FanPost

Sad State of Wolves??

Good Morning Y'all!

I've been contemplating a post for a while, just too many different ways to go, so I've kinda sat on sideline.

On the morn (mourn) of the draft, I decided to sum up a few of the things I've seen, trying to focus on what is apparently reality versus what I hope will happen. I hope it gets better, but here goes:

1. Very few (surprising few) Wolves players have legitimate value around the league. OK, this shouldn't be surprising for a 15 win team, but when the Wolves are shopping Jefferson around the league, and supposedly unloading both barrels to move up to the 2nd pick, it tells me that guys like Brewer and Sessions have little actual value. "#$&@*"

2. Jefferson is a goner. This may be obvious, but something hit me tonight. In all the recent trade rumors, 90% have focused on Jefferson. Where there's smoke, there is usually fire. The fact that Love has seldom been mentioned (only in the GS rumor best I can tell), would make me think he is sticking around...but they seem to really want to move Jefferson.

3. I am really surprised how little Sessions, Brewer, and Flynn have been mentioned in trade talk. Flynn not so much because Kahn is attached to him (for good or bad), but I am really surprised that you don't see Brewer and Sessions getting tossed around more. Pekovic as well for that matter. This paragraph is the reason for the title of the post. A simple question....Do the Wolves have more than three players currently signed who can garner more than the 15th pick in the draft? It would seem not, which is really scary for an established team that has been rebuilding for three years now.

4. Again not surprising, but sad none the less. There are literally NO free agents being discussed as serious signings by the Wolves this summer, can't they at least be in the game for a guy like Boozer?

5. Get ready for another winter of Jefferson and Love. Ok, I really believe Kahn (and especially Rambis per several interviews) want to trade one of these guys, but every other GM knows this as well. Can Kahn pull off a deal? If it's fifty cents on the dollar, might as well bring them both back for the year and trade Jefferson next year when his knee is better and contract is shorter, but this is a sad fact for Wolves fans.

6. Cap Space goin' Up In Smoke...Cheech and Chong this one folks (I would include a photo if I had the PD database and wasn't totally depressed after writing this post). I don't know how much cap space the Wolves are going to blow, but the fact they didn't take advantage of Miami today tells me they are going to be left behind. I know they are bleeding cash, but wasting this asset is truly sad. Please, please, please...prove me wrong on this point.

Draft day prediction:

They will get a couple good players, but in the end money will be a factor. They will move around picks and gain at least $2 million in cash, if only by trading 2nd rounders. There will either be a blockbuster that shocks us and makes us praise Kahn (10%), or they walk away with Wes Johnson and we all yawn thru another season. I'm not optimistic.

One other thing....this is an example of why the current lottery system is a joke. The Wolves should have had the 2nd pick in the draft this summer. I know the intent is to keep teams from tanking to get a Patrick Ewing, but I don't think this summer there is a Patrick Ewing, and most people would agree the Wolves were the 2nd worst team in the league. If they had the 2nd pick, we would have locked in Turner a month ago...and all conversation would be on what the Wolves could move to get the 5th pick to grab either Favors, Cousins, or Johnson. This is why the current system needs to change. We CH posters could create a dozen realistic scenarios that would get the Wolves another pick at #5, but there apparently isn't one move that can get them the #2 pick that they should have had all along. That STINKS.