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Year-Round News & Updates on the Minnesota Timberwolves
Flip Saunders spoke recently with Rick Adelman, in fact the two had all-day meetings at the same time that Saunders began to 'clean house' and fired a number of scouts.
Flip expects Adelman to return for at least one more season. According to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, Adelman's wife's health has improved. Rick missed 11 games this past season while his Mary Kay was in the hospital dealing with unexplained seizures. Nothing is official yet. Rick Adelman said just prior to the end of the season that he'd make a quick decision and wouldn't drag this process out. Chances are we'll get official word sometime in the near future. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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Andrei Kirilenko had a great first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. As expected, Kirilenko did miss some games (18), but in 64 games as the Wolves' starting small forward he averaged 12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1 block and 1.5 steals. While shooting .507 FG, .292 3PT, .752 FT. Andrei Kirilenko instantly became the Minnesota's defensive anchor as his impact on both ends was felt immediately. Every year coaches vote for the All-Defensive Teams. No Minnesota Timberwolf made either of the two teams, but he did receive one point, which means that one coach voted for him to be on the second team. Assuming he either accepts his player option or declines it and sign a longer deal with the Wolves, he could find himself on this list in an injury-free 2013-14 season, especially if the Wolves can get Rubio, AK, Love & Pekovic (and maybe a competent shooting guard) on the floor for extended minutes. Here are the two 2012-13 NBA All-Defensive Teams...
That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
As I've done the past two summers, today we're bringing you Part One of our Mock Drafts 'Around the Net'. For those unfamiliar with these posts, here's what they're all about... Because I don't watch a lot of college basketball, every summer I research 7-10 of the more popular mock drafts on the web and present those to you with who they have the Wolves taking in the first round of the Draft. The Wolves have four picks in the 2013 NBA Draft. Two in each round. The NBA Lottery is scheduled for May 21st. As of right now the Wolves have the 9th-best chance at winning the Lottery and getting the #1 pick (actually a 1.7% chance). The other pick is from the Grizzlies and is 26th overall. Minnesota also owns the 52nd pick (from Brooklyn) and 58th pick (from Oklahoma City), but we won't be focusing on the second round in any of these posts. nbadraft.netMock Draft Updated May 9th #9: Shabazz Muhammed, 6'6"/225lbs., F-G, UCLA, 20 yrs.
#26: Lorenzo Brown, 6'4"/186lbs., G, NC State, 22 yrs.
ESPN (Chad Ford)Mock Draft Updated May 8th #9: C.J. McCollum, 6'3"/190lbs., G, Lehigh, 21 yrs.
#26: Giannis Antetokounmpo, 6'9"/215lbs., SF, Greece, 18 yrs.
Draft ExpressMock Draft Updated May 3rd #9: Cody Zeller, 7'0"/240lbs., C, Indiana, 20 yrs.
#26: Shane Larkin, 5'11"/162lbs., PG, Miami, 20 yrs.
WalterFootball.comMock Draft Updated May 3rd #9: C.J. McCollum, 6'3"/190lbs., G, Lehigh, 21 yrs.
#26: Lucas Noguiera, 7'0"/215lbs., C, Brazil, 21 yrs.
CBS Sports (Jeff Goodman)Mock Draft Updated May 1st #9: Cody Zeller, 7'0"/240lbs., C, Indiana, 20 yrs.
#26: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 6'5"/190lbs., SG, Georgia, 20 yrs.
mynbadraft.comMock Draft Updated April 30th #9: C.J. McCollum, 6'3"/190lbs., G, Lehigh, 21 yrs.
#26: Giannis Antetokounmpo, 6'9"/215lbs., SF, Greece, 18 yrs.
Flip Saunders continues to clean house and today he did the expected: waiving Brandon Roy. Roy was yet another failed experiment under David Kahn. Brandon retired after being amnestied by the Portland Trailblazers. He took a season off and then signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves this past summer. He played through the entire preseason and the first five games of the season before re-injuring his knees that ultimately shut him down for the season. In five games with the Wolves Roy averaged 5.8ppg, 2.8rpg & 4.6apg in 24.4mpg. New President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders: "We wish Brandon and his family all the best in the future." While Roy had said late in the season that he hoped to return to the court, most assume that being released by the Timberwolves effectively ends his NBA career. As the Wolves seem to do every summer, the search for a shooting guard starts over again this summer. One rumored name has been O.J. Mayo. Flip is reportedly a big fan. However, if he truly wants Mayo, he'll have to clear some cap space. Stay tuned, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! David Kahn was an integral part of getting Ricky Rubio to come to Minnesota, two years after being selected sixth overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. Rubio & Kahn developed a good relationship and as such, Ricky was a bit sad to see Kahn dismissed. That makes Rubio part of a very small group as most were very happy to see Kahn gone. Leading that charge is likely the Wolves' best player: Kevin Love, who frequently butted heads with D. Kahn. GM's & executives around the League are happy to see Kahn go as well as he was notoriously known as hard to deal with/talk to and just plain weird! Rubio had this to say on Kahn's departure, "He had a lot of confidence in me and when a person has so much confidence in you, you have to feel bad about it. I've talked with Flip Saunders, he has a lot of experience and knows a lot about basketball, so I like him very much. Some people are saying that this could create a wedge between Rubio & the Wolves organization, but I just can't see a guy like Ricky holding a grudge against the front office over a person like David Kahn. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Flip Saunders 'cleaned house' today as he fired the majority of the scouting staff that David Kahn had assembled.
