Your sarcasm is misplaced when you mention Joel Anthony (who didn’t start all the playoff games btw) when he also happens to play with Lebron (one of the GOAT) Wade, Bosh.  Miami’s other starters Chalmers and Battier are vastly superior to Reddick and Hedo…   Bascially, Get a clue my friend.

[HandDownManDown13Participant]

@andrew

The lakers that Kobe carried were hot garbage. Smush played heavy minutes and they also relied heavily on Kwame Brown. I saw a quote where Kobe said Kwame would run away from open spots and ask Kobe to not pass him the ball. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t another good player on that team (between Shaq and the Pao heist right?)

You are right about that magic team. They were built perfectly for Dwight and SVG. Van Gundy believes the most effective way to score is by only shooting layups and 3’s. With Dwight, JJ, Hedo, and Shard that philosophy worked great. PG play ruined them. 

 

[Andrew1984Participant]

Cameron,

I wasn’t arguing that that Lakers team was a great team, I was just saying that the logic used in HotSnot’s argument is not valid. Just saying that there was a ho-hum player in their starting lineup doesn’t mean anything. But I agree, that wasn’t a stellar group.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

If you told somebody that Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook were on the same team in college, then you told him that they also had Darren Collison and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and were coached by Ben Howland you would think they would have easily won a title right?

Kevin Love is a very, very good player. But I am not sure that he is a SUPERSTAR yet.

[TheArtistPaysthePriceParticipant]

Minny gave KG 126 million dollars to be loyal, they gave K Love a three/four year deal that he was displeased with the moment he signed. New Orleans should consider the ramifications of half maxing a guy out that holds a grudge.

[TheArtistPaysthePriceParticipant]

Especially if they happen to draft a guy that plays your position in your contract year.

[Tyreke JohnsonParticipant]

The Timberwolves have a good team and as far as talent goes, with their roster, they should compete for a spot in the playoffs. Rubio was the main reason the wolves are now over the top and a borderline playoff team. Love is an extremely gifted and talented offensive player but he really needs to work on playing defense because the wolves will not go far if Love can’t guard  Blake Griffin, Gasol, Randolph, Duncan and Ibaka to make it out of the Western Conference. Wesley Johnson hasn’t proven to be consistent and I believe Derrick Williams will come back with a strong sophomore campaign. Letting Beasley go was a solid decision by the team because he would have never gelled with them and was ruining any chemistry they had by being a ball stopper. Signing Roy to come off the bench was extremely smart and they are not overpaying him. If they are able to get Batum (assuming Portland doesnt match, but i know they well despite Batum not wanting to go back) then they will definitely be in the mix for the playoffs.

[r377Participant]

The Bulls are not interested in Ronnie Brewer anymore.  Do you think the Wolves would consider him if they can get him cheap enough ?  I know he is not an all-star but he could help at SG

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

It is strange that Love brought this up now because the Wolves are going to make the playoffs next year assuming Rubio is back at full health. The Wolves have done strange things in the past which they probably aren’t going to do as much. They started Darko for a very long time and in fact would start games by getting him touches in the post! For years this never paid off in scores, but they would keep doing it. Something about establishing Darko. It didn’t make any sense. Now they play Pekovic and it is a huge improvement.

WJohnson is bad, but they also kept playing him. Now they have Buddinger who is much better and they might get Batum who is also much better. Ridnour can be traded for a starting 2G fairly easily or played with Rubio and JJ Barea because Rubio can guard bigger guards. D Williams can also be traded for a starting 2G. Really they just need an average 2G and they are fine.

Basically Beasely, WJ and Darko were bad enough and were played enough to sabotage the entire team. But Beasely is gone and you have to figure they just won’t keep playing WJ and Darko, right? They stopped doing that last year and they won’t go back to that with Pekovic and Buddinger around.

[r377Participant]

report

Ronnie Brewer "could be Minnesota-bound," according to Aggrey Sam of CSN.com.

Brewer doesn’t have 3-point range and is a lousy FT shooter, limiting his fantasy appeal, but he could be a nice fit with the Wolves. He’s a solid defender and operates best offensively when he’s slashing to the basket, something coach Rick Adelman and PGs Ricky Rubio/J.J. Barea should be able to accommodate.

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

The Wolves will be much better if healthy next year.  Adelman can coach an offense and they have the shooters to make the offense work finally.  They need to cut bait on Wes, but beyond that should be much improved. I can easily see them as a 6-seed.

[M-DYMESParticipant]

Love is not a bad defender.  Everyone seems to give him a hard time for his defense, but in all honesty he holds his own.  Just because you’re not getting blocks doesn’t mean you’re not defending.

[Author]

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