ESPN.com is currently running a headline that Ricky Rubio may not be heading to Minnesota after all. 

If you actually read the article, you'll see that it's nothing more than pure unfounded speculation that is being drummed up by the Worldwide Leader in order to create some off-season NBA buzz after their very own posterboys, the Miami Heat, went down in flames.  Clearly "We are talking to Barcelona and we will soon see" is synonymous with "I will not play for the Minnesota Timberwolves".  Ricky's other quote, that he was "very happy" that his team won the Spanish League Title, also indicates that he has no intention of coming to the NBA this season.  If you click on the Sports Nation poll located on that page, you'll also see that 59% of the masses believe that Rubio will be playing for Barcelona next season after hearing about these hard-hitting quotes. 

Personally, I tend to believe the reports that came out a few weeks back that Rubio had already inked a deal with the Wolves and was just respectfully waiting for his team's season to end before making an announcment.  Those reports aligned perfectly with both logic and the NBA collective bargaining agreement. The fact that he didn't don his T-Wolves jersey the second after the final buzzer sounded is no cause for concern.  Let's all give Ricky a little time to enjoy his team's championship and soak it all in before he makes his big announcement.  If we haven't heard something by this time next week, then it's time to hit the panic button. 

In all seriousness, the Timberwolves simply cannot afford the massive backlash that would come from Ricky remaining in Spain, especially after those reports of him coming leaked out.  If the Wolves had any indication that Rubio may not play for the team, they would have vehemently denied those reports instead of giving the very transparent "no comment" response.  To do otherwise would have been setting the scene for a PR nightmare that would undoubtedly upstage LeBron's "go back to their lives" comment as the biggest gaffe this summer. David Kahn may have made some questionable moves and said some dumb things in the past, but there's no way he's stupid enough to let the Ricky Rubio novela play out that way.

...Right?

Draft Prospects Enes Kanter and Derrick Williams Featured in Workouts for Timberwolves Thursday at Target Center

What:  The Minnesota Timberwolves will host workouts for potential draft picks at the Life Time Fitness Training Center in Target Center on Thursday, June 16.

Who:  Timberwolves assistant general manager Tony Ronzone, along with draft prospects Enes Kanter, Derrick Williams and others, will be available to the media.

When:  Thursday, June 16

10:00 a.m. media availability:

Enes Kanter, C, Kentucky/Turkey
Keith Benson, C, Oakland
Alec Burks, G, Colorado
Malcolm Delaney, G, Virginia Tech
Isaiah Thomas, G, Washington

 
2:30 p.m. media availability:

Derrick Williams, F, Arizona
Jamar Diggs, G, Wofford
Anthony Moody, G, Univ. of Mary
Tai Wesley, F, Utah State

 
Where:  Life Time Fitness Training Center - Target Center

Info:
· All workouts are closed. Media will only be allowed in at the conclusion of the workouts.
· Draft prospects will only be available during media access periods following their workouts. The players will have other obligations following their workouts and will not be available for radio call-ins or off-site interviews.

Congrats on beating the Miami cHeat, you guys deserved it!

Corey Brewer and Brian The Custodian Cardinal... all they do is win championships.

One of the favorite past times of any basketball junkie who roots for a bad team, is scheming up deals to trade his garbage for other team's treasure.  Over the past several years, seeing this done on our TWB Forums has been pretty depressing.  (Do you think we could swing Sebastian Telfair for Rudy Fernandez? Really???) Anyway, with Senor Rubio on his way, K. Love in the fold, and the #2 pick on the horizon, things have gotten much brighter for the T-Wolves.  (At least until Kahn drafts four centers this June.)  With that in mind, forum regular, Roundhouse, has come up with The Ultimate Dream Trade Challenge.  I won't go into the nitty-gritty here on the front page, but basically we're pitting dream trade scenarios against each other and then letting the people vote on which deal they'd rather see the Wolves make. 

It's pretty cool, extremely sports-nerdy, and actually quite a bit of fun.  Check it out here in the forums!

As has been speculated in recent days, David Kahn has apparently pulled it off: Ricky Rubio has agreed to join the Minnesota Timberwolves next season! Hats off to Kahn for this one. 

