Kurt Rambis Out as David Kahn Runs Amok

There really isn't any reason to believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves are heading in the right direction, outside of the recent decision of point guard Ricky Rubio to come over from Europe and join the team, two years after he was drafted.

Basically, Rubio's decision justifies the existence of basketball boss David Kahn, who hasn't done much good in his two years at the helm.

He tends to run the team like you or I would run a fantasy team, making random trades that seemingly disregard the idea of having a basketball philosophy.

Two years ago, his first major move couldn't have been more random. After drafting Rubio and Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn with back-to-back first-round picks in the 2009 draft, Kahn waited two more months, then hired Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis, who wants his teams to run the triangle offense.

Scratch your head. The guy drafted Rubio and Flynn, two anti-triangle point guards, then hired a triangle coach to run the team, and is now prepared to fire the coach before Rubio plays a game for the team.

Oh, and Kahn strung Rambis out for over two months after his second awful season ended.

Because Kahn needed two months to fire a coach who was 32-132.

A coach he never should have hired in the first place, given Rambis' philosophies on offense and the fact that Kahn wasn't building a team to suit those philosophies.

I'm not blaming Kahn for not buying into everything Rambis wanted to do. We all think the game differently, and we all have ideas on how it's best and most effectively played. The triangle offense isn't for everyone, because it hasn't worked much in the NBA when Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant weren't involved. As the basketball boss in Minnesota, Kahn has every right to build the team the way he sees fit, and then find a coach who does things the way Kahn wants them done. None of that is in dispute.

But when Kahn was hired, he screwed around with former Wolves poobah Kevin McHale before finally letting him go. Then he waited until nearly two months after the draft to hire Rambis, a coach whose philosophies ran counter to those of Kahn and the players he was building the team with.

Then, after 32-132, Kahn decided he needed ten weeks to evaluate Rambis and figure out what to do.

In the meantime, every other NBA coaching job was accounted for, and Kahn is left with a smaller pool of candidates than he would have had. Meanwhile, Rambis is left with virtually no real chance to find a coaching job this coming season, because there really aren't any left. It's not a pity party, because Rambis has made a lot of money, and he'll be handsomely paid for the two years left on his contract. Instead, it's a simple point that Rambis should be the one making the decision about when he will seek another coaching job. In this case, Rambis had that decision made for him by Kahn, a man who has enough trouble making his own decision, much less decisions for another self-sufficient adult.

But that's what we've come to in Minnesota. Kahn is running amok in this basketball operation, with virtually no checks or balances stopping him from doing whatever the hell he wants. It's not a good thing for what few Timberwolves fans are left out there, because before Kahn is done with this team, they'll all be longing for the days of Jack McCloskey and Jimmy Rodgers.

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.

St. Paul Mayor Offers to Trade Vikings Back to Minneapolis for Timberwolves, Lynx

Chris Coleman is the mayor of St. Paul, the largest city in Ramsey County.

Keep that in mind when reading the latest developments in the Vikings stadium saga.

Coleman was conspicuous by his silence as the Vikings announced their deal with the county to build a new stadium in Arden Hills, a suburb of the Twin Cities. The deal calls for a sales tax in Ramsey County to help fund the facility's costs.

The majority of people who are keeping tabs on this drama took his silence as some sort of odd opposition to the plan.

Wednesday, Coleman confirmed those suspicions. Not only did he make clear he didn't like the plan the Vikings are pushing, but he offered a rather ... um, interesting? ... plan of his own.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman floated a jumbo-sized plan Wednesday that would address Minnesota's stadium dilemma with a new statewide tax of 2 cents per alcoholic drink while keeping the Vikings in Minneapolis and moving pro basketball to St. Paul.

Coleman said his plan would raise $48 million a year for sports facilities. He said a Vikings plan to move to Ramsey County doesn't make sense; his plan would not move the team but send the Timberwolves and the Lynx to St. Paul to share the Xcel Energy Center with the Wild. Target Center in downtown Minneapolis would become a practice facility.

Coleman also would use the per-drink tax at bars and restaurants to build a St. Paul Saints ballpark in Lowertown and upgrade recreation facilities throughout the state.

In essence, Coleman just offered to trade the Vikings to Minneapolis for the NBA's Timberwolves and WNBA's Lynx.

Of course, this isn't really what Coleman is trying to do.

Coleman said he was trying to end competition between the Xcel and Target Center for tax subsidies and concerts. "My primary concern is there not be additional taxpayer investment [in Target Center] because it just exacerbates the competition," he said.

