Ricky Rubio is Coming

While Shaquille O'Neal's three-years-too-late retirement was stealing all the headlines in the NBA on the first off-day of the NBA Finals, the big story was percolating in Spain.

For the first time in nearly a decade, fan(s) of the Minnesota Timberwolves have a modicum of hope for their favorite basketball team.

Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio is joining the Timberwolves this fall, according to multiple reports. Rubio was Minnesota's first first-round pick in 2009, the first draft David Kahn was responsible for overseeing. Kahn -- the butt of jokes and ridicule since he got the job -- has banked a lot of his reputation on Rubio making a difference for Minnesota, while many panned that the dynamic player wanted nothing to do with Minnesota.

Obviously, this development doesn't mean Rubio is automatically going to pan out and be awesome, and it doesn't mean Kahn still can't screw this team up some more. They do, after all, still desperately need a shooting guard, preferably someone a little taller to add size to the Minnesota backcourt (Rubio is a lot of things, and "big" isn't one of them). And they haven't had a competent center since, um ... er ... yeah.

Oh, and they might need a coach.

Could this be one reason David Kahn has waited so long to decide the coach's fate.

My hunch is this further decreases the odds that (Kurt) Rambis will be back, or greatly increases the odds that Rambis must pledge to make big changes with his offense if he does return.

Kahn and the Wolves can't risk that Rubio's game and confidence will get lost in Rambis' triangle-ish offense, as Flynn did.

That's why I'd expect them to hire a point guard-friendly coach, although very doubtfully in time for the fast-approaching draft.

My hunch is that Rambis is gone, but Kahn didn't want to pull the trigger until he knew he had Rubio in the fold. It's not about letting Rubio have a say in the next coach, as much as it is making sure you know what kind of style you want your team to play and your coach to be familiar/comfortable with.

Don't ask me who that person is. I don't know nearly enough about the game to make that kind of guess.

Many will talk about Rubio's subpar numbers in Spain. Don't let that dissuade the excitement over this player.

Rubio averaged a modest 6.5 points per game on 39 percent shooting while dealing with a foot injury. With Rubio coming off the bench, Regal Barcelona has reached the Spanish League finals, meaning it will likely be mid to late June before he can be introduced by the Timberwolves, who think he will flourish in the more wide-open NBA, where guards are allowed much more freedom on the perimeter.

"He's gotten bigger and he plays outstanding defense, and because he's a pass-first guard -- he's going to be liked by everybody who plays with him," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said last year. Krzyzewski also coached Team USA against Rubio and Spain in Beijing.

Rubio dominated the junior circuit in Europe and turned professional at 14. His flashy style and baby face made him an instant sensation in Europe and, even though his stock has dipped some this year, the Wolves are as enamored as ever.

"He's a special player and a very good point guard," Lakers forward and fellow Spainiard Pau Gasol said earlier this season. "Very unselfish. He's got great size, great length. He knows how to play the game very well. He's got a great feel for the game. He's just a guy that will get the team going and do what he needs to do."

Don't make any mistake, though. Rubio is a key pickup for Minnesota, and his development will go a long way toward determining the Wolves' chances going forward, as well as Kahn's future employment.

For Kahn, this is a huge win. He's deserved most of the shots that have been taken at him, because it has often looked like he didn't really know what he was doing. But he continued to pursue Rubio without putting undue pressure on him, and he got the guy he was looking for all along. That's a credit to him, whether you like him and the job he's done or not.

David Kahn Takes Self, Timberwolves to New Low

Much fun is made of Minnesota Timberwolves basketball boss David Kahn ... if for no other reason than his name.

Of course, then Kahn has to make decisions -- draft Ricky Rubio, trade Ty Lawson, trade Al Jefferson for peanuts, give Kurt Rambis a four-year contract, give money to Darko, etc. -- that show his pure incompetence.

After a 32-132 record over two years, the Wolves had the top spot in the NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday. It brought the team a 25 percent shot at the No. 1 pick. Of course, Minnesota has made 13 previous lottery appearances with no good fortune to show for it, so why would anyone expect anything different this time?

Apparently, Kahn did.

And when he didn't get it, he played the conspiracy card. And I don't even care if he was joking.

"This league has a habit, and I am just going to say habit, of producing some pretty incredible story lines," Kahn said.

"Last year it was Abe Pollin's widow and this year it was a 14-year-old boy and the only thing we have in common is we have both been bar mitzvahed. We were done. I told (Jazz GM) Kevin (O'Connor): 'We're toast.' This is not happening for us and I was right.""

Ugh.

It's bad enough he said that in public. If I were David Stern, I'd get on the phone with this idiot right away. He already embarrassed his organization and the league when he announced that Michael Beasley smoked too much when he was with the Heat. It might have been (basically) public knowledge that Beasley had issues off the court during his rookie season, but it's still not something an executive should bring up in front of the media.

