If/when this team starts winning some games (which seems like an inevitable when, at this point), everyone will start talking about how smart Kahn is and how he had the vision to build the team step by step

And maybe one or two ESPN writers will be mature enough to admit their mistake and not try to claim they knew it would work all along. Maybe…

I think the most remarkable thing about the roster to date is how quickly he has completely overhauled the roster in 2 off seasons. I am amazed at how fast this guy operates.

I don’t give a damn about what national commentators say about the Wolves and neither should you. Why?

1. You have zero control over them or what they say, and
2. I don’t think anyone who matters really cares much about what they say

Rather, for me it is much more useful to consider various sides of an issue before formulating an educated opinion.

You had a willing buyer and a willing seller, and a fair price at or near where Al’s contract was at. So, you did have Big Al’s market materialize. But let’s not let the facts cloud the misconceptions.

Unlike some here, the Utah Jazz are very happy with the Jefferson acquisition. Probably just as pleased as the cynics are in having him move on. After all, the cynics are pleased to get the final remnant of the KG trade removed from the roster, as ill advised as it may well prove to be. (it borders on the psychotic to continue to hold a “McFail” grudge for so long).

All things considered, I like Al’s future much better than the one Kahn has presently on the table for the Wolves.

Even if he gets close to where he was pre-knee injury, the deal isn’t that bad for the Wolves due to salary savings, extra playing time for Love, and the 1st round picks. However, if Jefferson is never better than 90% of what so far is his peak, this trade is a big hit for the Wolves. Either way, it will be interesting to see if Sloan can be the first coach to teach Jefferson what it means to play defense.

Two other notes: This team is definitely improved, probably even better than two years ago.
Also, Kahn seems to be a system guy. The best thing is he is sticking to his plan. The failure to stick to the plan and ultimately going back and forth is why most system guys struggle. Staying consistent makes up for some mistakes.

Xavier Henry hasn’t signed with the Grizzlies yet, as he has only been offered 80 percent of the rookie scale as opposed to the customary 120 percent. He also signed Rudy Gay for an obscene amount of money.

Even though Kahn seems to be getting the short end of the stick in a lot of his deals and picks, he has yet to be unprofessional or uncongenial, and he has yet to make a signing that will irreparably damage the team (like an Eddy Curry contract). The ship may be sinking slowly, but it hasn’t yet been torpedoed.

This is likely damning with faint praise, but I am happy that we have a plan and are sticking to it. However inept anyone in this organization may be, I like the honest and thorough way they are treating the players and fans. At least our perennially terrible team doesn’t have to deal with deplorable people like James Dolan or Donald Sterling in control.

If we are going to dish out any credit, and make 2009/10 roster comparisons with the present-day roster, the difference is not Kahn. After all, Kahn put the 2009/10 roster together, bumps, warts and all.

No, the difference is the other guys in the partnership: Tony and Kurt to be exact. Keep in mind, Kurt was late to the game last year, having just completed his role in making the Lakers world champions.

Credit Kahn to the extent you feel it makes sense, but just as much if not more credit for any substantive changes is attributed to Tony and Kurt.

Some think that KG was not actively vying for a trade months in advance of it actually happening. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t an active participant, he had surrogates like Charles Barkley shilling for him months in advance to have him traded to a more competitive team.

Another thing: as we give backhanded complements to Al Jefferson, let’s not blame the alleged shortcomings of the individual (selective states be damned) with the inadequacies of the entire team.

I’ll miss Al’s contribution to the Wolves, but I won’t miss the cynical play by some to cast dispersions on the best player on the Wolves since he came over in the trade with the Celtics.

Man keep bringing the heat, great write up…I am begining to think that Kahn is the king of the poker face. Look like the chump and go for the jugular when they least expect it. As of now he is making the most with what we had, the al sweepstakes would loose momentum the more desperate we looked. Ship him now, replace the jaric mistake draft pick, stock up the $ and wait for the perfect time to reel in the next big piece. We forget that MN is all about the cold when your team is frozen, but when you start putting the pieces together you turn into the northern Thunder. They will follow the $ and the W’s

But it’s tough. Come on Wes, be dominant in your next game so I can be at ease for a few months.

I am really looking forward to watching TWolves basketball this season. Not only will the starting lineup be enjoyable, but the reserves are all people I want to see get better as any one of them could be or are part of the long term plan. Last year after that miserable winter stretch, it was a real challenge to watch the games since we knew the team was going to look so different this season. Now that all the moves have taken place, I’m excited for Wolves basketball again. Yes this team can still disappoint and yes this team is likely to lose a lot of games this season, but the lineup you list is at least 2 deep at every position with young players with hopefully their best years in front of them.

