Category: Opinion/Commentary

T-Wolf Rank: #2 Ricky Rubio

We have reached the Top 3 of T-Wolf Rank. We hope you have enjoyed reading the posts as much as we have enjoyed writing them. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

Having a solidified point guard in the NBA is a lot like having a long-tenured quarterback in the NFL (And, no, I’m not getting into the replacement refs). A quarterback is the commander both on and off the field; he’s the general to his comrades and a symbolic leader for the ownership and fans alike to adore. With a good one, a team can at the very least stabilize themselves in above-average play. Without one, a team is bound for dismal seasons and endless waves of face-palmed fans.

The Timberwolves have never had that guy – thus the thousands of former, now face-palmed fans. You know, the one we can call our captain. The one players can deeply invest their game and trust in. The one fans can sport his jersey for an endless amount of years without any retro aspect weighing in. I’m not saying it’s an easy feat to find that player but the Wolves haven’t even come close. They’ve trotted out lifelong backups and various projects on the court since their birth of existence. The closest thing we’ve ever had was Stephon Marbury or even Terrell Brandon.

That’s just pitiful.

So when you think of Ricky Rubio’s arrival to the Twin Cities, it’s sort of like a God-send in disguise. No, he’s not Jesus nor will he become the next Pistol Pete but he certainly won’t be another Jonny Flynn. And for that, we’re thankful. He’s going to be somewhere in between. Where he lands on that scale is only a matter of hard work, dedication and, frankly, how long this team can stay devoted to winning.

Last season when Rubio exploded onto the scene, no one expected anything like that from him. Many Euro-born players have some transition time they need to acquaint their self in the league. But Rubio literally did hit the NBA from the blindside. He was spectacularly effective and certainly a show-stopper but he also showed us some inexperience and areas of his game that certainly need improvement. Most notably, he’s an average shooter, at best, and could also use some work on his pick ‘n’ roll defense (It’s bizarre how good he is with the pick ‘n’ roll on offense but still greatly struggles to defend it.)

The thing is that we’re, no, I am in no place to critique. We’ve quickly learned in the last year that Rubio could possibly be the quarterback the Timberwolves have so desperately yearned and just a flat-out special player to cheer for. He’s a flashy player with a adolescent flair fans have fallen head over heels for. But he’s also one of the smartest players I’ve seen and a devoted worker — we’ve seen that in all the updates on his rehab coming back from that torn ACL. It’ll be tough to start the season without him, but I have a feeling that once he returns, likely by the beginning of December, the team will move forward without a hiccup because everyone will embrace the franchise’s newfound quarterback.

T-Wolf Rank: #3: Nikola Pekovic

Nikola Pekovic was one of Minnesota’s most pleasant surprises last year.

We have reached the Top 3 of T-Wolf Rank. We hope you have enjoyed reading the posts as much as we have enjoyed writing them. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

Last year, about this time, I began a Howlin T-Wolf post on a YouTube video that I found hilarious: a highlight montage of Nikola Pekovic. It was a two minute barrage of well-manipulated plays that made Pek look like an All-Star. Pek would score a basket, while in the background the ref would blow his whistle and motion for traveling (the whistle covered by loud hip-hop music). Or he would bowl over a defender on his way to the basket and get called for a charge. I never finished the post, but I really should have. It was right up my alley: snarky and unkind. I’m great at those, whatever that means about me as a person.

The fact was that Pek’s career really hadn’t included any highlights. In his first season, it would be a massive understatement to say he struggled with foul trouble. Per 36 minutes, Pek averaged 7.3 fouls, meaning that he committed more fouls than are permitted in 12 minutes fewer than an NBA game.

But despite his inability to stay on the floor, we knew Pekovic had a couple of good traits that might work well in the NBA. We knew, for example, that he had good footwork and that he was incredibly strong. We knew that he had feathery soft touch around the basket. We knew that he had a huge body, one that could take up a lot of space in the lane or on pick and rolls. What we failed to take into account was the fact that his less desirable qualities were actually very fixable. So when he played a very solid season in 2012, we were all shocked, but if we had given it some thought, we probably could have seen it coming. Somewhat.

But Pek formed a tough trio with #1 and #2 on this list, benefitting greatly both from Kevin Love’s extended range and the pick and roll opportunities created by Ricky Rubio, making him one of the surprise untradeables of the offseason. He gave opposing big men fits and quickly replaced my least favorite player on the roster (Darko), much to my delight. He played within himself, knowing his own strengths and weaknesses, and fouling much less. He even dropped 30 points against the Rockets in February.