And Minneapolis not jumping at this idea shouldn't be taken as a sign they don't want the Vikings back. There's more meaning to it than that.

Minneapolis City Council President Barbara Johnson said that as much as the city wants the Vikings to stay, she called it "ridiculous'' to give up Target Center. "It provides us with events many, many times a year, many more than the Vikings playing at the Metrodome,'' she said. "We're a big enough metro to support two" arenas.

Despite the fact that this plan seems absolutely bizonkers, it might actually have some traction.

The mayor was smart on a couple fronts. First, he made this a statewide tax, appealing to those in Duluth and Hinckley and Virginia and Two Harbors and International Falls and St. Cloud and Mankato and other places in this great state that love the Vikings, Wild, Timberwolves, and Lynx, and want them to play in top-notch facilities.

It also throws a bone to those who don't care what kind of facilities the state's pro teams play in, by adding the provision that uses some of this money to build and upgrade recreation facilities in the state to help kids find places to play. There's a sales tax increase in St. Paul thrown in to help with bond payments and libraries.

The Wild played the nice guy, issuing a statement welcoming the idea of sharing the XCel Energy Center.

This proposal from Mayor Coleman, for the Xcel Energy Center to host the Timberwolves and Lynx, is a new idea in this discussion. It is certainly possible from a facility standpoint.  Multiple tenants in one building is common and is the case in most major markets around the country including Dallas, Denver, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where the Staples Center hosts three major league sports teams. While we haven’t discussed this idea with the Timberwolves, we would be happy to do so if the Wolves were interested in discussing this proposal.

Over the past few years, the Wild has developed plans for building improvements to keep the Xcel Energy Center a state of the art facility, including a multi-level expansion on the building’s north side. We have also supported the City of St. Paul’s work to build an Amateur Sports Center of Excellence on 7th Street across from the arena, which could also be used as a practice facility for the Wild.  Those existing plans could easily be modified to accommodate the needs of the Timberwolves and Lynx, including additional locker rooms, lower bowl modifications and additional retail and office space should the Wolves and Lynx decide to move to St. Paul.

In the end, Coleman is arguing that the Twin Cities aren't big enough for both Target Center and the XCel Energy Center. He's also saying that there isn't anywhere in St. Paul to host a Vikings stadium, and he believes the Arden Hills location benefits other locations outside Ramsey County more than it would the county or the city of St. Paul.

The Vikings want no part of Coleman's plan, but in the end, the Legislature gets to have a say in this, too. We'll see in the coming days how politicians react to this proposal, and how the citizens react. Those are probably more significant moving forward than how the Vikings feel.

You have to understand the team's perspective. They have a sweetheart deal with Ramsey County, and they don't want to cede any of the perks or control they're being given in order to back one of these other proposals.

It sounds selfish, but it's part of negotiating. When you get something you want, you don't offer to give it up.

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.

Sid Hartman: Full of (Something)

Sid Hartman has been a sportswriter longer than most of my readers have been alive. He's seen some great things in Minnesota, and he's been there to write about them.

Well into his 80s, Sid still writes a regular column of sports notes for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He's built an untouchable list of contacts over the years, allowing him access to the thoughts of sports' biggest names.

Sometimes, he uses that access to help out his friends, but no one really cares, because it's Sid.

He has other flaws, including his failure to take hockey seriously a lot of the time, and there are times that he comes across as quite dated in his commentary about Minnesota sports issues, especially on the radio show he does Sunday mornings on WCCO-AM.

His latest newspaper column highlights the situation involving Minnesota Timberwolves first-round pick Ricky Rubio. You may be aware that Rubio is from Spain, is a pro player in Spain, and is currently trying to get out of his contract with his current team there. There has been chatter he doesn't want to play for Minnesota, even though he has never said that.

Anyway, one of Hartman's buddies is NBA agent Bill Duffy, who represents many clients, including fellow first-round pick Brandon Jennings, a point guard who played pro ball in Italy a year ago before moving back to the States for a shot at the NBA.

Duffy, who is the agent for another high pick at Rubio's position, shockingly told Hartman that he thinks Rubio is overrated. Since Duffy and Hartman are buddies, Sid decided to use this as the framework for his column.

"To be honest with you, the other kid, Brandon Jennings, who played in Italy, ranked higher," said Duffy, referring to his client, a point guard who was picked 10th by Milwaukee. "I had three other first-round point guards, but I didn't have [Rubio] ranked that high. I think he is pretty good, but I think he might be a little hyped up. "He is a flashy guy and he is young, but I think it is a lot of hype. I mean, he will be a good player, but they are trying to compare him with my guy Steve Nash or John Stockton -- I don't see that."

