He is a talent and his rights have value....even just having his NBA rights would be a good thing. This would be good.................wait for it................... Asset management. DD
While it's true that Rubio could pull a Splitter, everything I've read (I think there's a good article in today's realgm or hoopshype) seems to indicate that he does really want to play in the NBA, but that his buyout sucked so hard that he couldn't take the risk. When he fell to fifth in the draft, it sealed his fate this year. Amazing to me that Memphis didn't draft him and trade him for the highest bidder, with all due respect to Thabeet (and he isn't due much).
While I agree that David Kahn's first offseason as Wolves GM has not gone according to plan, I'm going to stick up for him just a bit here. Sure, the 2009-10 season is going to be a mulligan for the T-Wolves, but that was the plan all along when Kahn came aboard: clean house and start over with "his guys". He wasn't going to re-sign Mike Miller or overpay to keep Randy Foye. What he's managed to do is to set up the T-Wolves to be major players next summer, when the team will only have Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Ryan Gomes, Darius Songaila, Ryan Hollins, Johnny Flynn, Wayne Ellington and possibly Ramon Sessions under contract. Of those players, only Songaila isn't part of the team's future. Also, for as unfortunate as the Rubio situation ended up being for Kahn, he has still secured the rights to (quite possibly) the top prospect in the 2009 NBA Draft indefinitely AND he doesn't have to pay him a penny until 2011 or 2012. Meanwhile, Rubio is still marketable to Minnesota fans in the interim and will be the carrot that the Wolves dangle to season ticket holders to keep renewing their seats. Will the T-Wolves suck next year? Yes. Will the T-Wolves suck in three years? Maybe not. In fact, they might be pretty darn good by then. Only time will tell.
Interesting. Sessions would be very fun to watch on the Rockets. We really do need 1 more player who can create. I still think Lowry has the best shot out of the three to become a "Championship ready PG". This year would be a good year to choose a PG for next year though, especially if we had Ramon noodles...
don't forget Flynn and Ellington, both coming from winning programs in college basketball. Flynn was exciting to watch. Kevin Love will be in his 2nd year. the youth movement.
I agree with you. Jefferson is one of the best bigs in the game and love played well in the end. I really like flynn too. Gomes is really,really solid. Once other players ee that young nucleus, someone will want to go play for them.
Is it safe to say that Corey Brewer is a bust ? Mccants seems like one to me. Maybe these players need a change of scenery kinda like Lowry.
I think the Twolves were going to be good despite Kahn. I'm not saying McHale did a good job, but he was bound to have a few fits along with all those misses and the Jefferson/Love/#6 pick in a PG heavy draft was going to be a promising team regardless of what Kahn did. If this summer is about setting up for the future, I don't understand why they traded an expiring deal in Miller plus a 25 yr old 16pt/4ast/3reb guy still in his rookie deal for MORE money in contracts(at least this year) and from guys who will likely see little playing time. At least Miller and Foye are starter quality. Songalia, Thomas, and Pecherowhatever are not at all. ...Kahn made some good moves, but they were to compensate for the bad positions he put himself in by gambling a bit. The #5 pick was a gamble that he lost because I'm sure he didn't expect the first four picks to all be for the only 4 non PGs worth taking in the top 12. Sitting at the 6 spot, he had to know he was going to get a decent PG prospect at very least but I know they didn't acquire a 2nd high draft pick to get 2 PGs. Then he gambled by taking Rubio and gambled more by holding on to him when it was clear he didn't want to come to Minni and that he had leverage to make decent money overseas if he had to. Sessions is a nice pick up for a decent value, but Sessions is a young true PG you just signed to a long term deal like the TWO young PGs you just drafted. Don't they expect one of their two draft picks to be a starting PG in the near future? Where does that leave Sessions - a starting NBA PG? Trade bait, yes...but again Kahn loses leverage in a deal because teams know he HAS to move one of the 3 PGs they now have. ...what kills me is Foye would have been the perfect guy to bring along with any of these other players because he's a combo guard who can play either spot. He's not a future all star-but he is a lot more solid than people give him credit for and he could play in a rotation that would give Rambis more flexibility in how much playing time he could give these younger guys. Now he has two true PGs splitting 48 minutes. Sessions deserves 30 minutes a game, but don't they need Flynn on the court more than 18 minutes a game in the near future? If they play them both together they will get abused defensively so they can only do that in very small doses....just lots of problems. I feel for Rambis, but at the same time - as mentioned earlier - this will be a good team sooner rather than later as long as Kahn can keep some of that talent around for a few more years.
Dang it! I really wanted Sessions. I really don't know why I'm so high on him, other than I see him being a future elite pg. I mean, imo he's exactly what the Rockets need. 1. Taller than Aaron Brooks 2. A true play making pg (as we no longer have videos of Tmac passing) 3. CHEAPer version of Deron/Nash Sessions Tmac? Ariza Scola Anderson
4 yr/16M is not too much. Who knows what the Bucks will do,but they should match it. It's not a bad move by the Wolves either.
Your first two points are correct,however the last one is inaccurate IMO,since he is not a 3 point shooter ala Deron or Nash. I don't know if he can ever become an elite PG,but he can develop into a solid starter for a long period of time.
I don't think Morey is doing anything else this offseason but maybe sign some d league players or something. I don't think he will make any splash or get any player that is at least known in the Nba. I mean he got Pop and I think that is probably it. The only thing Im actually looking forward to is for Tmac to come back because this offseason is probably the worst offseason we had in a long time.