So where does Pek go from here? I wrote this about how Pekovic should have been Most Improved Player last season (despite Jonah’s name on the post). He won’t improve that much again, but could he average 20 points per game? Could he become an All-Star in the Western Conference, which now features just one franchise center (Howard)? Can he make something better than the “Where in the World is Nikola Pekovic?” video? Who knows? He’s 26 years old, but he’s only a third year NBA player, so he’s still developing.

I have no idea what Pek will do this season, which is kind of fun. But here’s a new, well-deserved highlight video for one of the most important players on the Timberwolves roster. The top comment says “SAMO NAPRED,” which, according to Google Translate, means “Only Forward.”

That seems appropriate.

T-Wolf Rank: #4 Andrei Kirilenko

This is the tenth post in a series here on Howlin’ T-Wolf ranking the Timberwolves roster player-by-player. Ideally, Derek, Tom or Jonah will post a new player every day for 13 days. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

What’s that AK? You give this post a thumbs up? Why, thank you!

Andrei Kirilenko needs the Timberwolves. And the Timberwolves need Andrei Kirilenko.

Kirilenko is one of several examples on the Timberwolves roster of a low-risk/high-reward signing. Much like fellow new additions Chase Budinger, Alexey Shved and Brandon Roy, Kirilenko’s play will determine just how far this Timberwolves team will go. He’s yet another wild card in David Kahn’s hand; which is preferential to the Joker cards he played last season. Kahn has also invested some $25 million on the three players above and is betting they’re the missing links to bring this team to the next level.

As for Kirilenko, he too has something to prove. To prove that he can stay healthy and be effective. To prove that, at the age of 31, he can still consistently contribute to a playoff team. And finally, to prove that the Andrei Kirilenko we see this NBA season will be the rejuvenated one we saw for CSKA Moscow and in the Olympics and not the Andrei Kirilenko plagued by injury and (perhaps coincidentally) consistency issues.

Kirilenko wanted to return to the NBA to win, and the Timberwolves need to prove that they can win.

The price tag shouldn’t concern you that much; he made $17 million in the final year of his last NBA contract. If he’s healthy, he’s easily worth $10 million. Besides, if he’s your guy and there isn’t such a proven commodity on the market with the potential to still be a factor, then why not? After all, if cap space won championships, the Kings would have had a dynasty after these past few seasons.

By now, we know what a healthy Kirilenko can bring. If he’s healthy, he’ll bring solid post defense and effective help defense, which were two things last year’s Timberwolves had a dearth of. We know that he is a willing passer who will work to get teammates good looks in and out of the post. Offensively, if he’s able to stay on the floor, we know that he’s probably better off getting his looks within the flow of the offense versus creating his own shot.

If he’s able to, the Timberwolves could make the playoffs, and Kirilenko has attained redemption (Weird word to use for a player who posted a 16.2 PER in his most recent NBA season, but those are the expectations for a former all-star). Likewise, if the Timberwolves make the playoffs, they give off the impression of a team that isn’t afraid to make a couple gambles in the name of being successful. However, if they fail, Kirilenko’s days being viewed as a valued contributor are likely over and the Timberwolves are just a lottery team that takes too many careless risks.

Who knew so much could be on the line for both parties?

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T-Wolf Rank: #5: Chase Budinger

Rubioops to Budinger are going to be fun.

This is the ninth post in a series here on Howlin’ T-Wolf ranking the Timberwolves roster player-by-player. Ideally, Derek, Tom or Jonah will post a new player every day for 13 days. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

Ok, close your eyes for a second. No seriously, close them. Ok, now open them again so you can keep reading this post. Now, picture an NBA player. This guy is 6’7. He shot 40% from 3-point range last season, and 48% from the corner. He’s incredibly bouncy and participated in the 2012 dunk contest. He averaged 1.5 free throws and six rebounds per 36 minutes. Who am I talking about?

I’m guessing your reaction to that description was “Hey jackass, I know you are talking about Chase Budinger because I read the title to the post and he’s dunking in that picture, plus the caption says his name, plus you guys have already told us all these stats on Howlin T-Wolf before at some point or another.” Shut up, jerk. The reaction I was going for was this: “Meh, he sounds better than Wes Johnson.” Then you’d be exactly right.

