Howlin' T-Wolf

The surprise team in NBA is no doubt the OKC Thunder. With a record of 24-18, they have crashed their way smack-dab into the heart of the Western Conference playoff race and exceeded last years win total only half way through the season. Kevin Durant is a big reason for this. He’s an exciting player to watch who can score at will from just about anywhere on the court. But don’t forget about Russell Westbrook, James Harden and even big man Jeff Green. What’s the common denominator among these four players? They were all lottery draft picks chosen by the Thunder (aka the Zombie Sonics).

As of right now, the Wolves have three first round draft picks to utilize in the 2010 NBA Draft. It remains uncertain whether President of Basketball Operations for the Timberwolves David Kahn will trade them away for some more future draft picks, use a combination of them to trade up – if needed — or just remain idle and use all three of them for the Wolves. One thing’s for certain is that one of them will be a high lottery pick. The NBA Draft has always been somewhat of a crapshoot. The draft order itself is based on the luck of the draw in a lottery that takes place every May. Who’s sequence of numbers (formerly the ping-pong ball) will be chosen last? It’s like your playing bingo in a room full of nervous GM’s. Even more risky than the draft order though is the careful evaluation and choosing of the player you want. How nerve racking is it? Very and Wolves fans have seen far too often from the wrong side.

Somehow, someway the “Zombie Sonics” have managed to strike gold drafting four young talented players. All four have good outlooks on their NBA careers with one of them vying to become one the best in the NBA someday. What I want to know is how did they do it.

Sam Presti had a plan from the start. Find your guy and build around him. Presti does more homework on a player than anyone and he finds guys that are going to complement his existing roster. That’s what it’s about.

That comes from Royce Young of the The Daily Thunder, the Thunder blog on the Truehoop Network. Royce made some good points to what the success in OKC is all about. Earlier this season, I read things saying the Wolves need to duplicate what the Thunder have done by using their draft picks and building a team around a core of young players. Honestly I almost didn’t believe this could happen. With the NBA Draft being the crapshoot it is, I thought it’s highly unlikely that two teams in one decade could score with all the right players and rebuild through the draft alone. It’s just too hard. There are way too many duds chosen in the first 14 picks; players who were good in college but flop in the NBA or guys with tons of upside that never put it together. But after listening to and pondering more of the facts, maybe the Wolves should take some notes on this strategy and discover how OKC turned their franchise around in three short seasons.

Here are the facts:

1. They struck “platinum” and drafted Kevin Durant with the #2 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft; a star in the making and exactly the type of player you build a team around.
2. They drafted Jeff Green with the #5 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft; a stretch 4 that more and more teams are using and a guy who always seems to come up with a big play down the stretch.
3. They passed on taking big man Brook Lopez and instead drafted a dual-threat point guard in Russell Westbrook, who plays with heart and has a tough work ethic on both ends of the floor.
4. GM Sam Presti has leveraged the team’s recent cap space into a bevy of picks by giving other teams cap relief and charging them for picks or young players. An example from this year was the trade for point guard Eric Maynor from the Jazz by taking on Matt Harpring’s contract.
5. The rest of the team was assembled to compliment these two studs and their style of play (This is key!)

When you’re faced with the challenge of rebuilding a team like the Wolves are now, you have to ask yourself, “What do we have, what are our assets, and do the players fit?” The Wolves have guys they can build around like Jefferson, Love and Flynn. That’s the core of this team. Do they compliment each other? Maybe, maybe not. While Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the two big men have “jealous stuff playing out”; ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press reported the opposite that the two are good friends and enjoy playing together. But the question is still out there whether or not the two can be effective when on the court together.

Royce told me “it’s about finding players that fit with [Durant]“. For the Wolves I believe that is Al Jefferson. He has been the Wolves best player over the last two years and is only 25 years old. He is one of the last remaining pieces left in the KG deal of ‘07 for which we owe Kevin McHale to at least getting him as a part of that deal. He’s one of the very few remaining elite big men that can demand a double team in the paint, and that’s a rare player to find. Sure, some may argue that he’s no KD. I’d say you are correct. But he is an elite player at a position in a league where it can be difficult to find a strong player, let alone a star. This is why I firmly believe that the Wolves should continue to build around him and put the pieces into play supporting the style of play of the Wolves’ “Big Fella.”

