Damn Timberwolves. Nice pickup for them. ARGH! I'm surprised Kandi-man dropped like that, but oh well. As far as the Miami article, I think it's rather premature. About 12.5 million in cap room now; maybe they've been quiet because they've got a trade on the table?
PG- Cassell SG- Sczerbiak SF- Garnett PF- Marc Jackson? C- Olowokandi Not bad at all. And Ebi is a very promising rookie. Do they still have Troy Hudson?
I don't suspect an under-the-table agreement here. I think Kandi figured it was a good opportunity to get Bird Rights with a team that is serious about competing and a good opportunity to show in the next 3 years that he is worth a big contract. I think Kandi is going to look like a much better player as a Twolf than he ever did as a Clipper. I don't think he'll be an All-Star like he was saying (not with Shaq and Yao in the same conference ), but I do think he'll finally get an opportunity to tap some of that potential. Btw, it could be that Dallas made him an offer and Kandi chose Minn over them. Dallas has a much better shot at the championship, but Kandi probably has a better opportunity to make a name for himself in Minnesota.
Now with Garnet, Kandi, Sczerbiak & Casell... they are closing the gaps with the likes of Mavs, Kings and Spurs... it's getting more and more interesting now in the West... Can the lakers holdoff these teams? Can the Rockets pull off the upset & kick the sorry Lakers' butt? ... interesting season ahead!
It's a good move for the TWolves, because if they didn't get him or Brad Miller, their frontcourt would be the weakest in the west. Now, they can play a smallish lineup of Cassell, Hudson, Szczerbiak, Garnett, and Olowokandi...or move Hudson to the 6th man role and start Ebi or someone else alongside Garnett. Still need a PF, but this was a must-signing for the Wolves.
It seems like Mark Cuban and Dallas are more concerned about getting a name player then a solid player. They tried to get Zo, Kidd and now Horry instead of chasing solid players who are better fits like Nesterovic, Kandi and Brad Miller. We're catching up with the Mavs simply because they're standing still. Minnesota already gave the Mavs trouble last year, with Cassell and Kandi Minnesota might pass up the Mavs. Dallas is falling asleep at the wheel. I think that Garnett will fire up Kandi and be a positive influence on him. Great signing.
If so, he's made his first legit point, because Escobar does demand the ball a lot, especially on days he's starting.
I thonk with the acquisitions of Cassell and Olowokandi, the wolves become the third seed in the west behind LA and Sac. If the Spurs get another good player, they will probably pass MN again but for now I like MN over SA. If MN can get Eddie Jones or Ron Artest (these are the rumors in Minnesota) or another athletic wing player, they have a chance to be the second seed in the west behind only LA. KG is dominant and Cassell is an exceptional player. If Mike can live up to even 50% of the expectations he had coming into the league, this is going to be a much improved team. They still have Hudson coming off the bench, and a few other role players. I really like that team if they make that Wally for Ricky Davis trade and somehow are able to get Artest for Brandon (although I don't think Indiana would make that trade, alot of writers in Minnesota seem to think that it will happen.) If they do those deals, they might be able to challenge LA with a line up of: Cassell Davis Artest Garnett Olowokandi Bench: Hudson Marc jackson E. Johnson That would be an impressive line-up and it would give every team a lot of problems, even LA.
Which writers? Walters, Hartman, Reusse, Barrerio, Sansavere, Johnson, Pickeral, Zgoda, Aschburner? Aside from speculation from a recent Barrerio column, any writer offering any thoughts about trading Brandon doubt Artest would be part of the package. The stories I have read tend to mention Croshere or Mercer.
I think he was born in Nigeria, then went to school in England. Edit- I think some people were comparing him to Dream early on because of the Nigeria connection...could be wrong though.
All 3 of the guys (columnists) (SH,DB,PR) in the Strib seem to think that the Wolves will get either Harrington or Artest from the Pacers. I believe that that Shooter column in the STPPP also predicted that the Wolves would get one or the other. Like I said, I don't think that the Pacers will give up either of those guys just to dump salary. The writers seem to think that just Indiana needs to sweeten its deal instead of just sending Croshere. That was my impression of the last few weeks of their wolves columns anyway. Even if they don't and get Eddie Jones instead, its still a very impressive team.
Tierre- you are correct. Olowokandi was born in Lagos, Nigeria and went to high school in England (East Sussex to be exact). I don't know when he moved to England from Nigeria, but he transferred from Brunel College in Middlesex, England to Pacific in 1995.
This makes the T'Wolves alot better which is not good considereing all the other good teams in the West.
I see it that way too JV. Perhaps Kandi additionally relished the idea of learning low post moves from McHale. Although not very athletic, Rasho became a fundamentally sound low post player under McHale's tutelage (my recollection is Rasho gave Yao some problems in their matchups). If Kandi can't develop an offensive game in Minnestoa, he'll never have one...with or without a wink...
He's got that nice little left box hook but that's about it. The big pickup for them is his rebounding. Minn always seems so soft on the boards with the exception of KG.
Minn doesn't need a individual offensive game out of the C spot-- they have KG, Sam and Wally to create the shots. In Kandi they get bigger and more physical on the interior--and this was a team already with an excellent defense. As of today IMO they are right with the Spurs, Mavs and Kings with Cassell and Kandi--they really addressed their key weaknesses, getting another offensive creator and legit scorer, plus now getting more interior strength and shotblocking. As hard it is for most teams to have even a servicable center these days it is very hard to believe Kandi was had for a deal like that. I don't know what the East teams under the cap were thinking--they could have had an EC all-star center at a cheap price--even say at 35 mil over 6 or 20 mil over 3.
I'm not sure that's true - I think Kandi wanted to go to what he felt was the right situation - i.e. a winning team where he could contribute. With the exception of Orlando, who landed the player Minnesota wanted all along anyway, none of the Eastern squads could've offered that. Just a hunch, but I think Kandi would've wanted more from any of the other squads after him.
