From the always great Hardwood Paroxysm:

Holy hell, this is just stupid.

Who's idea was this anyway?  Do they think people will find it clever?  Not sure how anyone is excited about falling in the lottery (again), down to having the fourth pick when we had the second worst record in the NBA.  I think it's more insulting than anything.  There aren't better ways to advertise the re-re-re-re-re-re-re-rebuilding of this team?  Please just make some moves of significance this off-season... that's all fans are asking for (well, and a team that doesn't completely suck.)

(Skyway-level poster found directly outside Target Center)

Well, it's the moment the tens of us TWolves Fans we've all been waiting for... the NBA 2010 Pre-Draft Measurements are trickling in!  Woohoo, let's check out the stats on these guys.  Here are players of note.  Remember, the Wolves have picks #4, #16, and #23.  Odds are we won't draft and keep 3 first round rookies this year.  Expect some trading between now and the end of the draft.  My personal guess is that Trader Kahn does everything in his power to eventually land Evan Turner.  If not... ugh, well then we are screwed.  You may as well move the the team to Seattle or Vegas and spare us the pain and agony of yet another re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-rebuilding effort.

NBADraft.net 2010 Mock Draft

Draft Express Pre-Draft Measurements

Players of Note:

UPDATE: PF/C Ekpe Udoh's results came late: 6' 8.75" without shoes, 6' 9.75" with shoes, 237 weight, 8' 10.5" reach, 8.0% bodyfat.

Don't cry, deep down you all know we are destined to draft Harangody in the second round.

P.S. Cousins is fat.

UPDATE II: Twolves current big men measurements:

Darko is huge.

In light of the debacle that was last night, here is what I believe to be the best, greatest, most awesomest solution to the epic fail that is the current NBA Draft Lottery.  I saw this proposed again on the internets, but have seen it a while back in the past.  I can't remember where I first saw it, or I'd give credit to that person.  Anyways, read on:

So here's the proposed solution.  First, there would be a coin toss between #13 Toronto and #14 Houston, with the higher seed (Toronto) calling the toss. The loser would get the 14th pick and the winner would move on to a coin toss against #12 Memphis. The process would continue until ultimately, one team would have a coin toss with #1 New Jersey for the first pick.

There are many advantages to this system. First, it would make it easier for the worst teams to get the top pick than under the current system. Second, the furthest any team would fall in the draft order would be one slot. Third, every team would have a shot at moving up some number of spots in the draft. Lastly, I think this draft "tournament" would make for more interesting viewing, as teams win the head-to-head match-ups and move up the board.

-  I love that it gives the worse teams much better chances at the top picks, as that is the way it should be anyways.

-  And let's be honest, 5+ teams won't massively tank every season. First, they would have to want the top pick, right? There won't be 5+ teams with like 12-15 wins each year. And what team in their right mind would tank for like the 3rd worst record? That won't happen. I think tanking would be blatantly obvious under this scenario.

-  This would be entertaining as hell, and nobody would get screwed.


*For what it's worth, in 21 years the highest the Wolves have ever drafted was THIRD.  And that was when we actually had the third worst record, and merely maintained our draft position. We have maintained our position 6 times out of 13 years in the lottery.  The other 7 times we were moved backwards.
 
Third.  In 21 years.

Everyone email/fax/snail mail this to Stern and other such NBA officials.  We can make it happen!  Just like our success with the MacGyver Mascot.  Oh wait...

P.S. Feel free to join our TWB Forum discussion about this topic which can be found HERE.

VS.

= No Contest.

I thought we had it.  I honestly thought we had broken our 21 year streak of bad luck.  And then, they announced the Washington Wizards' representative for the Draft Lottery, owner Abe Pollin's widow, wearing his 1978 championship ring.  At that very moment, I knew we were done.  Brilliant as he may be, Macgyver is simply no match for a widow.

Congrats to the Wizards.  They played the best card, rendering our mascot karma inert.  Well done.

That being said, I hope Gilbert Arenas shoots John Wall in the knee cap.

Anyway, after a 13th brutal trip to the lottery where the Wolves have NEVER improved their draft positioning and have actually been moved back a ridiculous SEVEN times, I've come to the conclusion that the NBA Draft Lottery needs to be ended.  I've been saying for years now that the system is awful and needs to be tweaked.  But now, I just want it out of my life.

Think abou it. The NFL and Major League Baseball are without question the two biggest leagues in America.  Neither league has a draft lottery system.  Neither league has teams tanking at the end to secure the #1 pick.  Neither league is suffering one bit from a lack of a "lottery".  On the other hand, a good five people gave up and stopped being Timberwolves fans last night, essentially cutting the team's fan base in half.

The draft lottery, intended to uphold the "integrity" of the league, has done just the opposite.  The whole system is inherently sketchy and leads people to believe that the system is rigged. (See Patrick Ewing and the Knicks, the Bulls landing the #1 pick immediately post-Jordan, the Wizards landing the #1 pick right after Jordan joined the ownership, LeBron in Cleveland, Derrick Rose in Chicago)  On the flip side, if the Nets were picking #1 and the Wolves #2, nobody would be questioning it.  Anyone who watched either of those two teams this year knows how legitimately awful they were.

Furthermore, let's take a look at the past 20 years and each #1 pick overall...