Lot's more thoughts coming on this soon....

As reported by Adrian W, the man often made fun of but the man who also never fails to break a Wolves-related story.

Barriero was also involved. 

As was the ever excellent JON KRAWCZYNSKI,  (yes I copied ans pasted that) who, along with Adrian Wojnairjegrtiwe make crediting sources immensely difficult. 

Welcome Ricky!!!! (if true, of course)

Rumors are swirling that the Wolves, Cavs, and Pistons are mulling over a potential three-team deal that would send Minnesota's #2 pick to Cleveland for picks #4 and #8.   Basically, Detroit would part with their #8 selection in order to unload Rip Hamilton's contract onto Cleveland who owns a massive trade exception.  The Cavs would then package their own #4 and Detroit's #8 to the Wolves in exchange for #2. 

Assuming that the Cavaliers intend on taking Derrick Williams with the #2 pick, this trade could be a potential no-brainer.  Either Enes Kanter or Brandon Knight would be a better fit for the Wolves than Williams.  If Irving and Williams go with the first two picks, the Wolves are still assured that Kanter or Knight will be there at the #4 spot.  The real question then becomes how much they value Kanter over Knight, or vice versa, as they'll be stuck with whomever Utah doesn't pick.  If they see a big difference between the two players, it might be wiser to hold onto the pick and just select the one they prefer, as the #8 pick this is unlikely to yield an impact player.

Another plus to this trade is that it gives the Wolves two Top 10 picks to use to swing a trade for a veteran.  I know that we've been drooling in the forums over potential trades for both Andre Iguodala and Rudy Gay.  Having two first-rounders could give the Wolves the ammunition necessary to pull those deals off.  It could also open the door to push one or both of those picks into the 2012 draft, which should be bursting at the seams with talent. 

Really, the only downside here is if the Wolves fall in love with either Kanter or Knight and they end up getting picked by Utah. In my opinion, neither are sure enough bets to turn down the value of this trade for.  The only other hinderance would be if a potential trade partner for a veteran was enamored with Williams and would over-value the opportunity to pick him up at #2. 

The Wolves have time to shop around, but unless the #2 pick is critical for obtaining a proven vet, I think the Kahn Man should pull the trigger on this one.

Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.

Rumors about Iguodala and Granger seem to suggest that Kahn is approaching negotiations with at least a couple of teams. Assuming we aren't totally going to liquidate Kevin Love, we have some known assets, some of which we will need to build around and some of which we will need to move to get the more experienced players that we need to add in order to help us win.

Let's assume we are actually actively pursuing trades with our assets including our #2 pick. Let's try to crawl into the head of Kahn- scary, I know.

As counterintuitive as this may sound, I happen to agree with Kahn that we don't need to blow up our current roster to build a good team. It's like we're building a house, however, and we have 7 different types of flooring we've purchased but we don't know what we are doing for the roof. We may not have even completed the design yet. In this case the excess flooring selections are young Power Forwards and the roof is a Point Guard. However, let's take things as they are and not as they should be, and see if we can develop a sensible plan for moving forward. You know, one that we will never implement because it will "cost too much." Even though the team's value would increase disproportionately vs. the investments made in forming a good team if we actually won games. But no one cares about that. Moving on...

Our major positions of need are perimeter shot creation, perimeter defense, point guard play (i.e. ball handling/decision making), and center play (i.e. interior defense/post play).

Here are the assets we own (in order of descending value, my best estimate of value to other teams):

