Jonny Flynn is the only player among those three still on the
Wolves’ roster, and his name likely will be removed sometime during the
offseason. Two years after Kahn’s infatuation with point guards, the
Wolves are in the same predicament: trying to find a skilled playmaker
who can run the offense and be a spark for the team’s perimeter defense.

The Wolves could be in a much better position to solve this issue
after finishing with the league’s worst record (17-64), which gives
them the highest probability of landing the No. 1 pick in the May 18 NBA
draft lottery.

Duke point guard Kyrie Irving is regarded as the top prospect in
the June 24 draft, despite playing only 11 games as a freshman because
of a toe injury. Many college basketball experts believe the 19-year-old
Irving is still worthy of being a No. 1 pick. He declared for the draft
last week and plans to hire an agent, prohibiting his return to Duke.

"If you’re in the market for an elite point guard, he’s the one,"
ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said of Irving. "If you have
the No. 1 pick, you have to take him for the long haul, especially since
it’s tough to get a point guard in free agency. I appreciate the value
of a point guard. So many NBA teams are thinking the same way."

The Wolves thought they had solved their point guard
troubles in 2009 when Kahn took Ricky Rubio at No. 5, Flynn at No. 6 and
Ty Lawson at No. 18. Lawson, a North Carolina standout, never made it
to Minnesota. Kahn traded him to Denver on draft night for a first-round
pick that was packaged last June with Ryan Gomes to bring Martell
Webster from Portland.

Rubio has yet to decide if he will exercise a $1 million buyout this
summer to leave Regal FC Barcelona and join the Wolves next season. His
decision could be held up by the threat of a lockout because of failed
collective bargaining talks between the league and players union.
http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_17851087

But multiple sources within the Timberwolves organization guaranteed Rubio will start his career with the club, not as a Knick.

Minnesota brass is convinced that Rubio will play for the club next
season, when his Barcelona buyout falls to $1 million. NBA teams are
able to pay $500,000 for European buyouts, so Rubio would have to foot
only $500,000 of the bill.

Rubio was drafted with the fifth overall pick in 2008 by the Timberwolves, whom the Knicks visited last night, but he elected to stay in Europe. Knicks sources said it was because Rubio wanted no part of Minnesota. But Rubio was quoted over the summer saying he likes the state.

Knicks European scout Kevin Wilson, who is based in Barcelona, is a longtime friend of the Rubio family.

*

Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni would love to have LeBron James on his side, but he understands the chemistry issues the 5-4 Heat are going through. The Heat were beat up for a second time by the Celtics in South Beach Thursday night.

"It’s going to take them a while to get it," D’Antoni said before the Knicks’ 112-103 loss to the Timberwolves last night. "The expectations are so high that if they have a bad quarter everybody is going to go, ‘Oooh.’ In time they’ll be a very good team, but it’s going to take them time. You don’t get to be Boston overnight. They got to play together forever. It’s managing expectations. Somehow you have to find a way."

Amar’e Stoudemire seems to detest any talk of the Heat after their superstar trio all spurned the Knicks in free agency and a chance to join him in New York.

"I don’t care about Miami," Stoudemire said at yesterday’s morning shootaround at Target Center.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/minnesota_no_way_rubio_lands_in_ksUK74nmqtBMYSkYNvnZyN

The 19-year-old point guard has already played in an Olympic gold-medal
game, won a European Championship with Spain and led his club team to
the Euroleague title.

But the Spaniard went scoreless in an exhibition game between his FC
Barcelona team and the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, falling flat in
his first big opportunity to silence critics after his disappointing
performance in the world championships.

He looked nervous early on, drawing three fouls in the first half. He missed all five of his field goal attempts in 17 minutes of play and had four turnovers while handing out only three assists.

"It’s true he did not have his best game tonight, but he needs to have these experiences so he doesn’t have to go through them again in the future," Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual said.

Rubio knows he has work to do.

"I want to better my game in every way I can," he said. "I have room to improve in every aspect and I am going to try and use this season to win as many games as possible, as well as to improve."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/104584644.html

If the Timberwolves make a trade before the NBA’s Feb. 18 trade
deadline, Wolves president of basketball operations David Kahn said the
deal would be "modest" and would not involve any of the team’s "core
players."

Based on playing time and productivity, the Wolves’ core players are
forwards Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Ryan Gomes and Damien Wilkins, and
guards Jonny Flynn, Corey Brewer, Ramon Sessions and Wayne Ellington.

A modest deal, according to Kahn, would be a move that gives the Wolves more talent off the bench at forward or center.

"No question, we need more length and athleticism on the front line to complement Al and Kevin," Kahn said before Sunday’s 112-91 victory over the New York Knicks.

Kahn has maintained from the start that he would prefer to go through the season without making a deal involving the team’s key players. Because of the economy, with NBA teams cutting staff and other expenses, Kahn is not expecting a flurry of major trades before the deadline.

"A lot of teams are battling slumping attendance, as we are," Kahn said.

The Wolves entered Sunday’s game ranked 25th in the league in attendance (14,549).

Love adjusting to new role: Love got a pep talk from Wolves assistant coach Bill Laimbeer to help adjust to his new role of coming off the bench.