At least Duffy admits to being Nash's agent, and Hartman discloses that Jennings is a Duffy client, too.

But honesty shouldn't hide us from the fact that this article is full of holes.

I have no idea which first-round point guard will have the most NBA success. It could be Rubio, Jennings, Jonny Flynn, or Ty Lawson for all I know.

What I do know is that if I wanted to get an honest opinion on which guy would be the best, the last person I'd ask is an agent who represents some (but not all) of those prospects. He might not want to admit it, but the opinion he gives will usually be quite biased and unreliable.

After all these years as a sportswriter, it's hard to believe that someone like Sid Hartman would make this mistake.

Or maybe it isn't.

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.

McHALE OUT IN MINNESOTA

Finally, the Timberwolves found a job Kevin McHale could do, since he royally sucked in the front office.

(Insert "Head Janitor" jokes here.)

He can coach.

Just not for the Timberwolves.

Wuh?

New team president David Kahn will announce officially Wednesday that McHale is out of the organization after 15 years. Since Kahn is a sports executive, he's a man of his word, and that means McHale is not hurt by this.

Ever since he was hired, Kahn pledged to handle the decision on McHale's coaching status with professionalism and respect. "Kevin has a long history here and a relationship with the owner that I respect and trust," Kahn said at his introductory press conference. "I will not hurt Kevin McHale. I will not."

There are some obvious questions here.

The most obvious thing we have to find out is where Kahn will go to find a head coach who will be better than the guy he had in place.

After all, McHale may have only coached a 20-43 finish out of the team after he took over, but he had them playing some really good ball before Al Jefferson got hurt, and the team continued to respond to his positive message after Jefferson was lost.

Youngster Kevin Love doesn't seem pleased, at least according to his Twitter feed.

In an update posted early Wednesday, Love tweeted, "Today is a sad day ... Kevin McHale will NOT be back as head coach this season."

Upon seeing the posting, a person in the league was told McHale sent a text message to Love indicating he was not coming back. The person requested anonymity because no official announcement has been made.

... McHale and Love grew very close during the rookie's first season in Minnesota, especially after McHale left his front office position to take over as coach in December.

It took 14 years to find something notable that McHale could do well for this team, and they get rid of him after they figure it out.

Sometimes, things don't make any sense at all.

REPORT: WOLVES HAVE NEW BOSS

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been without a real personnel boss since moving Kevin McHale to the bench during the season. You could joke they've been without one for a helluva lot longer than that, but we'll stick with facts.

Owner Glen Taylor has apparently stopped dragging his feet on the matter, and is set to announce a hire.

* David Kahn will be announced tomorrow as the team’s president of basketball operations — a new title that in language is one step up from Kevin McHale’s vice president of basketbll operations. * He will arrive with no stipulations as to who — including Kevin McHale and Fred Hoiberg — he does or doesn’t keep from the current front-office staff and will use the next five weeks before the draft to evaluate Hoiberg, Jim Stack, Rob Babcock, etc.

Kahn comes from the NBA Developmental League, and most recently had NBA work with the Indiana organization. He was targeted early in the process, but became the guy for the job when Portland executive Tom Penn pulled out of the running.

ESPN reported earlier this week that Taylor has mandated that the new general manager allow McHale to make up his own mind on coaching the team. One has to think this deterred some solid candidates from taking the job, as most new general managers want to be able to make their own decisions on coaches. As good a job as I think McHale did with this team after he took over, most owners recognize that these mandates don't work very well.

Then again, Glen Taylor hasn't become one of the worst owners in the NBA because he knows what he's doing with this team.

TIMBERWOLVES ARE SCREWED

They're only 13-17 since Kevin McHale took over as head coach, but there were some obvious signs of improvement with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Throw it all out the window, and stick the Wolves in the mix for the top pick in this summer's NBA Draft. Center Al Jefferson will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. That should sufficiently blow up any outside chance Minnesota had at a respectable season.

It's unfortunate when any player goes down, but it's especially heartbreaking to see this happen to a guy who's playing the best ball of his career -- he's one of three players in the league averaging at least 20 point and 10 boards a game this year, and he's put up an incredible 26.9 and 11.8 boards in his last 10 games.

It's devastating news for Minnesota fans. Jefferson was really coming into his own, and he was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

On the bright side, McHale is not running the basketball operations now. He's coaching. And I'll say it: He's doing a pretty good job. Maybe owner Glen Taylor can convince McHale to continue coaching, and the front office can move on without its most incompetent member.

That would be a real sign of hope, in another lost season.