What's worse is that the 14-year-old boy he was talking about Tuesday is Nick Gilbert, the son of Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. Nick Gilbert has a disease called neurofibromatosis, a nervous disorder that causes benign and malignant tumors to grow randomly in all parts of the body.

And Kahn decides to clown the fact he was representing the Cavs at the lottery?

Stay classy, David Kahn.

And to think, Glen Taylor is going to let this guy fire Rambis and hire another coach. If you thought Jack McCloskey set this organization back a few years, wait until see the end count on the damage Kahn has done and will do before someone finally pulls the plug.

Kahn's Words Damn McHale Further

It doesn't take a basketball genius to figure out that Kevin McHale was largely a failure at running the Timberwolves' basketball operation.

The proof is in the pudding. Yes, the Timberwolves had four 50-win seasons under the guidance of McHale and Flip Saunders, but they also flopped miserably towards the end, combining for just 46 wins in McHale's last two years stealing Glen Taylor's money.

New boss David Kahn made it clear from the start. He had to overhaul the roster and basically start over. The claim was he had a 17-month plan (instead of a five-year plan, I guess) to transform the Timberwolves.

It's a long, arduous process, but one Kahn feels he can make happen.

He won zero people over by drafting a player sixth overall -- Ricky Rubio -- who was a virtual lock to not play for the Timberwolves this season.

However, he continues to stick to his plan as he tries to rebuild the roster. With the team on the verge of tying a franchise record for worst record in a season, Kahn spoke candidly with the Minneapolis Star Tribune about the state of the franchise.

In doing so, Kahn opened up about what he feels is the team's biggest need, discussed the future of big man Al Jefferson (pictured right in happier days), and shows again how bad McHale was at this job.

After 15 victories and 64 losses, Kahn and (head coach Kurt) Rambis have concluded they need a player that Rambis compares from recent games to Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant or Miami's Dwyane Wade and Kahn calls "our Brandon Roy."

What Kahn probably realizes as he makes this all-too-unfortunately-true statement is that the Wolves had a real shot at their Brandon Roy.

They drafted Brandon Roy.

McHale then turned around and traded him for Randy Foye.

Brilliant.

Kahn does have a point. Bad franchises like Minnesota don't just go out and sign free agents to fix the talent problem. No one wants to play for the Timberwolves, given their location and current state.

You have to build a quality team around a star player acquired in the draft. If the Wolves can get some lottery luck, they'll have Evan Turner fall into their lap this year, which would be outstanding. Otherwise, they may have to get creative.

Whether that's a draft-day deal that he is able to arrange, or a big free-agent he can talk into signing, or a trade he can figure out, Kahn will have to do something.

That's where Kahn will be tested. Can he forge ahead with this 17-month plan without finding a face for the basketball team? Probably not. He also can't afford to enter next season without the guy he at least believes can be the face.

But without a little love from the proverbial ping-pong balls, there doesn't appear to be much of a chance of this happening.

Looking back, it makes a fan even more irate at someone like McHale, who ran this franchise into the ground, never built a quality team around Kevin Garnett -- who was killing himself for this team every time he took the floor -- except for one season with Cassell and Sprewell both behaving and playing well, and made some of the poorest trades imaginable.

Dealing Roy for Foye only added to the problem, one that still exists for Kahn, and one that probably isn't going away anytime soon.

All that means is more of the same for Timberwolves fans.

WOLVES, BUCKS WHEEL AND DEAL

The NBA Draft is Thursday night.

WHO'S EXCITED?

(/crickets)

The Bucks and Timberwolves have apparently decided that they're not going to just sit around and suck anymore. They're making some moves aimed at getting the teams to be better.

Well, in the Bucks' case, sucking for one more year is tolerable, but they appear set to embark on the road to an NBA title in 2010. Either that, or they think they can sign LeBron when he goes free agent that summer.

Milwaukee traded Richard Jefferson -- a rare good player for them -- and got very, very little in return.

A high-ranking Bucks source has confirmed the team has traded forward Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs for forwards Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto.

Ouch. Bowen is 37 and suffers from DSS (Diminishing Skills Syndrome). It's doubtful that he'll make a big impact on the 2009 Bucks.

Jefferson, meanwhile, still has plenty of hop left in his legs, and he could become a key piece of a restructured Spurs team.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves have evidently decided that three first-round picks just won't get the job done. Perhaps new general manager David Kahn won't rest until he has all 30 first-rounders.

SI.com just reported what I’ve been working for the last 30 minutes to confirm: The Wolves and Wizards have struck a deal that will bring the No. 5 pick, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov to Minnesota for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.

This is an interesting deal. Miller did virtually nothing in his one Minnesota season, while Foye has been a disappointment since the Wolves drafted him drafted Brandon Roy and traded him for Foye.

(No wonder McHale got fired.)

If Kahn wants, he can move up for Ricky Rubio. If Kahn wants, he can take some extra picks and stock the bench with promising young talent. The new guy has the world at his fingertips now.

