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. 

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Breaking Down the Bench

Photo by Noah Graham

All right. Seven wins and six losses. Should be 11–2, or 10–3 at worst. Coach Rick Adelman’s been adamant that these T-Wolves can’t have even a single guy having an off night if this team expects to win. And the T-Wolves don’t have time to screw around losing games to the woeful Cavs or Wizards, or to the Clippers at home, if they want to make a serious playoff run this season.

There are 12 men per team that don uniforms for each NBA game, which means that more guys are sitting on the bench during live action than are playing on the court. The 58% of the active roster is the main reason the Wolves are faltering. The best teams can overcome a star’s off game (like Kevin Martin had in D.C. and like 2-for-14-shooting Kevin Love had vs the Clippers last night). With a productive bench.

But Adelman clearly doesn’t trust a number of the guys on the Minny bench. Dante Cunningham and JJ Barea aside, the bench is the Wolves’ early season Achilles heel.

So let’s break it down in descending order of player value…  

Ronny Turiaf and Chase Budinger are injured.

JJ Barea has been streaky as hell, but he’s a nice changeup from Rubio, and he doesn’t back down—an important quality on this team. I wish Adelman had a better feel with how to use him—his extended PT in the fourth quarter vs the Wiz might’ve been the reason the Wolves lost. Rubio’s got to have those minutes because he’s a gamer.

Dante Cunningham has been streaky, too, shooting-wise, but he routinely crashes the boards and plays D—and made my heart sing with a choice leather eater on Pouty Face Blake Griffin last night.

Robbie Hummel seems to be Coach A’s only bench pet this season, but we’ll see what happens to him when Neon Chase returns. Here’s hoping Hummel makes the most of his opportunities. The threeball needs to start going in at about a 50% clip.

Alexey Shved has seemed to get worse with less court time. While that makes sense, his shortened leash is a little puzzling considering Adelman gave Shved more minutes last season than he deserved. Of course injuries played a factor, but there were other guys Adelman could’ve played, too. My theory on Shved is that he’s lonely for his Russian buddy and American cultural guide Andrei Kirilenko, who’s spasmed off to the Nets.

Gorgui Dieng is very green and foul prone at this point, but the season is young, and I expect him to adapt to the point where it wouldn’t surprise me to see him contributing eventually. He’s old for a rookie these days (24 in Jan.), and seems like one of those quick adapters.

AJ Price is one of those guys you need on the end of a bench—good towel-waiver (an important bench quality—I’m not kidding), hustler, underdog. Shabazz Muhammad is one of those guys you’d like to get off your bench—there’s a D-League, you know.

And that brings us to Derrick Williams, the LVP of the Wolves’ bench. Oh he’s got value as a trade chip. But he’s doing the Wolves no good in a Minnesota uniform. So let’s give his spot to somebody who can help Rick Adelman stop giving 40 minutes a game to the starters. Thus a proposal…

Five Derrick Williams Trade Scenarios That Make Sense for the Timberwolves

1. Omer Asik for Derrick Williams

Seven-foot center Omer Asik wants out of Houston after the Rockets signed Dwight Howard for funny money this summer and decided that they can’t play Asik and Howard together. D-Will gets no playing time in Minny behind Kevin Love. The Wolves are looking for veteran big men who can fill the role that the broken elbowed Ronny Turiaf was slated for. The Rockets don’t give a crap about playing defense anyway, so D-Will could fit right in. Both players’ contracts run through next year and are similar, dollar-wise. Maybe Wolves GM Flip Saunders and Rockets coach Kevin McHale (how’s that for a flip-flop of roles?) could re-connect over the trade. No one likes them not being buds. Franc Garcia and Omri Casspi constitute attractive flotsam for Shabazz jetsam.

2. Jason Thompson and Jimmer Fredette for Derrick Williams and Shabazz Muhammad

Seems like the Sacramento Kings might be getting the better end of the bargain here until you realize that D-Will and Bazz-Mo are doing zilch for the Wolves this year. Thompson is a bit herky-jerky (in a bad way) and something of a foulmaster, but he’d bring the Wolves serviceable back-up value to Big Pek. Jimmer is buried on the bench in Sacto, but that don’t mean he bad. He seems to have a little JJ Reddick in him to me. Or Luke Ridnour—whom the Wolves started for like the last three years round these parts. Two other Kings small forwards are also attractive, including K-Love’s college teammate at UCLA Luc Mbah a Moute (who plays D) and Travis Outlaw (who plays O).

3. Evan Turner for Derrick Williams

I have no idea why the upstart Sixers would trade their leading scorer this season for Derrick Williams, but I would like it. And it wouldn’t have seemed so silly last year about this time when these guys were averaging similar stats and seemed redundant to their respective teams, position-wise. One reason the Sixers might consider it is that Turner is in the last year of his contract while D-Will’s papers are for two more.

4. Gerald Wallace and Brandon Bass for Derrick Williams and Shabazz Muhammad

Wallace is getting ornery in Boston and seems to want the hell out of there after being traded to rebuilding Boston right after signing a big deal for supposedly competitive Brooklyn. He’s always played D, and he’d fit right in with the Wolves—even played for Rick Adelman his first three years in the L in Sacramento. His contract is for $10 mill per year, but some trade sweeteners could easily be thrown in to make this work. Would love it if the Wolves could somehow pry Brandon Bass from the ’Tics, too, and jettison Bazz. Maybe Flip Saunders could remind Danny Ainge how we traded him a championship by handing him Garnett back in 06 and Ainge would feel sorry and karmic for us and just make it happen.