RANDOMIZATION: 12/16/08

Me update. Things are good here. As you can see to the right, I've been quite busy at FanHouse. I'm also blogging now at College Hockey News, though I've been dormant there for like a week now. Thanks to all for their kind words and such over the last 15 days. Yes, it's been that long.

I'll effort to give you more updates on this blog as we move forward. Here's a quick couple of thoughts for now.

McHale's team stinks, too. Granted, they've played some pretty tough competition. But the Timberwolves have yet to win for Kevin McHale, and I don't think it's a coincidence. The team just isn't very good. Whether it's free throws, three-pointers, ball protection, or defense, there just seems to be at least one thing at any given time that this team is really bad at. That's what gets you to 4-19.

Well, that and losing by 20-plus points to a wretched team like the Clippers.

Gaborik is coming! It's about damn time. My update on it for FanHouse can be found here.

Honestly, the Wild have looked as bad as ever in the last five games. They're not scoring, and the defense is horrifically leaky. No, they're not giving up a ton of goals, but they are yielding way too many shots. With Gaborik returning to the lineup Wednesday, you can expect to see part-time forward Brent Burns move back to defense. Burns came to the Wild as a forward, and they made a really good defenseman out of him. He played well up front, but I look at it as akin to the Packers moving Charles Woodson to safety.

It filled up one hole, but it created another one. And in both cases, the hole created may have been more significant than the one filled.

Speaking of the Packers ... It just wasn't meant to be, I guess. The Packers won't go to the playoffs, and in the end, it might not be a bad thing. This isn't a veteran team taking their last shot together and experiencing failure. It's a young team that has its best years in front of it. That has to be encouraging for Packer fans.

This fanbase is wonderfully spoiled. The Packers have posted exactly two losing seasons since 1992, by far the best mark in the NFL.

There are two games left, and I hope the Packers are smart enough to at least use some of that time to see what can be done about gaping holes on the offensive line and some underachieving players on defense. There should be no shortage of motivation, with a chance to spoil the Chicago Bears playoff chances Monday night, followed by the currently-winless Detroit Lions. If the Lions show up at Lambeau 0-15, there's no way the Packers can afford a loss. That's the wrong kind of history.

BREAKING: WITTMAN OUT, McHALE IN

Wait. This has happened before.

Kevin McHale is the new coach of the Timberwolves.

If anything, there is at least one piece of good news that comes out of this. As he takes over the coaching gig, McHale is giving up his front office job.

FanHouse colleague Tom Ziller points out that Wolves owner Glen Taylor seems to have an affinity for firing ineffective coaches, but he has no problem continuing to employ an ineffective club executive in McHale. Perhaps if McHale is as ineffective as a head coach as he was in the front office, this will be the last straw for his Timberwolves reign.

We can only hope.

Of course, one could argue that it would be hard to look worse as a coach than Randy Wittman did. He was always a solid assistant in Minnesota under Flip Saunders, but any coach could look good when he had Kevin Garnett to work with.

I still like the Mayo trade, but the Brandon Roy deal was a disaster, and Corey Brewer may never develop (he's out for the year with a knee injury).

Taylor and McHale will address the media this afternoon, but Taylor does make it sound like McHale is toast if he doesn't turn this around.

"There were certain goals and expectations that we had for this team at the start of the season and we have not lived up to them," Taylor said in Monday's statement, after proclaiming Wittman safe roughly two weeks ago.

"I am disappointed in our record and believe that we have more talent than our record indicates. A change had to be made and, with three-fourths of the season remaining, there is still time to make substantial progress this year. ... Kevin has assembled the players on this team and believes in their talent and skill level.

"It is my expectation that Kevin will be able to get the most out of our team and our players in his new role as head coach. He has been involved in the NBA game for almost 30 years, is a tremendous teacher and has a wealth of basketball knowledge. I am confident that our players will respond to the new voice and perspective that Kevin will provide."

Good luck, sir. Getting this team to not suck is much easier said than done.

The defense has alternated between mediocre and dreadful (they've allowed 47 percent shooting for the year, and over 100 points per game, ack), and the Wolves just don't have enough guys who can score, especially off the bench. Mike Miller is shooting well but not often enough, and Rashad McCants is shooting too much.

McHale's specialty is post play, so maybe a new voice will turn around the Wolves' defensive work and give them a more physical presence on both ends. They need it.

Believe it or not, 4-15 isn't as bad as it could be. It's McHale's job to make sure things don't get any worse.

Not helping matters: Minnesota is near the bottom of the NBA in attendance, drawing under 14,000 a game (and that number is probably inflated).

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.