I'm not going to call all "stats" crazy on you, but off the top of my head, only two players on that list have won an NBA title.  (Maybe Glenn Robison picked up a ring off the bench when he was with the Spurs, or something. Who cares?)  However, the main point is that TWO guys on that list, Tim Duncan and Shaq, were major cornerstone pieces on a championship team.  And out of those two, only ONE, Tim Duncan, actually won his championships with the team who drafted him.  So if you're New Jersey, or Minnesota, or some other horrible team, why would you intentionally scrap an entire season and deal with the embarrassment and loss of ticket sales that comes with living in the NBA's basement, for what basically equates to a 5% chance that the person you're drafting #1 overall will lead you to an NBA title?

So let's get rid of the lottery.  All it does is frustrate and screw over the teams and the fans who have suffered the most.  It's time to end this dumb system before it ends basketball in Minnesota...

Another rigged unlucky NBA Draft Lottery has come and gone.  Another complete fail bad bounce of the unlucky lottery balls for the Wolves.  And because of tonight I cannot, in good conscience, allow CW Jr. to grow up a TWolves fan.  I'm sorry, but does this innocent child look like a future Wolves fan to you? Should he have to suffer for the rest of his lifetime, like so many of us?  I don't think that's fair.

HELL NO.

That is all.

It's done. Mission Accomplished. After a long three weeks in which some of the greatest men, women, and beasts of our time battled to the death, our mascot has made into NBA Entertainment Headquarters just in time for tonight's draft lottery.

Getting Macgyver into the building wasn't an easy feat to pull off. We tried enlisting the help of Timberwolves.com correspondant, Jonah Ballow, but met dead ends. To his credit, he was helpful, but with Kahn currently outside of Minnesota, a chance to pair him with the mascot just never materialized. We also tried going through Kahn's "lucky charm", Paul Allen of KFAN. Either he doesn't respond to his emails, or he didn't feel like sharing the credit for a top pick with our mascot. Little shady, but whatever.In the end, I used my detective skills to hunt down the number of the fax machine for NBA Entertainment. It was a last-ditch effort, but it was successful. Macgyver IS in the building!

When I sent the fax, I put it to the Attention of David Kahn and let him know that with Macgyver in his pocket, we'd be destined for a #1 pick. Will the NBAE intern deliver our message, or just be confused and chuck him in the trash? I don't have the answer. I sent the fax on hospital letterhead and signed it Derek Hanson,MD. I figured that may carry a little more weight than a fax from Joe Nobody, but who knows? If Macgyver gets to Kahn, that's awesome. If he's in the trash bin, no harm done. This is Macgyver we're talking about! He's the man who makes the impossible happen in the most improbably ways. It's almost more fitting that he sneaks into NBAE via fax ends up in garbage rather than being carried in as a VIP with Kahn. Either way, we can all breathe easy now. We've reached the end of our journey.

Macgyver won't let us down.

So if you are like me and were devastated by the news that Unethically High Priced Miller Lights NBA City closed last month (the yellow circle in the picture is supposed to be a halo), you have your first opportunity to check a Wolves-related event in its replacement pre-game watering hole: Hubert's. More on this shortly. Hubert's (as in, HUBERT Humphrey Metrodome, a very sensible name for the bar next to Target Field/Center. Good thinking. Makes sense.) has moved in within the last 30-days, along with a revamped O'Donovan's and a bustling relocated Kieran's Irish pub, to the Block E section of Downtown.

With the removal of Hooters, Gameworks and Bellanotte' as pre and post Wolves-game stops, next season is going to be interesting. Kieran's is fun (having gone there Saturday), but the price per cold beverage is simply put: absurd. I still think, despite its trashiness and saturation of Cool Water-cologne ridden guidos and guidette's, Brothers is the ultimate best pre-game Wolves salloon. I admit it. Friendly staff, pool and darts, decent bar food, huge TV's at every angle, and best of all: the shock and awe of how LOW your bill is upon receipt. Just ignore the douchery and the screaming high-maintenance women if you can.

Not done yet. While I think the new Target Field is great for downtown for our city, and for our local restaurants, I will say without hesitation that being downtown if you aren't attending a Twin's game is a royal pain in the ass. As a resident of the Warehouse District, I am already annoyed. It is easy to stomach a game every few days with the Wolves, and weekly with the Vikings, but man is it getting to be a lot. There are several reasons why, including: increase in prices, a complete loss of any street parking, change or removal of Happy Hour specials (even for non-game attendees), a traffic cluster-f*** after someone thinking the idiotic idea of changing Hennepin and 1st Ave into 2-way ONE LANE roads was a good idea, and of course jealousy that the Wolves aren't even in the same ballpark (pun intended) as the Twins in terms of city relevancy. It's sad.  However, it's great for the city. I can't deny that, even for selfish reasons. Sorry for the tangent, but it is an important topic and perhaps will be a full-blown piece this Fall.  Onward to relevant things, my apologies:

The Wolves are not hosting a formal lottery party this year. Instead, there will be an informal gathering at said Hubert's Bar tomorrow night (Tuesday). Mike McCollow of FSN and good 'ol Tom Hanneman will be in attendance tomorrow to chat with fans and break down the results, apprantly. MacGyver's attendance is still unconfirmed, although I think he has business in New Jersey for the lottery. SO, if you live in the area head down to Hubert's, which is now part of Target Center, to have a cocktail and weep in agony with tens of fellow Wolves fans as we reveal our results, and ultimately pave the way for this offseason experience.

And Don't forget to bring your TWB Draft Lottery Poster (click here to view and print) to the event to get a free drink!***

***Not actually true, but all the cool kids are bringing them!