At least someone is happy, reading the board you’d think the wolves just traded all their #1’s for Vin Baker. I agree SNP with your analysis, before tonight if wolves fans would have known we’d get Rubio, Flynn, Ellington, 2010 first rounder higher than 18, Calathes, without trading any of the other wolves assets, everyone would have been stoked! By the way, having Rubio makes Calathes redundant in my view, so no big problems with trading the him to dallas for a future 2nd and cash…

Who knows, maybe New York sends David Lee to Memphis, we send Flynn to NY, and Memphis sends us Thabeet… what a coup that would be. Rubio and Thabeet at #5&6….

Incomplete is the appropriate grade. I’m somewhat worried about Rubio and would’ve rather they kept Calathes, but the guys they moved were for assets in a deeper draft and to teams who are at the moment questionable to make the playoffs next year. Picking Flynn instead of Curry is mildly disappointing, but if they do play him and Rubio together (I’m not completely convinced), it’s at least an interesting concept in theory.

Ellington? Not sure if he’s a better pick than Taylor or Budinger (Dork Elvis snatching them up quickly gives me pause), but he can score and make shots. Norel’s worst-case scenario, according to DraftExpress, is Oberto; if he stays for a couple of years and comes over, maybe it’s an underrated asset. It looks like 2-3 of these guys will be in camp, which is a good number for roster space. Plus, they’ll have a high second-rounder again next year, barring an unexpected playoff run.

Who cares, we got Rubio!!!!! He is going to be great for the organisation, not just on the court, but getting more and more people to cames and hopefully some airtime (living in Australia means I don’t see many Wolves games but this should change).

Look, I’m still not certain about the whole Flynn thing but what I will say is this: Flynn, by all accounts, is damn talented. If there are two rookie PGs that can play together, it will be Flynn and Rubio.

For me, the next move has to be for a starting 3 and another SG. AK47 and Kyle Korver would be ideal, Gerald Wallace and Raja Bell would be another awesome combo. Its that combination of a SG that can actually shoot and a SF that can contribute everywhere, but mainly on perimeter defense, that I feel will ultimately dictate if/how well Flynn and Rubio fit together.

And thank you everyone for all the comments throughout today, loving watching the draft at 10am.

Go Wolves!!!

Man these guys can really start making Brewer look good in the open court, especially Rubio. If Brewer comes back healthy, he’ll have dunk after dunk in transition and be a lockdown defender on the perimeter to help the undersized back-court.

The OKC and Sacto picks had me nervous beyond belief. Even though I constantly have gone out of my way to try and dismiss Rubio landing here… some part of me still wanted him to drop. Nearly lost my shit when Sacto picked Evans. My brother (not a big NBA wonk) called right after the Evans pick and had been watching the draft. I was honestly talking a mile a minute at that point. When they announced Rubio, I let out a yell the entire block could hear.

Flynn got a little different reaction. Even so, it was damn exciting and a wild ride throughout the remainder of the draft… and it was the same for someone who had only a passing interest in the Wolves and the NBA. Rubio can definitely bring in new fans. I’m cautiously optimistic about him finally suiting up for the Wolves. Lets see what the rest of the summer holds.

only, as usual, expressed much more eloquently than I could.

Stern isn’t going to let his boy Kahn botch the Rubio situation. Worst case scenario, he becomes a big chip in a major trade, with the 2nd or 3rd best PG in a PG-rich draft still here.

Obviously the Wolves weren’t as high on DeRozan or Curry as some of us were.

Obviously the rest of the world wasn’t that high on Calathes.

This was a craptacular draft, but we got the most exciting player in it.

Guess which team could have 6 picks (their own 1st and 2nd, Charlotte’s and Utah’s 1st, Dallas’ and Houston’s 2nd) in next year’s draft?

Minnesota sports have just added Brett Favre and Ricky Rubio. I think we’ll get a little more national media attention, no?

Also: Brett Favre. Ricky Rubio. 5 letter first and last names. O_O

Hes a great guy from a great family. If the T-wolves decide to keep him, they will have a great player im sure. Hes smart and really wants to try hard and do good.

Randy Foye has now been traded for both Brandon Roy and Ricky Rubio, hopefully we can get the favor returned from the Blazers and the Wiz can pay it forward.

Drafts – done for this year. Wolves picked up better than average players, some picks for later years, even a little cash (likely totalling several million).