When the Jazz made the playoffs, the Wolves had two choices: hope that a good wing fell to them by some lucky mistake, or package the pick with other players for an upgrade over Wes. After Kevin Martin’s name was thrown around a bit, many fans were underwhelmed when news broke that Chase Budinger was our prize for the 18th pick. I’m honestly not sure why. Predictably, most of the best wing players (Jeremy Lamb, Austin Rivers, Terrence Ross) were all snapped up well before the 18th pick, and quite frankly, I never saw the appeal of gambling on a Terrence Ross. But despite his athleticism and 3-point shooting, Budinger isn’t really elite at any one thing, which makes him a bit of a letdown to some people, I suppose.

But, unlike Wes, he is good at SOME things. Or, perhaps more accurately, he is consistent at several things. While Budinger’s 3-point shooting took a leap last year (from .325 to .406), the average of both years (.366) is still better than Wes Johnson or Luke Ridnour, the two players who spent the most time at shooting guard for Minnesota last season. He has shot roughly the same percentage, averaged roughly the same amount of points per 36 minutes and grabbed about the same amount of rebounds every year, and he has improved slightly as a defender. 72.2% of his shots came from either the restricted area or 3-point range, and just 17.8% came from the dreaded mid-range, from which Beas and Wes spent so much time inefficiently gunning.

Here’s the thing: we know what we are getting with Chase Budinger. And considering how much of last year was based on potential (IF Barea works out and IF Beasley gets better and IF Wes doesn’t suck and IF Love, Rubio and Pek all stay healthy), quite frankly, I’m sick of potential. I’m sick of upside. I’m ready for a player who we know will be productive MOST nights, not just on random nights against the Clippers.

We covered this extensively when the trade happened, of course. While Budinger might not have the star power of, say, Eric Gordon or other pipe dream shooting guards that we may have envisioned in Minnesota, he IS a significant upgrade, and significant upgrades could potentially be the difference between the Wolves as a lottery team and the Wolves as a playoff team. That level of improvement would be plenty good enough for me.

T-Wolf Rank: #6: Luke Ridnour

Luke Ridnour will play an important role for the Wolves, especially at the start of the season.

This is the eighth post in a series here on Howlin’ T-Wolf ranking the Timberwolves roster player-by-player. Ideally, Derek, Tom or Jonah will post a new player everyday for 13 days. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

“WHAT?!” roared the masses, teaming to HowlinTwolf.com to read the latest #TwolfRank. “How could Luke Ridnour be sixth on the countdown? How could he beat Williams? Cunningham? The wreckage of Brandon Roy? Oh wait, fair enough on all three.”

At least, that’s how I imagine the monologue would go in my head. The last sentence was probably wishful thinking.

Lost in the shuffle of Minnesota’s offseason (and we do mean shuffle, the roster turnover was ridiculous) is Minnesota’s backup point guard who seems to be almost an afterthought in many people’s ESPN Trade Machine predictions. Indeed, one would think Ridnour had a JJ Barea level of inefficiency, given the frequency with which his name was thrown around in an attempt to make salaries work, but frankly, that just wasn’t the case.

Eric Maynor is, by most people’s consensus, one of the best back-up point guards in the league, but in many statistical categories, Ridnour beats him. (All of Maynor’s stats are from 2010-2011, since he was injured most of last year).

TS% PER Assist %
Eric Maynor 0.485 11.7 30.3
Luke Ridnour 0.53 13 24

As you can see, Maynor assisted on more plays than Ridnour, but he also was less efficient, and didn’t shoot nearly as well from the field. Ridnour was as fine a back up point guard as one could ask for, and Adelman even went so far as to start Ridnour at shooting guard for much of the season, given the well-documented failures of one Wesley Johnson (who, thankfully, we won’t have to write a player preview about this season).

But Ridnour’s role will be more important than ever this season. The Timberwolves have their sites set on the playoffs, as well they should. They are a talented young team full of potential, but until Rubio gets back, they need to hold pace with the other Western Conference playoff contenders. There won’t be room in the pack to fall back too far, and Ridnour will be even more instrumental than usual in helping that happen at the beginning of the season.

Thus Ridnour’s high ranking. As always, these rankings are not absolute. If Derrick Williams or Brandon Roy play to the height of their potential, not only will players like Ridnour get bumped down, players in the top 3-5 might actually be displaced as well. But for the time being, and especially for the beginning of the season, Ridnour remains an extremely important cog in the Timberwolves’ machine.

