Am I the only one who really like what Kevin McHale has done since shipping Garnett off? I know their record ain't good, but... 1. He did get a young Al Jefferson in return. Sure he sucks on D, but the kid is talented and has a great attitude. 2. He was able to dump all of the mistakes and Clowns he accumulated trying to assemble a supporting cast for Garnett. Ricky Davis: Gone. Mark Blount: Gone. Antoine Walker: Gone. Mike James: Gone (with Justin Reed). Marko Jaric: Gone. 3. He made a very good deal for Love-- a kid who can shoot, pass, rebound. How many 6'9'' guys can do that? Is OJ Mayo that much better? A lot of scouts and front office types don't think so. Neither of these guys is the sure thing, but McHale got the highly coveted Mike Miller in the deal, too while giving Mempis riff raff. I mean, Memphis was asking plenty for Miller. I'd imagine Minny can at least get a good prospect or two for him if they so wish. 4. What he has now are a couple of young talented bigs (Jefferson, of course, more proven than Love), Randy Foye (who is no Brandon Roy, but still may turn out useful), and a lockerrom full of who most people regard as good professionals.
He may have made some smarter moves recently, but he will ALWAYS be judged for his past mistakes.... ...that is until he can reassemble a playoff caliber team ( Al Jefferson is a major major major piece of that puzzle)
Love is a hard working,fairly talented player but he doesn't complement Al much. They need a tall,quick,defensive minded 5 to help him out.Mike Miller is a good addition though. OJ Mayo is not a superstar but he is a better player than Kevin Love. Nevertheless, if they can use future salary cap room it won't matter who they picked.
Perhaps 30 wins next season for the Timberwolves. No idea on the W/L record needed to win the West, but it will probably be just as competitive as this past season was. I agree with saleem om the player that they need at the 5 spot. A young Deke to rotate with Love and Jefferson would be awesome for the Timberwolves.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=3761261#post3761261 I agree. He's very underrated as a GM. Here's a response to a McHale critic I made a few days ago..... Well, considering McHale is the one that drafted KG in the first place i'd say he has a pretty decent eye for talent. Sure, his decision to vastly overpay him was essentially his KG-era downfall but the guy certainly did his best to assemble talent around KG and his record breaking contract. His draft record? Taking KG, drafting and then dealing Ray Allen for Marbury (good idea at the time), drafting Nesterovic & Szczerbiak. Mike Miller, Foye, McCants, Brewer, Love, etc. He's definitely stockpiling a ton of talent to build around Al Jefferson. Don't be surprised if this same guy you're basically hailing as one of the worst GM's in the league is winning Exec. of the Year honors sometime within the next five years. KG hamstrung that franchise with his salary figures. When you make $22-28M of a salary cap in the $40's it's very hard to assemble talent around that player. It's precisely why besides Marbury on his rookie deal and Sprewell/Cassell through crafty trades, the ONLY thing close to second star McHale was able to put around KG was Szczerbiak and that's only because he drafted him and had his Bird Rights. McHale's trade to get Cassell was nothing short of beauty. I'm sure nobody needs a history lesson but despite KG taking league MVP honor's that year Cassell's impact (averaged something like 20-10) was arguably just as vital to that team's success. He definitely got equal value for KG. KG winning a championship his first year doesn't necessarily mean Boston "won" that trade. Sure, KG is a great player and very tough to replace but when you trade him and the mediocrity associated with his Minnesota years all for a 23-year-old nearly unguardable franchise player like Al Jefferson, a solid role player like Gomes, two first-rounders and Ratliff's $12M expiring contract that's a decent fresh start. Plus, even though he botched the Mike James signing he still was able to deal him for our old pal Juwanna Man. Once his and Jason Collins' contracts come off the books next year their payroll will be something in the $30's. I'm not even a McHale fan either. Just calling all this the way I see it: handled the KG years about as well as any GM could have and finally dealt him for a solid package most GM's probably couldn't match. He's had his up-and-down moments but he's definitely on pace to build a formidable "new" team in Minnesota.
If Donte Greene turns out to be a keeper and we trade him for a perennial all-star, we will view Morey as a God of GM's. Ainge drafted Jefferson after the lottery and no one really lauded either as much of anything. Look what Jefferson turned into and still has potential to boot. It's only convenient to negate Jefferson in that deal if you want to make a point that doesn't exist. It doesn't belong on the level of deal that Gasol occupies exclusively. Either way though, the deal was made fairly and nobody wanted to spit at the deal. Hell, they even had to win over Garnett who nixed a similar deal beforehand. Wishful thinkers... outgroup.
McHale is a good GM? What is his record? McHales report card as a GM IMO is a big fat "F" Of course grades can be changed as future tests yeild better results than previous tests but as of now he just plain sucks.
Over 50% winning percentage during his tenure, even including the first season and the horrific team he inherited and the last 3 tank and/or no-KG seasons. McHale's a very good GM when he pays attention - he's won every trade he's made since the first awful Boston trade (including the one with the Rockets). The problem is he gets way too casual and sloppy when things are going fine. If he'd have worked as hard during the wolves perennial 50 wins and out years as he has the last 2, KG would still be in Minnesota.
Cherokee < Big Country < Love Not saying much going by that meter but I really think Love will be good to great.
Don't forget about Kirk Snyder. He started for them and played really well after the trade. He needed a change of scenery.
