Playing Catch-Up
Ok fellow Howlers, many apologies for my 3-week September sabbatical. I was swamped with getting things ready to move back to FL and just recently came down with a cold. (Thankfully not H1N1!) But enough with excuses the blog must go on!
Let’s get right to it:
In the last 3 weeks the Timberwolves have done some great things. They’ve added a veteran point guard while simultaneously getting more 2010 cap-space, signed a young, above average player to a steal of a deal, and added another 3-pt shooter to play the wing. Honestly I think September might have been the best month for the Timberwolves in the David Kahn era.
9/4/09 & 9/11/09 – The Timberwolves sign restricted free agent guard Ramon Sessions to an offer sheet and the Bucks have 7 days to match. The Bucks who would have had to go over the luxury tax to keep him, decline to match.
I’ll have more on Sessions later but for right now I’ll just say that I am pretty confident he will become the best dollar-to-production free agent any team has signed this summer. An A+ move for David Kahn and one that just might make more people forget about Rubio being here in Minnesota than you might think.
9/9/09 - The Timberwolves acquire Antonio Daniels from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for point guard Bobby Brown and power forward Darius Songaila.
Here’s what Niall Doherty of Hornets247.com has to say about Daniels:
Daniels came to New Orleans from Washington in exchange for Mike James last December. His days with the Hornets were numbered, with his $6.6 million expiring contract the team’s best remaining trade chip, and rookie Darren Collison poised to come in and take up a chunk of minutes as Chris Paul’s understudy. As a 12-year vet, Daniels‘ best days are long behind him, but he can still run a well-oiled offense. He won’t beat many guys off the dribble or create his own shot, which didn’t work well for the Hornets last season since nobody else on the second unit could do those things either. But surround him with some scorers and he should do fine. He’ll find the cutter or the open man, and he’s capable of knocking down a flat jumper if he’s left alone. By all accounts he’s a great locker room guy, too, and probably one of the more media-friendly players in the League. I imagine he’ll be given a locker right next to Jonny Flynn.
Daniels is a great addition to the back-court, a clear upgrade over Brown as our 3rd point guard, as well as to the locker-room where he should be a great presence for both Flynn and Sessions.
9/17/09 – The Timberwolves sign shooting guard/small forward Sasha Pavlovic to a one-year deal. Another solid move by Kahn which helps round out the roster and doesn’t hurt our financial flexibility heading into next summer. I should have a detailed post looking at Pavlovic’s game soon as well.
9/22/09 – The Timberwolves waive point guard Chucky Atkins. Another one of Kahn’s money saving moves as Atkins was only guaranteed 700k this year.
All in all I think that later in the year September will show itself to be the Timberwolves best month during this very busy off-season.