AWESOMENESS

My feelings for the NBA are not well-hidden around here. In general, the Association has screwed up a ton the last ten years, and I don't watch nearly as much basketball as I used to.

A big part of the problem is that the NBA just can't produce enough compelling playoff basketball to keep me interested.

This year? Well, it's been a notable exception.

Derrick Rose went off in Game One. Ray Allen in Game Two. The Celtics then owned Game Three. Ben Gordon ruled Game Four. Then, with Ray Allen fouled out and Kevin Garnett still broken, the Celtics' other "big star" and its youngest, brightest star took over Tuesday night.

Paul Pierce hit the huge shots. Rajon Rondo set them up.

It was a magnificent display of up-and-down excitement that basketball needs more of. Quite fitting, actually, that it would come one night after that 121-63 disgrace. The irony of that? Well, the Celtics are the number-two seed and Chicago seventh in the East. Denver and New Orleans are - respectively - the exact same seeds in the West. Denver might not be 58 points better than New Orleans ever, ever again, but the Celtics and Bulls could play 100 times and not have a margin of victory bigger than 25.

For all the talk about how the Western Conference is superior, it's incredibly top-heavy, and I'm not so sure it's superior. Outside of Denver, Utah, and the top-seeded Lakers, I'm not sure I'd take any Western team to beat their Eastern counterpart in a best-of-seven series. I'd certainly think twice about locking on teams like Houston and San Antonio against teams like Miami and Philadelphia.

As for Chicago and Boston, it's been everything you could ask for in an NBA playoff series. Except boring, which too many series around the league have been in recent years.

Also, big ups to Dallas, who won twice in San Antonio, broke a three-year road playoff drought, and took out the undermanned Spurs in five games.

I LOVE THIS DEAL

(See, told you I'd be around.)

For once, Kevin McHale appears to have done something good.

Not only did one of the NBA most notoriously incompetent personnel managers actually manage to dump some bad contracts, but he appears to have actually helped his team in the process.

This is rare for a guy who made a bad habit out of handing out bad contracts (Hi, Marko Jaric!), making bad draft picks (Hi, Ndubi Edi!), and making bad trades (Hi, Ricky Davis!).

Instead, Kevin McHale appears to have used the leverage he had for a greater good.

The Timberwolves picked third in the NBA Draft. They wanted UCLA forward Kevin Love, but couldn't justify picking him third overall. Instead, they took the guy everyone had third on the "big board", USC guard O.J. Mayo. After the pick, Wolves brass said all the right things about Mayo helping the team and how they wanted to keep him around.

Memphis took Love fifth overall, about the right spot for that prospect. However, Memphis wanted Mayo, and the Wolves wanted Love. It was time to talk deal.

At least publicly, Minnesota made it clear they were willing to keep Mayo. Surely, the Grizzlies knew they had the chance to make this deal, but McHale held firm, making sure he could 1) make the Timberwolves better, and 2) help the team's contract situation.

He did both.

McHale dumped a bad contract in Jaric (three years for $21 million remaining) and an unhappy veteran in Antoine Walker, who would never have been happy coming off the bench. He added a couple potentially bad contracts in Jason Collins and Brian Cardinal. However, Collins is in the last year of his deal, and Cardinal has only two years left on his. That's manageable, and it beats the hell out of having Jaric - better known for his recent engagement to Adriana Lima - on the team.

(Yes, Marko Jaric is engaged to her. Be jealous. Talk about outkicking the coverage. Geez.)

McHale also added a very solid player in Mike Miller, who is just 28, shoots the three very well, and now gets to experience a homecoming of sorts. Miller, who played college at Florida, hails from lovely Mitchell, South Dakota. This is as close to home as he'll ever get to play NBA basketball.

Miller's outside shooting should open up the paint a lot more for Al Jefferson, as well as Love. Even if Love doesn't turn out to be as big a star as Mayo does, this is a good deal for Minnesota. The Wolves needed to help out Jefferson, and while Mayo could have done that, Miller has already established himself as a good outside shooter, and Love will take a lot of defensive pressure off Jefferson, freeing him up more on the offensive end. Not only that, but Jefferson isn't a great one-on-one defender. Love's presence gives Randy Wittman a second big who can be used to defend the solid big men of the Western Conference. Mayo isn't going to guard those guys (duh).

I'll admit some bias here. I haven't been a big Mayo fan going back to high school. I think he's cocky, extremely self-centered, and not nearly as good as his attitude would make you think he is. I don't think he would have been a great fit on this growing young team. Love, meanwhile, understands how his game can help the Timberwolves, he's a hard worker, and I think he has tremendous offensive upside.

Jim Souhan is right in that Mayo's stardom could make this deal look really bad, but it's a chance I think McHale was right to take. At some point, the Wolves had to deal with the fact that they had three solid players for two spots. They did that, and they got rid of Jaric.

It's a good day for Kevin McHale.