Canis on the Radio, episode 1

…definitely hook up some z-ro in the last edition.

…here are my answers:

1- Newby optimism takes the day with Kahn. He hasn’t made a bad move yet but he has played enough of his hand where we will have to see how things play out with Rubio and Flynn and what he will do with the expiring deals. We simply need more information but as of now, he is playing a good tune.

2- I don’t know if they think of him as anything more than an injured player coming back from a bad injury. No one really knows what he will bring to the table this year and he invokes the cliche “cautious optimism”. Looking back at the pick, he wasn’t the right guy but he still could have value and I think that is where they are at with the guy.

3- I don’t know what the guy’s ceiling is but in all the things we’ve heard from NBA professionals and media-types, everyone thinks he is going to be a player. He is a guy that excels in open space and with the pick-and-roll. His defensive potential is still in question as is his size, but the general consensus we have received is that he is one of the better picks in this draft. A lot of people in Vegas were very impressed with the guy.

4- I will still stand by my assessment that Rubio will see his buyout lowered to between $3-4 mil and that he will be in a Wolves uniform at the beginning of the year. I also stand by my assessment that he is the riskiest pick in the draft. There are no guarantees that his game will transfer to the NBA, especially in his first 2-3 years in the league.

5- We are gathering information on Cole from people who have worked out with him and who have scouted him in college. I think he is going to be a top 3 pick in next year’s draft. I don’t know if he will be a running-type center, but the guy has legit upper-level center talent and he would be a great pick for the Wolves regardless of who they already have on the roster.

6- I don’t think that Flynn and Rubio will work out from the get-go, but 2-3 years down the line I think they could be a solid pairing. Rubio has 2 guard length and if he ever develops some strength, he could theoretically guard the 2 position. That being said, I don’t think anyone really has a solid handle on how he will transfer to the league.

7- Kahn has made no bones about this team being a work in progress. I think it will all boil down to them finding an opportune time to use the expiring contracts to bring back a solid player. My personal guess is that this is next draft day or next year’s free agency period (the cap number is reset during that time frame) but I wouldn’t rule out a move this summer. They still need to address the small forward position in a bad way and I am personally rooting for Thad Young, Rudy Gay and Marvin Williams in that order.

…into whether or not we can have a web-based call-in show. We’ll put up a poll on whether or not folks would be interested sometime this summer. We first want to make sure we know what we’re doing technology-wise.

says he actually sounds like Niles Crane from the old “Frasier” show.