Trades – Wolves have expiring contracts that are valuable to teams looking for cap space, especially for next year’s “free agent bonanza”. Finding players that can contribute to the Wolves and that are worth their salary is key. Etan Thomas is likely one — if healthy. Songaila may be as well.

with Phoenix. Nash isn’t going to stay there – they need a point guard. Gentry will keep the 7sol offence intact, so they will need a PG who will push the ball and force the action. If they complete the trade with Golden State, my hope is that we can aquire Wright + one (some) of their expiring contracts for Flynn + one (some) of our expiring contracts. The Suns get an up-tempo PG and we get a young SF with potential. Just have to wait til July 1.

to be playing for us next year. He is a sport marketer’s dream— boyish, great accent (not Eastern European guttural), floppy hair, remarkable vison and passing (standing O type stff)—will sell boat loads of tickets for Taylor.

They did seemingly make a mistake by not taking Curry and totally electrifying the fan base.

Don’t buy Kahn’s thinking about playing RR and JF together. Rubio needs the ball in his hands to be effective. Flynn needs the ball to take advantage of his greatest attribute, innate court leadership.

I would have wanted to be a mouse in the corner at Telfair’s crib when Lawson was announced at 18. . ST probably was still sitting on the crapper with indigestion from the 6th pick. Hurled when Lawson chosen. He still has to be scratching his…..head.

The “Wolves 89” basketball in Rubio’s hands proves it. Turn back the clock, people!

The Flynn pick isn’t really sitting well, after a night’s sleep. I’m afraid that it means we’ll trade Rubio. Are there any notable off-guards who have base year compensation status until July 1? Monta Ellis is the only that comes to mind, but they drafted Curry, so I doubt we took Flynn or Rubio for them. I wonder if Kahn has a handshake on a deal for a two guard with a BYC status until July.

I’m a spaniard and this is my take on the draft and ricky rubio. All the interviews that both him and his family have given to spanish media seem to indicate that he will be back for one or maybe even the two remaining years of his contract. The topic about the city being too cold is just a smokescreen, what they don’t like is the fact that minnesota is not a big market so he won’t make as much money for a sponsor(s) in order to solve his buyout problems (and being selected fifth in the rookie salary scale doesn’t help at all).
i also think that getting flynn makes the decission easier, i mean all he said before the draft was that he wanted playing time and that he would even play for free if he felt he was needed in the team (playing for free means that he would use his whole rookie contract to pay his buyout if it was not reduced by a spanish court of law).
Kahn’s thinking has to go in the direction of being afraid about rubio not coming next year, the problem is that now we will never know if rubio stays because he doesn’t like minnesota period or just because they drafted flynn.
If there is a trade i’m pretty certain it will be rubio and not flynn the one going for several reasons:
- rubio can say tomorrow or in a week that he is staying which would put kahn in a tough situation
-rubio’s value is way higher and still can fetch an interesting sign and trade when the free agents market is open.
-rubio will be the starting pg for spain in the european championship with the absence of calderon, if spain wins it would probably mean that rubio has played great and that would be embarrasing for many teams that let him go (specially if their prospects suck at summer league)

Flynn over Curry being Roy – Foye 2.0?!?! i am very, veyr, very concerned mayn!

Everybody seems to be bummed we didn’t take Curry, I’m starting to warm up to the fact we didn’t. I know combine numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, but here is Flynn vs. Curry.

Standing Reach:
Flynn – 7’11.5"
Curry – 8’1"

No Step Vert Reach
Flynn – 10’8.5""
Curry – 10’6.5"

Max Vertical Reach
Flynn – 11’3.5""
Curry – 11’0.5"

Flynn also dominated Curry on the speed and agility drills. If you can get over the board’s love for Curry, it’s possible that Flynn can player taller than Curry. The reports of him standing flat footed under the hoop and dunking point to his athleticism. If we look at what skills they bring, Curry is an amazing shooter, but Flynn does excel at some things

From DX

Flynn was a standout in two areas: his ability to get to the rim, and his one-on-one skills. Thankfully for him, those are two skills that the NBA values dearly. Clearly, his productivity is grounded in his first step. Flynn got to the rim 8.8 times per game, which accounted for a lot of his scoring, but his 1.24 PPP in unguarded catch and shoot situations and .94 PPP on pull up jumpers are both very respectable. His 4.3 possessions per game on isolations are amongst the best amongst big-conference players, and his 41% shooting on those plays isn’t awful. Couple those tools with his capacity to drive in both directions and his ability to draw fouls (16.1% SF), and it becomes hard not to think that Flynn could be, at the very least, a high quality backup if he improves his efficiency, especially once he masters the pick and roll (.84 PPP).

