The End

Iverson Traded to Denver

A few things.....

First, it's good to finally get this over with. Personally, I was hardly getting any sleep.....waking up in all hours of the night, checking message boards, refreshing.....it dominated my time. For more than a week, the prospect of Allen Iverson coming to the Wolves was my life.

With that being said, I'm devestated. I truly believed AI was going to end up a Timberwolf. To see him end up a Nugget, our biggest rival, is horrible.

As far as the trade, it baffles me on both sides. I've said before, the Nuggets have no need for extra scoring, they need defense. The concept of just trying to outscore your opponent might work in the regular season, but by my count, it has NEVER won a championship. Look at the last few NBA champions....

2006 - Miami Heat
2005 - San Antonio Spurs
2004 - Detroit Pistons
2003 - San Antonio Spurs
2002-2000 - LA Lakers
1999 - San Antonio Spurs

While you couldn't necessarily classify the Heat or the Lakers as "defensive teams", they were teams that were still good defensively.....it certainly wasn't a liability. As far as the Pistons and Spurs, they were known as teams that could shut you down offensively. Has everyone become so enamored by the Suns and Steve Nash that they've forgotten this?

As far as what the Sixers get.....I'm equally puzzled. Andre Miller, while good on the Nuggets, is good because he had lots of weapons around him. You look at his stats, he's averaging 13 and 9....pretty good, but he's not a franchise player, simply a facilitator. Who's he going to be facilitating for on Philadelphia? Andre Igoudala? Kevin Ollie? He needs good players around him in order to be effective, which Philly doesn't have.

As far as Joe Smith and the 2 first rounders go, I'm also confused. Joe Smith, whatever, cap room, that's fine. The 2 first rounders are more puzzling....one of them belongs to Denver, the other to Dallas.....almost certainly, they're going to be 25+ in the draft. Yeah, this draft is supposed to be stacked, but it's not as if either of these are lottery picks or anything. You'll be lucky to find a solid contributor at 25+ in the draft.

Kevin McHale issued a statement a few hours ago on the Allen Iverson trade. From everything I heard, the Wolves were prominent in the talks the whole way through, and offered Randy Foye. If this is true, and the Sixers simply said no, then I have no beef with Kevin McHale. If he tried everything he could, but couldn't make it happen, whatever, he did his job. If, however, you find out there was a deal to be made, but he backed away.....then I would be furious. This was Minnesota's chance to enter the big time, a chance for them to show their franchise player Kevin Garnett that they meant business.....and if McHale decided not to roll the dice, he should be fired immediately.

OK, about Garnett. We all know that he publicly lobbied to get Allen Iverson. We all know he's more than likely frustrated with the lack of support he's getting. Thus.....I wouldn't be opposed to him being traded, if we got a decent amount in return. The deal I've heard rumored is as follows.....

KG to the Chicago Bulls for

Tyrus Thomas
Ben Gordon
1st round draft pick (from the NY Knicks)

I think about that team, and I have to be optomistic. Think of all the young studs we'd have, all at varying positions. Foye, Gordon, Thomas, McCants, Smith.....a solid young foundation, plus some veteran leadership in Ricky Davis and Mike James. Yeah, it'd suck to see Garnett go, but at least you'd feel as if the Wolves were going somewhere instead of the current situation. Does anyone see the Wolves going anywhere with their current team? I sure don't.

OK, back to reality.....the Wolves have a decent team. If the season were to end now, the Wolves wouldn't make the playoffs, but they'd be in the 9th spot, so they're not so far off. They've been competitive in their losses, for the most part. Mark Blount, of all our players, has established himself as a consistent scorer, and is giving us better rebounding numbers. KG has been KG. Ricky and Mike James have, in flashes, shown their potential. We have a solid bench. Here's my plan for the future....

First, start Randy Foye in place of Trenton Hassell, and move Ricky Davis up to the 3. I get the feeling that Wolves fans are pretty devestated to not land AI, so let's showcase our one promising piece for the future. Nobody is excited for this Wolves team....maybe with Foye in the starting lineup, getting starter's minutes, people will get excited again.

Second.....target Pau Gasol. He's stated that he's not entirely satisfied in Memphis, so why not call up Jerry West and see what's up. Getting a 2nd tier superstar like Gasol might satisfy KG. I love Pau's game and intensity, and I'm sure KG would like to finally have a fellow legitimate low post presence. If that doesn't work, maybe Corey Maggette.....a longshot, but I'd love to see the Wolves be very active before the trade deadline.

Third.....fire Kevin McHale. This is probably the least likely of the 3 tips I'm giving, but probably the most obvious and sensible to Wolves fans. Yeah, he's done a good job in the last 2 drafts, but because of his buffoonery, we weren't able to get Allen Iverson. The list of horrible contracts on the Wolves is second only to the Knicks.....Troy Hudson, Marko Jaric, Mark Madsen, even Trenton Hassell. Getting someone new to run this team would be beneficial to the Wolves and Wolves fans alike. McHale can't honestly think that he's the best fit for the job.

Tomorrow's game against the Lakers will be very interesting, to say the least, and even through all the disappointment....

I LOVE THIS GAME!