Gone are five scouts: international scouting director/player personnel Pete Philo, regional scouts J.T. Prada, Curtis Crawford and Steve Gordon as well as special assignment scout Will Conroy. Most of those scouts had contracts expiring this summer. Scouts Milt Barnes & Derek Pierce are still under contract and will remain in the front office. With the draft less than two months away, Flip will likely rebuild the scouting staff quickly as the begin to prepare for the 2013 NBA Draft (in which the Wolves hold 4 picks--two in each round). Flip also met with Rick Adelman for quite some time today between the firings to discuss the upcoming pre-draft Combine in Chicago as well as the offseason as a whole. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! It's been eight years since Glen Taylor dismissed Flip Saunders as the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. During his tenure in Minnesota, Saunders compiled a 411-326 record from 1996-2005. Saunders took over for Bill Blair to finish the 1995-96 season and that was the only season during his tenure that he didn't make the playoffs, what followed was seven-straight playoff appearances. In 2003-04 the Wolves made it to the Western Conference Finals but lost 4-2 to the L.A. Lakers. It was part-way through the following season that Flip was let go after an under .500 start through the first 50 games of the season. Saunders had a great tenure as the best head coach in Minnesota Timberwolves history. Despite being fired by Taylor, the two remained a great relationship during these past eight years. Which have included head coaching stints in Detroit & Washington for Flip as well as a gig as an ESPN analyst. In addition to becoming the new Pres. of Bball Ops, Flip will also be a minority owner. According to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, Saunders will be investing roughly $8million into the Wolves. While there have been rumors that Taylor had the team on the market to sell, it now appears that he's no longer interested at this time in selling the team and will continue on as the majority owner of the Wolves. Saunders was a main candidate a couple months ago after the Minnesota Golden Gophers (Flip's alma-mater) fired head coach Tubby Smith. The job eventually went to Richard Pitino, which left the door open to a return to Minnesota. I remember hearing the initial rumors about Flip becoming the new TWolves President of Basketball Operations in a story from the Star Tribune's Sid Hartman. At the time, I thought, "that'd be great, but it seems more than likely that Kahn is back for another season". Luckily that's not the case. David Kahn was dismissed on Wednesday afternoon and Flip Saunders was introduced as the new President of Basketball Operations on Thursday afternoon. David Kahn exits Minnesota as one of the worst GM's in the League. I read some stories that said that Wolves fans should be thankful, as Kahn has really built a great team that, unfortunately because of injuries we haven't seen at full-strength. While injuries have completely ruined the past two seasons, Kahn had little to do with building this roster. To his credit he did bring in Ricky Rubio. Beyond that, Kevin Love & Nikola Pekovic are both draft selections from the McHale-era. When Rick Adelman agreed to become the new head coach he demanded that he have veto rights on any kind of transaction the Wolves make. Which meant Kahn was no longer allowed to make decisions and had to go through Rick for everything. The result? The Wolves added key pieces at the wings (Kirilenko & Budinger). Rick Adelman did get strong-armed into letting the Wolves sign Brandon Roy (a move that was later revealed as a gamble that Kahn wanted to take). The result? Roy played five games before retiring again and the Wolves were without a viable shooting guard, yet again. Add drafting Jonny Flynn over Stephen Curry (and then drafting another point guard with the next selection in Rubio). Trading Ty Lawson for picks to Denver. Drafting Wesley Johnson over guys like Paul George (now an all-star) and talented big man DeMarcus Cousins (don't know that I'd want him anyway). And then of course the Kurt Rambis hiring as well as the failed experiments of Michael Beasley, Anthony Randolph & Darko Milicic. During Kahn's four years in Minnesota he made poor decision after poor decision and it wasn't until Adelman was brought in that things finally began to turn around. There isn't a TWolves fan out there that will miss D. Kahn. Flip will have a busy offseason ahead of him. Hopefully Rick Adelman will return as the head coach, something that Glen Taylor says he sees as 'very favorable'. Then come decisions on free agents Nikola Pekovic & Chase Budinger as well as the 2013 NBA Draft in which the Wolves own four selections (two in each round). He'll also go to work repairing a relationship between Kevin Love and the franchise after he felt he was wronged when he wasn't given a maximum contract. Love was notorious for not liking Kahn, so bringing in Flip is a large step in the right direction. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! |
Cody AndersonA TWolves fan, bringing you the daily updates. News Archives
August 2017
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