Timberwolves Confirm Acquiring Milicic

He’s got to be an improvement over Hollins.

1. I think this may say something about what Kahn is looking for. Darko was drafted #2, and another player Kahn supposedly has interest in, Tyrus Thomas was drafted 4th in 2006. Both have been bombs, but when you’re a team doing as badly as the Wolves, with no pressure to win this season, why not take a look at guys with physical abilities that got them drafted high in lotteries? I hope this doesn’t mean Adam Morrison!

2. Adding Darko, if we keep him, will give Jefferson and Love a chance to play with a more proto-typical center. there may be learning benefits here that would help next year.

3. Darko has been pining for Europe for a long time. Its quite possible he won’t be willing to move to MIN, and the Wolves could get a discount on his buy-out.

4. Recent reports have suggested NYK may be sending MIN cash. If this is true, this is exactly the type of deal I’ve been advocating, where the wolves take on 2009-10 salary in the form of expirings, and send out cheaper expirings to teams over the lux. The Wolves save the other team money, and in return get prospects, picks, or cash in return.

5. The deal won’t be official until tomorrow morning. This gives NYK and MIN time to sleep on it and arrive at my trade. Before the rumor broke, I suggested a Darko-Cardinal deal myself, but in the middle of a rumored BOS-NYK deal. The rumor is NYK would like to trade Nate Robinson to BOS for the cheaper Eddie House and a 2nd, but Nate’s BYC status makes it impossible. Inserting MIN and Gomes makes the deal work, and work better for everyone.

BOS GETS: Nate + Gomes
BOS GIVES: Scalabrine + House + Giddens + 1st

NYK GETS: Cardinal + House
NYK GIVES: Darko + Nate

MIN GETS: Darko + Scalabrine + Giddens + 1st
MIN GIVES: Gomes + Cardinal

BOS saves the 2nd to get Nate, gets Gomes for the late 1st, and gears up for the play-offs

NYK does it because they cut $2 mil in salary (pro-rated) and an additional $2 mil in lux taxes, and get rid of two head cases. It solves their BYC problem. They can buy a pick or just take the savings.

MIN eats $1.5 mil in payroll and loses Gomes, but gets a late 1st, a look at Giddens, and clears $4.2 mil in additional 2010 raw cap space

…he’s got three balls.

Bottom line: Kahn found a no-risk way to find out how a rotation of Jefferson, Love, and a defensive 7 footer will work out. Partially at least…..Darko’s not D12 by any means, but he’s good enough on defense that, if the theoretical rotation is viable, we should see a marked improvement in our defense over the next 6 weeks.

If we don’t….well, then a Jefferson/Love combo might have to be officially tagged as a lost cause…

If we’re making lateral moves (or even slight upgrades) for guys unlikely to have a future with us (Blount, Tucker, etc) at least we’re making money. I assume we’re getting Darko at least for free. A few hundred grand here, a few hundred grand there certainly helps long-term. And I think it shows that details matter in fiscal responsibility. Is it huge? No. But when the time (hopefully) comes where Kahn has to ask for a few million more at least Papa Glen knows he’s not just throwing it away.

Free look at a type of player profile the Wolves are going to be interested in adding to the Al/Love mix. So far Hollins has proven to be a project, although I think he’s also showing incremental improvement. He’ll still have a role on this team as a defender of the Dirk’s of the world.

Just saw EinM’s post re: buying out Darko. I think Kahn strongly resists this. Heard Kahn speaking on the KFAN broadcast of tonight’s game about the trade, and he basically said that he think Darko’s skills and physical profile fits perfectly next to both Al and Love, and that he made the trade because it gives the team a chance to see Al and Love with a true center/shot blocker type. He was well aware that Darko may opt to leave, but that he was hopeful that even if Darko chooses to leave that he’ll (Darko) decide to view his time with us as an opportunity to end his career in the NBA on a positive note and with a positive impression. Kahn did not sound remotely like a guy who acquired Darko to buy him out – he would have kept Cardinal around because of Cardinal’s veteran influence instead (which Kahn specifically mentioned).

So, assuming Darko plays with us, I’ve found the best comp for what I think he can do for us. I’m going to use his (Darko’s) numbers from last year because this year is too small a sample size. See if you can figure out who players A, B, and C are. (All numbers per 36 minutes):

Player A, 24 yr. old season: 11.3 pts (.437 efg% / 18.1% USG), 9.5 reb (8.4% OREB / 21.4% DREB), 2 blks (3.8% BLK)
Player B, 23 yr. old season: 11.6 pts (.515 efg% / 16.3% USG), 9.2 reb (9.7% OREB / 21.8% DREB), 1.8 blks (4.0% BLK)
Player C, 24 yr. old season: 11.6 pts (.532 efg% / 15.7% USG), 7.9 reb (12.4% OREB / 13.4% DREB), 2.6 blks (5.7% blk)

All players are legit 7 footers, with two around 260-270 lbs and one about 40-50 pounds lighter. Athletically one is clearly superior, one is pretty good for his size, and the other is about what you’d expect for his size.

Before I get to who they are, ask yourself which player you think would be the best fit for the Wolves? Should we value blocks? Rebounding? Or efficient scoring? None are particularly good passers, with the best (B) being equivalent to Al last year while the other two were even worse. Do we value size and strength or pure athleticism? Personally I like the scoring efficiency of players B and C, but for rebounding I’d prefer players A and B. Blocks are all about the same, although player C does stand out.

So, without further ado:
Player A – Michael Olowokandi, second season with the Clips, 80 games (31.2 mpg)
Player B – Darko Milicic, last year with Memphis, 61 games (17 mpg)
Player C – Ryan Hollins, best statistical season (CHA/DET), 45 games (9.9 mpg)

FWIW, Hollins’ numbers are down this year for the most part.

What do you think? Darko worth a decent look?

Any time your 13-41 team trades an aging bench player for a 24-year old, 7’ 250 lb forward who was drafted over Melo, Bosh and Wade, it’s a good thing — or at least worth a try.

For what it’s worth, Darko has been in a few difficult situations for player development. Larry Brown is notoriously hard on rookies. Orlando was trying to become a title contender and needed Darko to be a big part of it. He was in Memphis before Z-Bo fixed their chemistry problems (still struggling to figure that out). And D’antoni seems like kind of an ass, at least when things aren’t working. Maybe Laimbeer and Rambis can pull a little more out of Darko’s potential than the other teams could. Even if it’s just enough to make him a quality rotation player.

It makes the rest of the season more fun to watch, if nothing else.

to get Britt’s take on this trade, and perhaps the Wolves in general (moving forward from the trade deadline)?

I have no problems with us taking a defensively better Center who is a legit 7 footer with length. Who if you look at his history has never really gotten significant time. We get a great look at him if we start him the rest of the year. Even if he leaves for Europe next year, things may work out and we get him on a extended deal that is fairly modest.

This is from Zgoda’s blog

Cardinal said in a text message that he sat behind the bench for the first half because he “wanted to be out there with my guys until they said I couldn’t! Gonna miss all these guys!”

I’d love to have him back as an Asst. Coach. Jim Pete said he wanted to go work on an organic farm in Indiana.

Left hand slam off of drive down right side of lane