Howlin' T-Wolf

Grant Hill has helped the Suns get over that hump and reach the Western Conference Finals

Aside from the need of a more substantial go-to superstar to bet our chips on especially late in games, the Wolves are in dire need of a top-notch veteran player. Let’s face it; the Wolves were cursed this past season. The downfall of having the youngest team in the NBA is that you’re sacrificing experience for athleticism. Veteran players come few and far between and can deliver a key component to any franchise searching for consistent winning habits.

A good example of an on-court leader who brings experience and a true passion for winning to a team is Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns. He may be 37 but aren’t the best veterans old farts like him? Hill has certainly lost a step since his days of semi-stardom with the Detroit Pistons but he still can play. I would say he’s aged properly, for lack of a better term. He possesses the sole ability of elevating his teammates play around him by simply playing efficient and intelligent basketball.

Hill seems to always make wise plays all while doing the little things right; hitting open jumpers, defending his man with pride. The Suns are truly lucky to have someone of that mental capacity and it has obviously helped the reach the Western Conference finals this season.

The Wolves, on the other hand, don’t have that type of player. Not only that, the young, athletic players who are supposed to make plays with their athleticism don’t even do that. But most importantly, the Wolves don’t have that experienced leader on the court to help make adjustments accordingly when things go terribly wrong, which happened all too often last season.

So far this offseason has been flooded with speculation of the draft and who the next big thing will be. Not saying that finding our next key component via the draft is a bad thing but it won’t fulfill a few of the Wolves’ biggest needs; leadership, intelligence and experience.

As much fun as it is to talk about the young, hot studs transitioning their way into the NBA, the Wolves front office will also need to make a splash in the free agency market this summer. I’m not saying go out and get Lebron James but rather identify one or two guys that can come in and change the culture of this team. They need to be, as I said earlier, smart, a good leader and a guy who does everything on a need basis for their coach. You need a big shot; he’ll at least take it. You need lockdown defense; he’ll seal him up without committing some bone-headed foul.

That is the type of player, or players, that the Wolves need to strenuously go after this summer. I know it’s not easy to convince an aging player to come play in a rebuilding environment but David Kahn has the people skills to convince players that this situation will turn around. Hell, he’s got me believing! A veteran leader or two on top of what we get from the draft could be exactly what the Wolves need to turn things around by next year.

And even though he will be 38 before next season starts, Grant Hill will be an unrestricted free agent this summer… Just sayin’!