Guys like Brewer, Wilkins and Gomes — whom I indeed love — may not be a part of this team’s long-term future. I think all three are good but this is where the team needs to upgrade as opposed to staying the same. I may regret saying this but even Love’s future is cloudy depending on whom the Wolves plan to build around. If it is Jefferson, Love’s time here could be in doubt. If they choose Love, they may be giving away one of the league’s best centers via a trade for a complementary player on the wing. The list of remorseful GM’s who traded big for small in the past is long. Basically, the Wolves seem to have an identity crisis right now. We have guys like Brewer who enjoy up-tempo games, while our big boys don’t necessarily enjoy sprinting down the court with everyone else. That’s why I think Kahn needs to find players that probably are better in a half court set so we can set up the triangle offense. Teams do need someone to stretch the court, I believe that’s true but if your team is built around a large frontcourt that runs a half-court set, then you need to find players that will fit that system. Right now the Wolves are split and it just isn’t working.

As far as the Wolves “Russell Westbrook” goes, Flynn will hopefully one day turn out to be that player to Jefferson as Westbrook is to Durant at the point guard position. But it certainly won’t be an easy transition to become that player.

Westbrook has worked incredibly hard at doing what Scott Brooks and Mo Cheeks have told him. He’s understanding not only how to get the ball to players, but where to get it to them. He’s starting to sense when he needs to attack and when he needs to distribute. I think Jonny Flynn is a fantastic talent and will probably be a little better jump shooter than Westbrook. But Russ isn’t afraid to work both in the film room and on the floor and it’s really paid off for him.

Flynn will need to prove that he was truly worth the lottery pick the Wolves used on him last season and continue to work hard through the bumps and setbacks of his rookie season. I believe he could be more valuable than Westbrook one day. Westbrook is making a push to be considered for the 2010 All-Star Game and is the leading point guard on one of the Western Conference’s better teams so far, so Flynn has a ways to go.

Once this season is finished the real work will begin and Kahn will need to do some serious homework. He needs to identify quickly who this team’s franchise player will be for the future, use our draft picks and cap space to bring in some talent at the wing positions. He also needs to make sure they develop Flynn into the player we think he can be by working on his decision-making and defense. Now that’s just the core of things. After that, it comes down to acquiring the right bench players, even if that means only going 8-9 deep for next season and making the right adjustments to the triangle offense. The triangle offense has not worked quite right this season, let’s all be honest. Maybe it never will. Throwing young guys into a complex system like the triangle is like tossing a rookie quarterback into the Indianapolis Colts unique offense. It’s difficult to learn and may never be utilized properly. It appears though that it is here to stay. Kahn must now build a team that will support the system that coach Rambis’s wants to run. The Thunder can stretch the court with their shooting and run or play in a half-court set because they have the right personnel to do so. The Wolves have a massive frontcourt in Jefferson and Love and I think they can both fit in the triangle offense, as long as we draft the next Kobe Bryant. Well not necessarily the next Kobe, but I do feel that our biggest need is a wing that can shoot from outside and even post up when needed. This core piece can be and should be acquired through the draft. With guys like Evan Turner, Wesley Johnson and Xavier Henry potentially available this year I’m sure Kahn has begun his research on these three.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are starting to put things in place and are on their way to be headed to their first trip to the NBA’s big dance in April. The Wolves haven’t tasted the playoffs since ‘03 and are slowly starting the rebuilding process to get back. Following the path of the Thunder isn’t a simple plan; it takes time, patience and diligence from the entire organization: the front office, the coaching staff and the players. Building this team around one of the core players, I’d argue Jefferson, and surrounding him with complementary talent should be the plan.