A final thought: Ridnour’s contributions last year get overlooked, and they shouldn’t. The poor guy is a point guard, and he was stuck guarding the Kobe Bryants of the world for much of the season. It couldn’t have been fun (if you’ve ever played out of position defensively on the basketball court, you know how unpleasant it can be), but we never heard anything about him raising a stink or complaining. He just worked his ass off, night in and night out. We definitely shouldn’t stop appreciating that.

Plus he did this, which shut my nemesis Matt Harpring the hell up. So that was nice too. Don’t forget about Luke Ridnour.

T-Wolf Rank: #7: Brandon Roy

This is the seventh post in a series here on Howlin’ T-Wolf ranking the Timberwolves roster player-by-player. Ideally, Derek, Tom or Jonah will post a new player everyday for 13 days. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

I feel like when I gave my ranking of Brandon Roy for #TwolfRank that it was much lower than Tom or Jonah would have. Actually, I was told I had him too low based on what he had accomplished in his career to-date. Don’t get me wrong; I love Brandon. But his knees are bone on bone! And besides, it’s going to be weird seeing Brandon in a non-Blazers uniform. Maybe the way I’m viewing Brandon Roy is no different than I would someone who, say, just got out of a long relationship.

You know that while they may be happy with you, they may still dream about their Ex once every few weeks. Deep down, you always know that their heart will always be there (Portland). You also know that they still have family (fans, teammates, friends…etc.) that you’re going to have to run in to and have to hear about all of their glory days with them. Making sure you can deal with that in itself is important to being happy with that person, or in this case, player.

After all, no one likes to feel like they’re a rebound (pun intended) or someone’s stepping stone on the way to something greater.

But that’s all a part of the uncertainty that comes along with starting over. There is a risk that comes with investing your trust and faith when you have that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that things could go wrong at any moment. All it takes is a freak collision, peculiar misstep, or awkward landing, and suddenly you’re right back to where you started. Sometimes that means putting your heart on the line, and sometimes it’s $10 million dollars, or even both, I suppose.

At the same time, you cannot move forward while dwelling on the past, either. Yes, the logical part of your brain tells you not to get to close because you’re all but certain you know how things will end, but your heart tells you that there could be a chance for something special. Could the same player whose production fell in half as his body gave out from under him have anything left to give? In the same way that a person takes some time to themselves for some introspection and soul-searching, Brandon took a year off and get that nifty platelet surgery.

Isn’t it all we want is for someone to give us a chance to prove that we have something left to give, offer, or benefit somebody else’s life? Few things in life are worse than being counted out before you’ve even had a chance to begin. That’s just want Brandon wants, too: another shot at basketball. If people put forth as much effort in their personal lives as Brandon has in his comeback, there’d be more happy people on this earth.

Alas, sometimes you have to see something to believe it, and for that doubt to be erased. I want Brandon Roy to remove many of these reservations, and be successful. For the sake of his friends, family, and fans, I don’t want to get in too deep and see anyone get hurt. It won’t be much longer before we find out just what the next chapter of Brandon Roy brings, and I’m eager to find out. If you’re like me, you may think you know how the story ends, but then again, you never see a good (or good-bad) twist coming.

Want to be featured in a future #TwolfRank post? Join the conversation by using the hashtag!

 

 

T-Wolf Rank: #8 Dante Cunningham

This is the sixth post in a series here on Howlin’ T-Wolf ranking the Timberwolves roster player-by-player. Ideally, Derek, Tom or Jonah will post a new player everyday for 13 days. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

How I get caught with Dante Cunningham, I really just don’t know. I got the player sandwiched between two players I would’ve loved to drool over. Instead I sit here looking through pages of Google Images in hopes of finding just one picture of this guy that might stand out (It honestly was harder than you’d think).

But after researching a little more — not on the photos — I came to realize that Cunningham may very well be worth this spot in the rankings. I had him at 12 in my personal list because I could only compare him to Anthony Tolliver. You have to figure he’d play a similar role as AT. But if Adelman knew any better, he’d find a way to get Cunningham out onto the court more often.

An athletic forward with the ability to play multiple positions, Cunningham has now played for four different teams in just a four year career. Despite not finding a place to call home quite yet in such a short career, Cunningham has put up some surprisingly good numbers.