5. Kevin Love for… You Name It

I know Kevin Love is having a nice season, statistically. But Derrick Williams isn’t a dog (and he’s still so young!), and he’d look good in the starting lineup at PF next to Pek and K-Mart and Brewer and Rubio. And what Love could bring in the way of riches right now is pretty tantalizing, if you think about it. Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat from D.C.? LaMarcus Aldridge and Nic Batum (you think Portland go wild to have native son Love back?) Al Horford and Kyle Korver from Atlanta? Andre Drummond and Rodney Stuckey from Detroit? With a draft pick or two going the right way, I’d do any of these.

Having Some Fun

“That was fun. That was fun to be a part of.”

 - Magic coach Jacque Vaughn, after his team lost to the T-Wolves in O.T.

“This is such a fun team to play on. Nobody is trying to lead the league in scoring here. Everybody has the big picture of getting to the playoffs. That’s one thing I told young guys that have never been there. It’s about team ball and just playing for one another. That’s what makes teams fun to play on.”

 - T-Wolves two-guard Kevin Martin, after the Wolves beat the Knicks to go 3-0

Fun. A little goes a long way at work, in relationships, and definitely in NBA basketball.

With the Wolves’ first five games in the books to start off the 2013–14 season, fun is the best descriptor of the action thus far after an opening night overtime win over the Magic, two impressive victories over playoff-quality squads in the Thunder and the Knicks, a one-point loss to the Cavs that featured a furious, though ultimately futile, Wolves comeback, and a losing battle to the Warriors that nonetheless featured two of the up-and-coming-est teams in the NBA.

I’m on the fives right now, so let’s do…

The Five Most Fun Developments/Surprises of the Wolves’ First Five Games:

1-Big Engine Offense

When it’s hitting on all cylinders—as it was during the team’s 3–0 start—this team can score in a variety of ways. In those first three games, the Wolves dominated the early action by averaging 37.3 points in the first quarter. This was achieved by the starters clicking well together and Rubio setting the pace.

2-Serviceable Defense

More surprising than the high octane O has been the very decent D. Again, the first three games were much better efforts all-around, and especially on defense. Against the Thunder, Corey Brewer—who looks every bit as capable as the departed Andrei Kirilenko to be the Wolves’ wing stopper—hassled league-leading scorer Kevin Durant in a 13-point performance. And against the Knicks, the Wolves gave up just two points in the last four minutes to shut down NY’s late rally and win the ballgame.

3-K-Mart

The most refreshing breath of air has come via the skills of Kevin Martin, the old dog on the team at age 30. His 3-point marksmanship and breezy offensive game (no standing around, no pounding the ball, quick moves, quick shots) has been as infectious as Rubio’s passing can be. Hopefully this will really rub off on JJ Barea. It’s unlikely that Martin will keep up his fiery shooting from deep (56% over the first five games), but if he can keep averaging close to the 21 ppg per night pace he’s on and keep up that good ball movement, he’s going to be very valuable to the Woofs. He doesn’t seem as terrible on D as advertised, either.

4-K-Love

Seems that Kevin Love’s attitude has improved somewhat. And his game thus far has been very good. After winning the Western Conference Player of the Week, he said, “It’s cool… but I’d take a 3-0 start over any of that. Big thanks to my teammates and coaches.” Good answer, Kev, good answer. The 3ball he made opening night to send the game into OT was great—though I fear it did send his confidence soaring too high; the clanked three he settled for as a possible game-winner in Cleveland could have been taken a lot closer to the hoop.

One of the best quotes I’ve seen in ages—or possibly ever—from a player came from Kevin Durant during an article published in SI during the 2013 playoffs.

Said Durant:

Let’s say you’ve got 40 apples on your tree. I could eat about 30 of them, but I’ve begun limiting myself to 15 or 16. Let’s take the wide-open three and the post-up at the nail. Those are good apples. Let’s throw out the pull-up three in transition and the step-back fadeaway. Those are rotten apples. The three at the top of the circle—that’s an in-between apple. We only want the very best on the tree.

Our man Kevin Love could become WAY choosier about his apples.

5-Pluck

Love’s opening night 3. The whupping of the Thunder. The barging into the Garden and throttling of the Knicks. The comeback versus the Cavs. That’s a lot of chutzpah in the first week of the season.  

To keep things balanced, a slightly less verbose list of…

Five Areas for Wolves Improvement:

1-Ricky’s shot. 

C’mon Ricky! For a man with such pinpoint accuracy on his passes, not to mention the fact that he shoots above 80% from the foul line, Ricky’s field goal attempts have always seemed inordinately broke. You can see him trying too hard to take shots he thinks he needs to take rather than going by feel. Improved shot selection is the next step toward All-Star status. It’ll come.

2-K-Love’s infatuation with the 3ball. 

Get over your longball, Kev. No need to, as Sylvia Plath said, “masturbate a glitter.”

3-Not feeding Pek enough. 

Big man’s hungry. Throw him a few potatoes.

4-D-Will’s well-deserved dissatisfaction. 

After getting a DNP the first night despite there being legitimate public debate about whether Derrick Williams would START at the small forward slot, many were left wondering, including me. Feel like Adelman just dislikes D-Will.

5-Losing to the Cavs. 

That should’ve been a win. And in a tight West, the Wolves will need every win they can get.

Excited to see what happens next.

Best case over next three games:

-Back-on-track win over Dallas at home

-First win over the Lakers in eons

-Give the Clipjoint a good game