I refuse to give kudos to Kahn until any of these transactions turn into wins, as even if I can see the method to his madness, this is a results oriented business. But I am pleased with the roster, and I am excited for Twolves basketball, and that’s all I want from an off-season. Hope springs eternal.

Go Wolves.

    I knew at that moment Cousins was coming to Sac to play with Tyreke. It’s not that Wesley Johnson isn’t good, I just really liked Cousins game and thought he would be a great fit in Sac.

I’ve seen a lot of Wolves fans list Martell as a 3… he’s really not. Prototypical small forward. His handle is really awful, so he can’t create offense out of isolation or the pick and roll. He’s also an inconsistent shooter off screens; he’s really most effective as a cutter and spot-up shooter. He can guard both wing positions fine (albeit inconsistently), but the Portland offense was awful whenever he had any kind of slice of playmaking responsibility.

Great post, S-n-P. Certainly plenty to consider here.

Here are my two central issues.

- If you’re hording a bit of cap space to chase something like an Andre Iguodala, why are you tossing so much cap space around? You use cap space (via Gomes’ contract) to trade for Webster when you know you’re going to draft Johnson. You sign Darko the same day you reach terms with Pekovic. You sign Ridnour (a P&R guard) less than a year after you sign Sessions (a P&R guard) and draft Flynn (a P&R guard). Why, if there were only three serious offers on the table, did Kahn have to trade Al right now? Was Love or Beasley going to self-detonate on August 1 if Al was still in MIN? As you said, this is a 30-win team. (I think it’s more like 25 max, but I’m probably wrong.) Why make a hasty decision in July if there’s truly nothing immediate at stake? Kahn could have had the cap space to land an Iguodala by not paying Darko, Ridnour and Webster. And he’d still have Jefferson as a major trade chip. (He’d be a pretty fantastic chip as all these aging contenders get desperate in January and February, no?)

Meanwhile, the team is paying a head coach pretty good money to run a system which doesn’t fit the current talent or the supposed golden boy sitting in Barcelona for at least one and more likely two more seasons. Rubio in the Triangle? Really?

That’s the Blueprint? Assemble a collection of ill-fitting mid-tier players, playing an ill-fitting system, waiting for a point guard who may never come?

I’ll stick with the avocado.

And a great reminder of Kahn’s “moving goalpost syndrome.” My new nickname for him is the Wonder Twin: “Form of…extra cap space! Shape of…Luke Ridnour!”

(Yes, but who then is Gleek? Requires more thought.)

But I think it’s a move that people will kill Kahn for in the long term. The big thing, SnP as you say, is that Kahn doesn’t seem to maximize his draft assets by taking the BPA every pick he can. Or, at least the Best Player within the schematic anyway. (Best player has many meanings IMO. This is what I have learned following Geoff Petrie. And, as some already know here, not the biggest DMC fan. I’m a fan of his talent, but his red flags are real and many of them have yet to be touched upon. I’m also not sure he’s the best player to pair with Beasley, Love, and Pek. But that’s me. The problem as I see it was that the Wolves roster would have to undergo another philosophy—as SnP noted— to accomodate Cuz. If Wolves fans are tolerant of that because DMC was the BPA, then I can understand. If not, well, okey doke then. I will note that I think Curry & DMC would have been a brilliant pairing. I certainly have no argument with that.

Having said that, I’ll note that I think one reason the Kings can absorb DMC is that he simply won’t stick out in Sac. The fans already love him, and his personality is one that the fans there will go nuts over. Not every fanbase would have felt that way IMO. Plus, the Kings FO has been together forever with over 15 years of experience together as an unit. They have not picked the BPA every time either. The only reason Kings fans give GP the benefit of the doubt is because of the body of work and the success of Kings teams earlier in the decade.)

Either way, I think this Al J deal will prove to be useful for Kahn (or another GM with a better feel for talent) with the asset’s that Utah gave up. The fact is that the Wolves didn’t have enough cap space to be real players this summer,and a big problem was the signings of Hollins and Sessions along with the money Jefferson was making. Kahn didn’t inherit greatness in 2009 as it was and it was even more difficult without a Head Coach at the time.

I really agree that outsiders don’t really get the direction of this roster either. Al Jefferson may be a 20 & 10 guy, but in my view it comes at the expense of other Wolves players and therefore doesn’t have that level of value you could associate with, say, Tim Duncan. (Bad example, but there are limited examples here. Humor me.) Anyway, the flaws of Kahn are well noted and talked about here, but not necessarily elsewhere. The worm of the Wolves apple will begin and end (and everything else) with Glen Taylor. The question is could a good GM be successful here? It’s tough to say.

Looking back at this, it’s hard to say whether the glass is half full or half empty. But I do think the Wolves are set up to take a talent like DMC in the future now than they were this time around. Hopefully, for Wolves fans, that’s the case moving forward. Enjoyed the writeup SnP.