Howlin' T-Wolf

Does Glen Taylor have any say left in this team and it's operations?

Apologies from my initial outburst of confusion and anger. Obviously, things didn’t turn out as swimmingly as most fans would like.

For starters, the T-Wolves draft party was disappointed to see Favors go to Jersey and not too enthralled to see Wes Johnson wear a Wolves cap on stage. Yet where we stand at the end of the night, Wes Johnson was the greatest move of the night.

In what was arguably the most baffling trade at the moment, Luke Babbit, whom was selected by the Wolves at 16 and was probably the BPA, and Ryan Gomes, whom has a fluid contract adorned by many NBA GM’s, was traded to Portland for back-up forward Martell Webster.

A little background info on Webster — because many don’t even know who the hell he is — he was the No. 6 draft pick in 2005 out of Seattle Prep High School. Last season he played in all 82 games for the Trail Blazers and averaged 9.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Still developing a polished overall game, Webster brings athleticism to the Wolves. Along with Johnson, the Wolves now have a stealthy pair of wings that can run the floor and fill lanes on the break. Webster is an above average shooter with range out to the three-point line. If he gets time, Webster could be an active contributor to the Wolves next season; a great sixth man assuming Wes Johnson is the starter at the 3 for game one.

But looking back at the trade, it makes no sense from either a basketball or business standpoint. Addressing how the trade affects what happens on the floor, the Wolves traded two guys who are just as good as Webster. I’ve always thought of Babbitt as a souped-up version of Wally Sczerbiak — what not to love? He scores at will which is anchored by a great jump shot —  maybe the best shooter in the draft. Athleticism is not his game but by no means is he the worst athlete in the draft. As for Ryan Gomes, he has shown that he is only a role player but a good one at that. His versatility gave Rambis the flexibility of playing him at the 3 or 4 last season. Webster can do almost everything that Babbitt and Gomes can do minus Babbitt’s shooting efficiency and Gomes’ strength. But to make up for those lapses in Webster’s game, he plays superior defense to both players and is a better athlete than maybe both combined.

And now for the business standpoint, I’ll start by posing a question: Is sacrificing a potential sixth man of the year in Babbitt — I totally believe it — and a solid role player in Gomes worth the extra boost in defense and athleticism? Better question: Is spending possibly $5 million more this season for Webster’s assets worth it? I don’t think so. When comparing the numbers, Babbitt will make roughly $4.2 million over the next 3-4 years and Gomes has a team option this season worth $4 million. Supposedly, Gomes’ contract had a buyout in his contract that not many knew about and even the exact number is still unknown. So maybe that could make up the difference that was created by taking on Webster’s longer, more lucrative contract, which is $14.3 million over three years. Until we know more about Gomes’ buyout clause, the deal doesn’t make sense for cap space and trusting Kahn that it was a good business decision is a difficult task at the moment.

It was not in our interest to maintain Ryan beyond June 30th,” Kahn said. Ryan’s contract was written in a way that there was a buyout, and if you exercise it before June 30, we had made that decision to do so, as a result if we had bought him out, he would not be on the team and there would be a small amount of money that would stay on our cap for next year which would have impeded a little bit of our progress in free agency or attracting a player through trade.

It’s still hard trusting the guy not knowing the exact numbers and if they match up or not.

Anyways, I don’t hate the trade, but I don’t like it. Babbitt was the only choice that excited the crowd, and me, at the Timberwolves’ Draft Party tonight, and we traded him away. It was the first time in the Kahn regime, outside of choosing Rubio, that the Wolves drafted the BPA in Babbitt, and then we traded him away for a slightly more athletic player that is due a lot more money over the next three years. Oh, and we threw in a potentially great role player as well as a fan favorite with his favorable personality in Ryan Gomes.

The other trade that happened tonight was done with the Wizards. The Wolves traded the rights to Trevor Booker (No. 23) and the right to Hamady Ndiaye (No. 56) to the Wizards for Lazar Hayward (No. 30) and Nemanja Bjelica (No. 35). I’ll be honest, I liked the Booker pick; the Wolves need a bruiser that just loves to play ball. But I thought they would reach for Dexter Pittman here because they loved him at his workout. A little more honesty, after the trade, I had to look up who Hayward was even but quickly remembered the athletic senior wing from Marquette. This trade worked out better for the Wolves than the Webster one. Hayward stabilizes what the Wolves wanted to acquire in a wing player — a shooting guard with a high scoring ability and defensive prowess — while answering what was probably the wish of Tony Ronzone — whom I’m starting to love — in taking Bjelica; a solid Euro-stash player that will take time to develop. Ronzone’s influence also shows in the 45th pick in Paulao Prestes, a player whom is compared to Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies.

But with honesty on my mind and rolling off my tongue, tonight was a train wreck. It has time to turn around but as of tonight’s ending, the outlook is bleak. Kahn elatedly said he addressed some needs that needed addressing tonight. The problem with that is that he only selected the BPA once and then traded him away. Otherwise he drafted the right player once and made an odd trade, to say the least.

When will this team realize that they aren’t in the position to draft on a need-basis? When your near the bottom-feeders in the NBA for consecutive years, building through the draft is important and it starts with nabbing the BPA.

As much as Wolves fans and even David Kahn want to build this team in the shadow of the OKC Thunder and Portland Trailblazers, it’s just not going to happen. Both of those squads knew how to maximize their assets in the draft and are thriving because of it. Even tonight, they both showed what they can do with what little they had. Kahn was played the fool tonight by both teams by not maximizing his assets and five draft picks. The Trail Blazers conned Kahn into taking on more money for a slightly more athletic player from a GM that was fired that night. The OKC Thunder turned the 32nd pick into Cole Aldrich; the hometown kid that actually could’ve filled a hole for the Wolves as well as fulfilled the fan-base’s hopes. Both teams seem to have zero respect for Kahn and it showed in what transpired here tonight.

If you want to play with the big boys, Kahn needs to step up more-so than he did tonight. He came closer to attaining his goal of acquiring a high-octane, running offense but didn’t do so in an efficient manner. It’s easy to say that things could’ve gone a lot smoother but in no way are things over by any means. With trade talks still murmuring around Big Al and free agency coming up in one week, the madness has just begun. Let’s just hope Kahn can pull things together as Presti and and Pritchard have done for their respective teams in the past.

As for now, I will say congrats to Wes Johnson. I have faith that he can become a quality player on this team and others should feel the same. But as for the rest of the team, it’s still in Kahn’s hands, and if tonight was any tip of the cap as to how things will continue to go, this will be a rough ride.