• Kevin Love - 6'10" - PF - 22 years old - $3.64 million/yr, 1 yrs remaining
• Ricky Rubio (contract rights) - 6'3" - PG - 20 years old - unsigned (under contract in Europe)
• Micheal Beasley - 6'10" - SF/PF - 22 years old - $4.96 million/yr, 1 yrs remaining
• 2011 Own 1st Round Draft Pick - #2 Overall (likely BPA = Derrick Williams)
• Anthony Randolph - 6'11" - PF/C - 21 years old - $1.97 million/yr, 1 yrs remaining
• Wesley Johnson - 6'7" - SG/SF - 23 years old - $3.73 million/yr, 3 yrs remaining
• Nikola Pekovic - 6'11" - C - 25 years old - $4.28 million/yr, 1 yrs remaining
• Anthony Tolliver - 6'9" - SF/PF/C - 25 years old - $2.2 million/yr, 1 yrs remaining
• Martell Webster - 6'7" - SG/SF - 24 years old - $4.8 million/yr, 2 yrs remaining
• 2011 Memphis 1st Round Draft Pick - #20 Overall
• Nemanja Bjelica (contract rights) - 6'10" - SF - 23 years old - unsigned (under contract in Europe)
• Henk Norel (contract rights) - 6'11" - PF/C - 23 years old - unsigned (under contract in Europe)
• The rest of our team which is relevant primarily for the purposes of matching salaries, etc.

Total Salary Committed for 2011-12 = $43.72 million

Total Salary Including Cap Holds and Options for 2011-12 = $49.12 million


Please click "Read More" to continue with likely/desirable trade targets, and more!

We were "lucky" enough to land the second overall pick this year, as most of you already know. There was a 25% chance that we would get our rightful draft position of #1 overall, because $tern is a joke and the lottery sucks. In this weak draft (understatement), our best (only?) hope is Kyrie Irving. And that just got a lot more bleak. I guess there's a chance that Cleveland passes on Irving with their top pick, but let's just move on for now.

Last year, TWolves Blog Staff didn't do too bad with our draft Big Board. You can see it HERE. Debate it all you want, but you can clearly see that we would have drafted DeMarcus Cousins with our #4 overall pick. Maybe Wesley Johnson makes us forget Cousins before his career is over, maybe not. Maybe Cousins' immaturity makes us forget Cousins before his career is over. Who knows. Ok, so we had Hassan UPside at #6 overall, but a lot of people liked him. And it's not like we would have drafted him, as we had Cousins and Wesley Johnson ranked higher. So don't overreact on that. The rest looks reasonably solid, considering we went 30 players deep and all. Check out the entire Big Board from last year if you have any interest.

The NBA Draft is a Thursday, June 23rd. As of right now, the T-Wolves have two first round picks (#2 overall, and Memphis' pick at #20.) No one has any idea what's going to happen, or whom the Wolves will pick. (Does Kahn??? I doubt it.) Who do you readers want us to draft? ; Should we trade either (or both) of the picks? Is it Irving or bust? A BIG wildcard here is what happens with Rubio. There are some rumors that Rubio is already essentially signed, sealed, and delivered for next season. That would be fantastic, but I'm still overly cautious as of right now. ; If he comes over this season, we don't necessarily need Irving or Knight. But it sure would be nice to have two competent/very good PG's for the first time in... forever.

Derrick Williams is widely regarded as the consensus #2 pick. But he's a terrible fit for our team, as we've already got Love, Beasley, Randolph, Tolliver, and Pekovc (among others.) Let's just pray that Cleveland doesn't take Irving #1, which in turn "forces" Kahn to take Bismack Biyombo #2... since no other teams will trade with our lunatic GM. That would be disaster of epic proportions.

The draft looks like one of the worst overall drafts of the past 10-15 years, if not even longer. There's just no great talents. ; Too bad the 2012 draft is absolutely LOADED, and we don't have a pick; but alas, that's another story for another day. There are probably some nice players in this draft that can contribute to NBA squads, but if I had to pick a surefire All-Star, I'm not sure I could do so at this point in time. So besides Irving, the #2 pick may as well be the same as the #10-15 pick(s). Maybe it's not that drastic, but there's a large group of players that could all be pretty good, or bench players. No one knows yet. And therin lies the problem with this draft, because the TWolves really need to hit a homerun at #2 overall.

Instead, perhaps we should trade the pick? There is a TON of TWolves and draft chatter going on right now in the TWolves Blog Forums. Check it out with us:

- Rumor Mongering: The Danny Granger Edition

- Sixers Blog says Iggy for TWolves #2 Overall Pick

- The Anus Kanter Thread

- The Draft Solution

Without further ado, here is your T-Wolves Blog 2011 NBA Draft Minnesota Timberwolves "Big Board"...