The Portland Trail Blazers drafted Cunningham in 2nd round of 2009 — save the Portland jokes. He showed potential but nothing more than a solid role guy. It’s when Cunningham moved to Charlotte when he made leaps and bounds, well, sorta. Cunningham’s minutes, points per game and field goal percentage all increased. And last year, with the Grizzlies, Cunningham posted a respectable career-high 14.94 PER. He also posted a career-high true shooting percentage of 53.8, suggesting that his jump shots and shot selection has certainly improved.

But you have to wonder why the numbers are good. Is Cunningham really that underrated? Or are his stats simply concentrated due to the lack of playing time he’s gotten through his career? Having never really paid much attention to him until now, I can’t answer that question. I do think he will be able to replace Tolliver’s production with more efficiency and wholeheartedly staunch defense.

What do you have to say of Dante?

Also, check out this gem of a video shown to us by @TeeWolvesMerch

T-Wolf Rank: #9: Derrick Williams

This is the fifth post in a series here on Howlin’ T-Wolf ranking the Timberwolves roster player-by-player. Ideally, Derek, Tom or Jonah will post a new player everyday for 13 days. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

STOP IT DERRICK

Some mornings, the sun seems a little brighter, the grass seems greener, the valium seems a little more potent (note: I don’t take valium), and I actually decide to be a positive human being. It doesn’t happen often, so don’t get used to it. But I’m about to look at the bright side when discussing Derrick Williams.

There are so many negative things we could discuss about Williams’ first season as a professional basketball player, but most of them have been widely covered already, to the point of redundancy. We could, for example, discuss the fact that Williams shot 28% from above the break 3-point range, and we could groan about the fact that these inefficient shots made up about 23% of his field goal attempts. We could point to the fact that on jumpshots, 63% of all of his FGAs, Williams averaged an ugly .356 percentage from the field, or that he averaged just 0.81 points per possession on spot-up opportunities, or that in isolations he averaged just 0.76 ppp. We could point to these and any other number of disturbing statistics as evidence of Williams’ failings as a rookie, and causes for concern going forward. But we won’t do that. Mostly.

We have a tendency as NBA fans to pigeonhole players into concepts we’ve already seen, rather than remembering that each player is unique. Williams doesn’t fit our traditional definition of either a small forward or a power forward. “If Williams can’t shoot threes as a rookie,” we say, “then he can’t be an effective small forward in the NBA.” “He’s a bust,” we say, after his first NBA season. “He’ll never work out.”

We’ve all thought it at some point, most likely on a night when Williams went 2-9 from the field, including 0-5 from three point range and turned the ball over five times. We’ve assumed he won’t pan out, that the Wolves should just trade him before he can do any more damage to his trade stock, that he was a mistake to draft so high.

Here’s the problem with writing off Minnesota’s #2 pick from the 2011 draft: Derrick Williams, though clearly underwhelming in his first NBA season, just became a legal adult four months ago. And despite the ridiculous amounts of negative attention he has received, there were positive signs as well.

Take his jumpshooting stats. Yes, .356 is rough. Yes, he took way too many jumpers. But Williams also shot .611 from inside the paint, the second most frequent area from which he shot. According to the NBA Stats Cube, 44% of Williams’ shots came within the restricted area, and he made 58% on those shots. These stats don’t point to a player who will settle for bad jumpshots for his entire career. They points to a player who finishes well around the rim, both on the drive and in the post.

I’m not saying that Derrick Williams will become another Dwyane Wade, building an entire offensive repertoire around hoop and making a Hall of Fame career out of it, nor that he will revolutionize the small forward position, nor that he will necessarily become an all-star at some point in his career. All I’m saying is that giving up on Williams after one year would be absolutely foolish, and perhaps just because a player doesn’t fit our traditional definition of a role doesn’t mean that it’s time for us to give up on him.

T-Wolf Rank: #10- JJ Barea

This is the third post in a series here on Howlin’ T-Wolf ranking the Timberwolves roster player-by-player. Ideally, Derek, Tom or Jonah will post a new player everyday for 13 days. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well.

JJ Barea (or Jub-Jub) is one of the more polarizing Timberwolves on the roster: you either love him or you hate him. Kind of like <insert clever witty analogy that fits perfectly>. There really is no middle ground it seems in terms of how he’s viewed by fans. Either you’re inspired by the sight of a diminutive-still-six-foot-tall point guard breaking down the defense of giants or he’s a physically limited bit player who causes you to resent Mark Cuban for not retaining him and sparing you pain.

As for me, I’m a fan.

