Trading Down

The Wolves' new man, Luc Mbah a Moute

  Derrick Williams traded to the Kings for Luc Mbah a Moute. Hmmmm....

  Nope, I don't like it. 

  And it constitutes the second Flip Saunders trade in a row (and overall in his role as Wolves GM) that makes it look, at the outset at least, as if the Wolves have been swindled. The Wolves are trading a third-year player who's just 22 years old and was picked number two overall in the 2011 draft for a fifth-year, second-round pick who's 27 and is a bit role player at best? Excuse me while I grimace. 

  It's hard to believe that Mbah a Moute is the best the Wolves could do. For the love of Pete, he was just acquired by Sacramento four months ago for a pair of 2nd round picks in the future, the NBA's equivalent of baseball's "player to be named later." What did he do in Sacramento that led him to raise status enough to be considered the equal value of a third-year #2 overall first rounder? The answer to that is: start 5 out of 9 games for the godawful Kings this season, averaging 4.4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 personal fouls, a steal, and a half a block per 21.9 minutes of game action. Keeeee-rist. Sure, some guys' value isn't best measured statistically (and Mbah a Moute seems verymuch like this type of guy). But Keeeeee-rist. 

  Lest you think I'm hanging this all on Flip, be aware that he only gets 44% of the blame in my ledger. Rick Adelman gets 39% of the blame. I'm still trying to figure out what D-Will did to torque off Coach A enough to so obviously detest him. Did D-Will make a personally offensive joke in a film session? Take a potential bar hookup away from one of Adelman's sons on a road trip? Steal one of Rick's in-game cough drops? D-Will seemed to try to slim down when they told him to slim down. He didn't openly bitch about his role...which was paltry, considering his draft position. He was one of the only guys to play the majority of the season (78 of 82 games) on an injury-riddled team. He averaged 12 points and 5.5 boards. He brought some athleticism. He's a pup!

  Derrick himself is 16% to blame. I didn't like seeing him get routinely toasted on D, especially in the post, any more than Adelman or anyone else. I grew tired of his too-laid-back demeanor. I was frustrated by his lack of putting it all together. And it's Derrick's fault that he hasn't put it together yet. But he's 22. Younger than a lot of college seniors. 

  The last 1% of blame falls to David Kahn. And really, that 1% is on Glen Taylor, for having to get rid of Kahn after having hired him, which made Flip not want to keep Kahn's misdeeds around. Kahn had to pick D-Will at #2 in 2011. Some experts were even predicting he'd be the next Rookie of the Year.

  Anyway... it was nice knowing you, D-Will. Good luck. Hope DeMarcus Cousins doesn't rub off on you too much in Sacto. Tune in January 15, folks, to see D-Will, in a Kings uni, dunk on Kevin Love's head at Target Center. Any new posters to replace the D-Will in Archie's room can be sent my way.

  In other news, the Wolves are average. Last night's loss to the Pacers dropped them to 8–8, meaning they've lost 6 of their last 9 games after starting promisingly at 5–2. The schedule's tough right now, and it's getting tougher. The Wolves will likely be the betting man's underdog in four of their next five games. 

  This season is following last's in the scary-same trajectory. Last year, the Wolves also started off 5–2, fell to 8–8, peaked at 12–9, and then bit the dust hard on their way to 31–51. Should the 2013–14 Wolves stay healthy, I could see them reversing that record of a year ago to go 51–31 and make the playoffs. But they'll need to take care of ...

 

Five Ugly-Ass Imperfections That’ve Cropped Up

Whoops. I turned it over. Again. It's okay, though.

1-Kevin Martin’s … gunning. Selfishness. Softness. Over ball-handling. Reluctance to pass the ball to Ricky Rubio and take it up the court himself…at a jog. Inability to finish at the rim. Wimpy skinniness. Lackadaisical facial expressions. Lack of defensive desire.

2-Kevin Love’s … over-reliance on the three-point shot. Streakiness. Lack of hustle. Tendency to bitch at the refs to the detriment of the Wolves' transition D. Tendency to bitch at the refs in a way that shows them up…never a good way to get the next call. Reluctance to pass the ball out of the post. Affinity for fading away in the post instead of using good footwork to get to the rim or sideways (to avoid getting blocked and find some daylight). Many turnovers. Hubris.

Doink. Thwap. Smack.

3-Ricky Rubio’s crummy shooting form. The shot is broke. He needs a reconstructive surgery on it. The ball has no arc. The ball about bonks his head each time he hoists it. It’s ridiculous considering his understanding of passing angles and arcs and speeds and touch. Ricky's too pretty to possess such an ugly shot--especially one that doesn't go in at a rate of 40% or better. He could shoot lefty and have a better chance of putting it in the hole…at least off the dribble, anyway. And he needs to start working the reverse lay-up rather than the straightline lay-up attempts that end up blocked, crotched or flung off the glass in a style reminiscent of one of ex-Pup Marco Jaric's perfidious lay-up attempts. 

4-Adelman’s stubbornness with the bench. This team’s going nowhere if he doesn’t find a way to get something out of Alexey Shved (how bout play him at the point for one 5-minute stretch per game—especially when Barea’s sucking eggs), Robbie Hummel (who needs to settle in and start hitting open shots…or watch the window for having an NBA career slam shut), Gorgui Dieng (for 10 strategic minutes a game…in which he’ll record three blocks and commit three fouls and a turnover, but hey, it’ll get better, and Pek can’t survive this many minutes, so do it for Pek), and Shabazz Muhammad (until Neon Chase gets back, to spell Brew and Robbie and throw teams a change-up). Hopefully Mbah a Moute can step in to help some here. But I don't see how he's not redundant with Dante Cunningham, an Adelman pet.

Ricky busting Team USA with the P&R in the Olympics in 2008.

5-Adelman’s reluctance to embrace Ricky Rubio. Ricky's a goddamn gamer, Coach A. Stop taking him out with two fouls in the first quarter. Stop benching his ass in the fourth. Live with his messed up shot and occasional turnover. He makes up for his mistakes most of the time. In 16 games, the Wolves have scored 105 more points than the opponent when he's on the floor. The guy is absolutely money in the pick and roll, and the one stretch of the game that the Timberwolves were thumping the Pacers (the best team in the NBA, at their den) was when Ricky pick n rolled with Pek and Love for the early part of the third quarter.
It was unstoppable against the best defense in the NBA. And, by nature, the pick and roll is indefensible. If the Wolves aren't running the break, 90% of their half court offense should be pick and roll. For a handbook, see Phoenix Suns video from 2005 to 2009. Or old Utah Jazz tape featuring John Stockton to Karl Malone where the bastards never had a losing season for 20 years The Wolves have a player who is unstoppable when running a certain play that happens to be indefensible. I sure wish they'd use it. 

.