To see the TWolves Blog Big Board, please click "Read More" to continue...

The official group Minnesota workout is next Monday and Tuesday

Day 1 Keith Benson, F-C, Oakland
Marshon Brooks, G-F, Providence
Tyler Honeycutt, F, UCLA
Reggie Jackson, G, Boston College
Cory Joseph, G, Texas Malcolm Lee, G, UCLA
John Leuer, F, Wisconsin Shelvin Mack, G, Butler
ETwaun Moore, G, Purdue
Jereme Richmond, F, Illinois
Nikola Vucevic, F, USC
Jordan Williams, F, Maryland

Day 2 Mike Dunigan, C, Oregon
Ben Hansbrough, G, Notre Dame
Justin Holiday, F, Washington
JaJuan Johnson, F-C, Purdue
Travis Leslie, G, Georgia
Kalin Lucas, G, Michigan St.
Darius Morris, G, Michigan
Markieff Morris, F, Kansas
Chandler Parsons, F, Florida
Josh Selby, G, Kansas
Jamie Skeen
source

This bunch will all be in play for the Wolves #20 pick. If you believe Rubio is all but in the bag the number one sucking hole, pussy wound gap in the Wolves depth chart is Shooting Guard. The name on the tip of everyone's tongue right now is MarshonBrooks. He's done nothing but move up up up in the last few days. At 6'4'' with 7'1'' reach he's the prototypical SG. If you are interested in the rest of the combine measurements take a gander this way.

I like to think of myself as a typical Timberwolves Fan. And yes, I realize that by simply being a T-Wolves fan I am - by definition - atypical. But that's beside the point, seeing as how this is a Wolves Blog named TwolvesBlog.

Typical fans - especially the past few years - have basically dismissed non-lottery Wolves-related news after April, then caught up around August. Mostly because the news was never very interesting. And it's been very easy to do, with the NFL draft and NBA playoffs and Twins winning boatloads of games.

This season, however, we've had losing streaks of six and nine games out of the Twins, which has caused pre-apathy to set in and allowed minds to wander toward Minnesota basketball. Thankfully, David Kahn has provided some entertainment to sports apetites.

Kahn's motormouth has been documented dutifully and deftly by the other TWB contributors, so I won't rant about that stuff, but I will say I freaking love it. Not only are the Timberwolves "big news" because of their position in the draft, we're also news because of our ZAYYYY-NEEE general manager! He says what he thinks all of the time, which while refreshing and interesting, can make us look like idiots for ever hiring the guy. But what did we expect? Before Kahn's arrival:

• The Wolves won 46 combined games from 07-08 to 08-09, and that was preceeded by back-to-back low-30-win seasons
• Our lineup/bench was full of crap contracts and unmotivated players
• Very little - outside Kevin Love - was done through the draft to infuse young talent into the roster
• In summary, there was no hope for the immediate future, no money to sign free agents, and the franchise was unattractive to said free agents even if we DID have the money.

What the hell kind of person wants a job like that?

The crazy kind, that's who.

The kind of guy who's ambivalent-yet-motivated, aloof-but-diligent and eternally optimistic in spite of insurmountable odds.

The kind of guy who will craft a philosophy and stick to it, even when it looks like it's falling apart even as it is put in place.

So when he says things like "manna from heaven" or compares bit players to HOFers, it doesn't surprise me. It's part of the package.

And when fellow contributors say "he has to go", I kind of balk at it, because Kahn has never been anything but up front and honest with the media and fans. And he's never claimed to be a savior. He's simply put a plan in place to get the franchise in healthy position to compete for years into the future. And by my count, he's moved to the franchise toward that end with striking efficiency.

Plus, as Strib columnist Jim Souhan wrote last night:

"I'd much rather live in a world where Ozzie Guillen occasionally says something offensive while trying to be entertaining than a world in which someone like Kahn is afraid to speak publicly. Kahn's speeches are the only entertainment we get during basketball season."

Only, I believe the on-court entertainment will continue to improve to the point where our GM isn't the lead story.