Flynn is great in isolations, getting to the basket, one-on-one situations. He is strong at Curry’s perceived weakness, getting to the rack. This team could definitely use a player like this, especially if Rubio is more focused on running the fast break, getting out on the open floor, and doing the pick and roll. In actuality, although they are both point guards, they both have different skills.

If we ignore Telfair for a second, and realize we have 48 minutes for the point, if Rubio and Flynn share those minutes that’s 24 for each all ready. Clearly going up against the Lakers or Blazers starting lineups, having Rubio guard Kobe or BRoy is not a favorable matchup. But Rubio-Flynn can guard some backcourts together, Kidd-Terry, Lowry-Brooks, and others. This allows the Wolves to play matchups, with just Rubio and his limited athleticism, we have major problems with the small quick PG’s that have become en vogue. Flynn by all accounts is small and quick and maybe the most ahtletic small and quick guy in the league. This gives us flexibility.

Flynn and Rubio don’t need to start the game together and play 25 minutes together, but depending on matchups, if both can get 10 minutes of burn together a night, and defending them would a nightmare, their should be 30 minutes a piece for each, and it could be very effective for the Wolves.

Can the merchants of the Twin Cities please get together and offer Rubio several million dollars to endorse their whatever? Also, can the Vikings hire Rubio as a consultant and give him a cool $2 million? C’mon Glen, get creative, you’ve done it before, just don’t get caught this time. Can Rubio “work” on the weekends making wedding invitations for a cool $1 million?

It’s too bad we’re in a recession. Get Nike on the phone. There has to be a way to get this kid some money to bring him over here. Sure MN is a small market but c’mon!

Don’t get me wrong, flynn is my second favourite player in this draft (griffin is the best player, i just don’t get hyped by him as an nba player), he can shoot, pass, is quick and athletic enough to finish in traffic. What i criticise is the poor psynergy level between him and ricky, neither is great without the ball on offense, neither is a catch and shoot type of guy, neither can come off screens the way a sg like stephon curry can…
and defensively i can’t see it either. Ricky is a great defender, he won defensive player of the year while missing half the season with a wrist injury, he lead the league in steals two years in a row and he got like 3 against cp3 and company in the olympics final, but the problem is that those things only work against a pg against whom he has the lengh and size advantage, and the factflynn can’t never guard a shooting guard in the nba is something everyone can agree upon, even david kahn, or at least i hope so.
They can play 20 minutes each and share like 5-6 together, but still not the best situation for two developing young players that have to learn a system and be consisten in it.
I can’t see to date a team giving enough for flynn, and i can’t see then risking losing flynn in a trade and ricky staying in spain because he reached a verbal agreement with joventut before that trade happens.

Let’s talk about Kahn’s “intangibles” then.

I think what’s freaking me out most isn’t the picks themselves per se (although they are glaringly suspicious in some cases) as much as a desire for a culture of stability and confidence; a sense that Kahn knows what he’s doing. Instead the whole night felt like he was making it up as he was going along. I’m not a huge Simmons fan, but he posted one email that summed it up perfectly—that it felt like Kahn had a fantasy draft computer program that was accidentally left on to take BPA no matter what.

I’ve listened to back to back interviews with Kahn on Dan Patrick now, and it’s clear to me he thinks he’s way smarter than he is; that is to say, he doesn’t recognize his blind spots. The results ultimately might be different, who knows, but the perception of draft day was McHale II: Wrath of Kahn.

What is going through his head at the moment? He can’t be the guy who hopes Rubio doesn’t come over, but he’d also be affected by it significantly. If they can’t play together, he’s the one who loses out. Yet he’s the veteran in all of this who’s going to be partially responsible for helping show them the way while he’s fighting for his own career. Talk about a potentially awkward situation.

http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/2009/06/26/a-post-draft-night-letter-from-david-kahn/

Need a lesson on creating a link.

Now that I’m sufficiently calmed down (I was very pissed last night), I’m pretty happy about the Kings chances.

All that said, I think the Wolves have an interesting draft and I remain very intrigrued by the Rubio/Flynn pairing long term. (OR what arises from this.)

I think Kahn may have a much larger impact than any of us thought. Then again, I’m an idiot too.

We don’t know what we have here yet. I think your last paragraph says it all.