Yes, I know that his Usage Rate of 24% last season was a career high, and probably just too high. I also know that taking 10 shots per game to average 11 points per game in just 23 minutes per game is bad. And I know that there’s no way he can play anymore minutes than he does because of his “defense”.

I know this: When Barea missed extended time due to injury and the best ball-handler became Mike Beasley, things got pretty freakin’ ugly. When the offense would stagnate and the opposing defense got too comfortable, JJ provided a way to at least keep the defense honest. Sure, he’s a chucker, but his ability to draw attention and hustle enabled him to get seven double-doubles and a triple-double last season.

You have to take Jub-Jub for what he is. He’s not a starter, or spearhead of any positional revolution. On top of that you never have to wonder if he’s going to be putting in the effort each night. That of which is more than you can say about most of last year’s team once Ricky Rubio went down.

With all of that being said, Jub-Jub checks in at #10, and his ranking reflects his own abilities as well as the improvements to the roster.

 

Be sure to join the conversation on Twitter by using the #TwolfRank hashtag! The best tweets will be used in future posts as well. 

 

 

T-Wolf Rank: #11 Alexey Shved

This is the third post in a series here on Howlin’ T-Wolf ranking the Timberwolves roster player-by-player. Ideally, Derek, Tom or Jonah will post a new player everyday for 13 days. As always, you can follow Jonah (@howlintwolf) Derek (@DerekJamesNBA) and Tom (@Tom_NBA) on Twitter as well. Be sure to join in the fun/discussion using #TwolfRank.

First, let’s get this out of the way: It’s spelled A-L-E-X-E-Y. Not Alexy, or Aleksy. Even his last name is S-H-V-E-D, not Sheved. As an experienced copy writer already, name misspellings bother me — like finger nails digging into a chalk board.

Misspelling his name is a bigger mistake than you might know now, however. Because if Shved seamlessly transitions from the Euro game to the NBA just like Ricky Rubio was able to accomplish, than Shved has the talent to become a big name you’ll never want to misspell again.

As it stands right now, Shved is not a top-10 player on the Timberwolves for a couple of obvious reasons. One of them being his background. Sprouting as a talented young gunner in the Russian league, making that hop across the Pacific to the NBA won’t be easy. For one, he barely knows a lick of English. During his phone conference to announce the signing a week before the Olympics started, his agent had to translate back-and-forth for him. Secondly, the way Shved plays can be both scintillating and horribly frustrating. He plays with a lot of the same flash and swagger that Rubio does but isn’t always able to control it. He forces passes which lead to turnovers and he can toss up some pretty bad, contested jumpers instead of creating something else.

All negatives aside, Shved possesses a special type of game that could very well flourish in the NBA. He’s quick and limber with above-average ball-handling skills. He’ll easily be able to play both guard spots and has special skills to exceed at both — he is very diplomatic with his decision making off pick ‘n’ rolls, which makes him a solid backup point guard option and he has a great pull-up jumper and outside shot, which makes him a great option at the 2-guard.

If there was any coach that could hone in on Shved’s strengths and teach and discipline his weaknesses it would be Rick Adelman. Shved seems coachable enough — this is where the Rubio comparisons don’t match up at all — but he does seem to struggle with his own hype, or at least gets caught up in it too much. His cockiness, no, confidence translates well to the NBA but you have to harness it. A lot of these players that grew up playing in the grind parks around the country like Rucker won’t take crap from a scrawny Russian.

The first step for Shved is to realize he’s not the go-to guy — yet. Instead, if he approaches camp with an open mind and a team-first mentality — I believe AK47 can help with this — then he’ll be on the right foot. Be coachable and be confident instead of stubborn and cocky. There’s a huge difference.

Think of Stephon Marbury. Shved and Marbury share a lot of the same qualities on and off the court. They love to shoot and make plays and do a swell job of mixing it up. Off the court, they love the fame and attention that the NBA game can bring a player. But if you let your head get in the way of your development, you can find your way out of the league and playing in China much sooner than you should be.

Shved can’t let that happen. More importantly, Adelman can’t let that happen. Both Kahn and Adelman understand how special Shved can be. Adelman most likely knows how best to harness that talent and develop a fully functioning product. But it all comes down to Shved’s first two years in the league and his mental approach. At only 23, he has time to learn and study. Then, by the middle of his second year, I hope, he’ll be able to burst into the Wolves’ young core as the starting shooting guard. Only time will tell.

Be sure to join in on the fun using #TwolfRank on Twitter.