Love had started 20 games since recovering from a broken bone in his left hand and became the Wolves’ leading rebounder (11.8) and No. 2 scorer (15.3) behind Jefferson

(17.8). Love might continue coming off the bench with the improved play of Ryan Hollins, who had 16 points and three rebounds Sunday.

"Coach (Laimbeer) talked to me a lot about the situation," Love said. "He said I would be getting the same amount of minutes. Ryan and Al have been playing great."

Love played a team-high 31 minutes Sunday, finishing with a career-high 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

http://www.twincities.com/timberwolves/ci_14309163

While Pacers president Larry Bird remains determined to build around
Granger, sources say Kahn has become increasingly dubious on making
Jefferson a cornerstone for the Timberwolves.

So far, Kahn has tried to undo almost everything from the Kevin McHale regime, and trading Jefferson would be another significant step in that direction.

After rehabbing from a knee injury he suffered in February, Jefferson is still trying to work himself back to the elite form he showed last season when he had averaged 23.1 points and 11 rebounds. This season, he’s averaging 17.7 points and 9.1 rebounds.

Jefferson, 25, has three years and $42 million left on his contract after this season. Any proposed deal would’ve needed another player or two involved to make the salaries match, but the Pacers had no interest in such a discussion, sources said.

Minnesota also has chemistry issues between Jefferson and forward Kevin Love. “There’s some jealous stuff that’s playing out,” one league source said.

The Pacers, who are tied for the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference, could be dealers before the trade deadline, but league executives believe Indiana has all but ruled out any moves that would include Granger or center Roy Hibbert(notes). After missing a month with a foot injury, Granger returned to the Pacers’ lineup on Friday. He has become one of the league’s best young scorers, averaging 24 points a game.

The Cleveland Cavaliers would like to acquire a power forward who can shoot, and the Pacers’ Troy Murphy(notes) is near the top of their wish list, perhaps trailing only the Washington Wizards’ Antawn Jamison(notes). The Cavs’ front office is still trying to gauge the seriousness of Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld about eventually agreeing to a Jamison deal. While waiting for the Wizards on a move Grunfeld may never make, Cleveland doesn’t want to miss out on Murphy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ah.Vvpii2J.qAXJoEBDHL7q8vLYF?slug=aw-jeffersongranger011010&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

SALT LAKE CITY – This is Dec. 15, the first day this season that NBA
teams are allowed to trade players they signed as free agents last
summer.

"I didn’t know about that," Wolves point guard Ramon Sessions said Monday. "I didn’t even know that was a rule."

Theoretically, Sessions and center Ryan Hollins become eligible Tuesday under the rule that says players can’t be traded until Dec. 15 or 90 days after they signed, whichever date is later. Sasha Pavlovic becomes eligible to be included in a deal Thursday, and veteran Jason Hart on Dec. 28.

ESPN.com recently listed Sessions No. 5 on a Top 5 list of recently signed free agents most likely to be traded this season and suggested Wolves boss David Kahn signed him as an asset to be "flipped" sometime this season.

Signed in September to a four-year, $16 million contract, Sessions — who has scored 44 points in one game and had 24 assists in another in his young career — is playing anywhere from 14 to 28 minutes a night in a backup role to rookie Jonny Flynn.

Asked if this is a significant date, Kahn said, "No, not for us it isn’t. Tomorrow is Tuesday. We’re going home tomorrow. That’s the only significance."

Sessions and Flynn have played together little this season, which has reduced Sessions to a backup role and limited his playing time. Kahn said he doesn’t consider the matter an issue.

Sessions, 23, said the same.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/79276107.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUqPk4DyCc75DiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

Sat down with David Kahn for about an hour this afternoon for a camp-opening Q-and-A session that will run in Monday’s paper to preview that day’s media day and Tuesday’s opening of training camp in Mankato.Wearing a NBA cap emblazoned with “Destination: Finals” and with flu medication in hand, he talked on a variety of subjects — some of which I’ll touch on here — before newly acquired Antonio Daniels entered his Target Center office as I left.

A smattering of things:

* He put Daniels in the same category as traded-away Quentin Richardson and absent Mark Blount. Daniels, 34, was acquired from New Orleans earlier this month mainly because Kahn opened more cap space for next summer by trading Darius Songaila and the two years remaining on his contract away. Daniels wants to play significant minutes so he score another sizable contract next summer, a prospect that, barring injury, isn’t likely with the Wolves committed to Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions at point guard.

He said he would trade Daniels to a team where he can play more — as he did by dealing Richardson to Miami for Blount — if he can get a similar expiring $6.6 million contract in return. Kahn said he believes helping players in that situation if possible is a bit of goodwill that eventually will benefit the franchise with other players down the road.

* He expects Al Jefferson and Corey Brewer to be ready to participate fully when camp starts Tuesday, but said Jefferson might sit for portions or all of the second half of two-a-days as a precaution or if he’s sore in his return from February knee surgery.

http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/2009/09/24/kahn-on-antonio-daniels-and-other-matters/

Some of the suggestions in the article that go toward rebuilding the struggling franchise include:

* Clear house within the organization.

* Hire Sam Mitchell

The reasoning behind Mitchell is that “He has enough charm to lure fans and free agents, and enough backbone to hold players accountable.”

Read the full article from

http://www.startribune.com/sports/45882942.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUqPk4DyCc75DiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr