Some random thoughts across the sports land:

BASEBALL

As promised (for all 3 of you who read this regularly), I shall speak (briefly) in regard to our trip to Milwaukee to take in the Twins interleague matchup with the Brew Crew a few weeks back.

First of all, I love Miller Park. What a nice place to see a baseball game. Mind you, I have not been to the more hallowed grounds in MLB – pilgrimages to Fenway, Wrigley, Yankee Stadium, are on my short list of things I want to do before I die. I have been to exactly 3 stadiums for major league ballgames; two of which were outdated domes (Toronto and Minneapolis) and now Miller Park. Needless to say, Miller Park wins the beauty contest hands down, like if you were comparing Sam Cassell with, say, Jennifer Connelly.

Is there a bad seat in that place? Please, Milwaukee fans, help me out. I looked around and I couldn’t see a seat where I would say, “Man, I really wouldn’t want to be sitting there.” It was great to see birds flying around above the stadium, see the SUN through the OPEN ROOF, see the outside world beyond the fence. Well. The view in there is nice. Spectacular? No, but very nice, and a welcome change from all the cement and Teflon nonsense in the Metrodome. It was so nice to be outside breathing fresh air while watching a baseball game, it softened the blow of watching the only loss the Twins had in that series.

However, the duo of douchebags sitting in the row in front of us could have ruined the day, were they not so bizarrely innocently stupid. These two doofuses were part of a much larger party, clearly a rare family outing of some sort, judging from the way they spoiled their children rotten. One kid, I swear, was two-fisting an ice cream cone and a lemonade slushee when he was asked if there were ANYTHING ELSE HE WANTED.

Perhaps some towels and a tranquilizer? Thanks.

 In particular, one #### seemed to have a rather high opinion of himself, as evidenced by his need to wear a button-up shirt wide open with nothing underneath, exposing his less than impressive chest and…”abs”.

This gentleman made various idiotic cracks throughout the game, but the two cherries on top were thus:

1.      1. As a handicapped relative accidentally lost control of her crutch, which went over the railing above us and landed on a chair close to him, he turns back and says, “Hey, careful there, we don’t want to be crippled, too!”

2.       As I was gone to procure more beer for the Wife and I, he asks, to no one in particular, “What the #### is a Mariner?” To which, my wife proceeds to explain that it is, essentially, a sailor. To which he replies, “Then why doesn’t their symbol have anything to do with the sea?”

Yes, because nobody uses a compass on the ocean.

I weep for the future.

We actually had a damn fine time in Milwaukee, and will make the pilgrimage again in the future, maybe even next year, schedule permitting. There was a fantastic bar in the downtown area I hope survives its first year of operation.  They had a pair of superb brews from the Lakefront Brewery exclusive to their joint. Really excellent stuff. If I happen to remember what the name of it was, I’ll include it in a future post.

FREE JOE NATHAN!!!
Last night’s loss to the Red Sox was rather frustrating. Just as I think perhaps the Twins will tie this series and make everyone forget the pain of losing a 1-0 game to open the series, the bullpen (Matt Guerrier) implodes. Again. Good thing we didn’t use Joe Nathan, eh? He’ll certainly be good and rested for the next save opportunity Gardy reserves him for that doesn’t come….

Perhaps, much like the Free Jason Kubel campaign Twins fans got behind in the last couple of years, a new campaign should start to Free Joe Nathan...

BASKETBALL

Glad to see the Mario Chalmers trade went to good use. All that financial flexibility the Timberwolves got in return for trading their gift PG to the Miami Heat went to Philly in order to acquire Rodney Stuckey, Calvin Booth and a future first rounder. That first round pick isn’t all that shiny once you realize that the pick actually comes from Utah and is believed to be top-15 protected in 2009.

So, to recap: the Wolves trade away the point guard who hit the game winning shot in the national championship game just a few months back to the Miami Heat for, basically, cash. This same point guard then proceeds to show a fair amount of savvy in owning Bulls #1 draft pick Derrick Rose in his debut in the summer league down in Orlando. 

They then take this financial flexibility and turn it into yet another swingman, yet another backup center, and a future first rounder that might be in the high twenties. Meanwhile, the Wolves have helped yet another Eastern Conference team become a contender. The 76ers now look poised to challenge Detroit, Cleveland and Boston for the top spots in the East.

And I guarantee you when the Wolves make that selection some mid-summer day in the near future, they will not get a point guard as good as Mario Chalmers.

I realize a lot of people actually like this deal, but I am not one of them, especially when I look back at the reasons for the trade in the first place.

Yes, this trade exception actually comes from the deal the Wolves made with the Heat last year to rid themselves of Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. But The Wolves used this exception not to address their currently most glaring weakness (backup PG) and instead use it to acquire more of the same parts they already have a glut of.

This is likely a a move made to set up other moves to address this weakness, as Jerry Zgoda points out in the StarTribune. But I keep thinking, "You know what? All this extra movement would not have been necessary had they kept Chalmers in the first place." Plus, stockpiling draft picks would not be such a priority had the Wolves not given up a pick to acquire (the now departed) Marko Jaric from the Clippers a couple seasons ago. I get that the Wolves seem to be trying to address their past mistakes, but that doesn't mean we should excuse them. It really means we have to keep an even closer eye on the proceedings as these moves continue to be made, if only to gauge whether or not it might be worth following this team over the next couple of years as McHale continues the rebuilding process.

Oh, and what must it be like to be Baron Davis? Assuming he cares about wins and losses after agreeing to a deal that makes him worth as much as the GNP of several small countries, it can’t be a good sign to Mr. Davis that just days after he agrees to said deal, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette are headed elsewhere. Might be a long, lonely but very rich few years in L.A….

FOOTBALL

When his career’s finally over, be it 2008 or 2028, can we make the inevitable movie of the Brett Favre Story the next installment of the Friday the 13th series? Seriously. The guy just won’t go away.

I bet Ted Thompson’s not getting text messages just from Favre. I would bet Aaron Rodgers’ agent’s been blowing up Thompson’s cell in the last 24 hours, as well. If he hasn’t, it’s time for Rodgers to get a new agent.

That’s all for now. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a Twins WIN to talk about. Perhaps Joe Nathan will actually pitch? We shall see...

This should have been a better post.

After the draft last Thursday, I was all ready to mock the ‘Wolves for drafting yet another combo guard they don’t know what to do with. I was ready to bash them for continuing to force Al Jefferson to play out of position and get killed by opposing centers who are bigger and stronger than him, wasting the energy of the team’s sole transcendent (albeit flawed) talent. I went to bed comfortable in the knowledge that the Wolves would continue on their rudderless path, and that I could skewer them accordingly.

I even had a funny anecdote from elementary I was going to employ to show just how ridiculous a pick it was.

Note that it is now Monday, a full 5 days later, and I am just now getting to this post. This is how much the Mayo/Love/Miller trade threw me for a loop.

Let’s think back about the litany of things this team needed in order to improve upon their 2007-2008 campaign and make strides toward future respectability:

1. Find someone to compliment Big Al down low.

2. Sort out the guard rotation

3. Improve overall shooting, especially from outside – make teams pay for doubling down low.

4. Improve overall team defense

5. Please, God, get rid of dead weight (‘Toine, for example)

Let’s look at the frontcourt now. Love’s shooting, rebounding, and passing are immediate pluses. Collins’ defense should be a plus. Add Ryan Gomes or Craig Smith in there and you have an interesting bunch manning the 4/5 spots. Sure, they’re undersized, but the skill set seems to fit better into a cohesive unit. If they remain healthy, the frontcourt looks better heading into the 08-09 campaign than they were a year ago.

(BTW -you can count on Cardinal and Mad Dog chilling on the end of the bench in street clothes, making up the Token White Guy contingent on the bench that every NBA team must have. Kevin Love doesn’t count because he’ll actually see some burn, as will Mike Miller.)

The addition of Miller and Love drastically improves this team’s shooting, as both are proficient from mid-range and beyond. This also puts less pressure on Corey Brewer and his broke #### jumper and offers Ryan Gomes an opportunity to continue developing as a key reserve who can contribute at both the 3 and 4. Matchups and flexibility are paramount in the league, and the Wolves suddenly have a lot of guys they can mix and match to find good combinations.

The backcourt, however, remains a quandary. One hopes Randy Foye will stay healthy and emerge as the leader of this team, the coach on the floor, the man worthy of being traded for Brandon Roy. One hopes Rashad McCants settles into a role coming off the bench as an instant offense kind of guy and that Corey Brewer can at least show a little development with his shot and his decision making.

Had this team kept Mario Chalmers instead of trading him for nothing, I would feel a whole lot better about this team’s chances to make real strides in the backcourt. They are almost forced into keeping Telfair now, and I think anyone would agree that Chalmers would be a much better backup to Foye than Telfair. If nothing else, starting anew with someone who has college experience would be better than continuing to fight Telfair’s bad habits that developed as he began his rudderless career in Boston.

I must continue to remind myself that rebuilding takes time and cannot be done all at once. It’s all about baby steps. Between the KG trade last year and this trade, this team seems to be showing some semblance of a plan, a direction going forward.

Perhaps McHale sees the light at the end of the tunnel and has finally come to terms with the fact that his legacy (yes, both his legacy as a F.O. guy and as a basketball player) has been tainted by his ineptitude as an executive and he’s come to understand that even if his Boss will not hold him accountable, the fans will. This means a lot to a player (see: Roger Clemens), but he also knows he’s in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation of his own making. People who fell in love with the idea of Mayo will be (are) pissed. People who didn’t will still be pissed because nobody believes Kevin McHale knows what he’s doing. Bringing Mayo in would have made a lot of people happy – the kind of people who are willing to crown a guy the next Jordan before he’s even stepped on an NBA court.

Depending on who you read and listened to, Mayo was either the next great savior, the best player available at #3 in a weak draft, an overhyped “phenom” with character issues and no particular position to play him, or the next Isiah (J.R.) Rider. Depending on where you read and who you listened to, Kevin Love was somewhere between the next Bill Walton, Kevin McHale or maybe even Mark Madsen.

Even if he’s another Nick Collison, I am happy. Because this team doesn’t need another tweener guard. It doesn’t need a “QB controversy” that Randy Wittman will inevitably botch, both in terms of how he deals with the players and how he handles the media scrutiny. What it needs are good players who want to win, and an atmosphere that will not rub off negatively on a crew of young, inexperienced, impressionable ballplayers. OJ Mayo’s reaction to getting drafted by Minnesota tells me all I need to know about whether Minnesota should have kept him. The same franchise that jettisoned Mark Blount and Ricky Davis at least in part because their negative attitudes could not be allowed to taint the younger guys simply cannot hang onto someone with that kind of attitude about playing in Minnesota before he even gets off the plane at MSP International for the first time.

With Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins, at least, you have guys who are either thrilled to be in the league ANYWHERE, or guys who are thrilled to no longer be in Memphis. Love and Miller have both gone on record to say they are happy to be coming here, and I believe them.

This team still has a lot of work to do. They’ll struggle to stop people at every position, unless this team somehow creates a defensive strategy that essentially turns Salisbury Steak into Kobe (Beef, not Bryant). This side of Tom Thibodeau or adding a Van Gundy to the bench, I am not sure the Wolves will be able to make such strategical changes. This is by no means a finished product. Then again, nothing is. But, it at least feels like something heading in a direction that might actually be close to the right direction.

So long as Kevin McHale, Rob Babcock and Fred Hoiberg continue making moves that make sense in terms of putting together a cohesive unit with parts that fit while continuing to monitor things like roster chemistry, heart and desire and financial flexibility, this could be a team ready to make a splash in the league in 2010, right about the same time EVERYONE ELSE will.

Perhaps, however, this brain trust will finally have made Minnesota a place people want to play. Making moves that point toward the creation of a team and the implementing of a plan certainly will go a long way toward making that a reality. So far, it looks better than it did last Thursday, at least for this quasi-Wolves fan.

Hey, at least they waited long enough for someone to represent the Wolves at All-Star Weekend.

I am sure the coverage of this move will be exhaustive. Not like anything else happened of note on the Trade Deadline, except for a lot of Spurs back-scratching (my god, Gregg Popovich's GM tree is starting to reach Bill Walsh coaching tree proportions) and LeBron James getting "help" in the form of Wally Sz...aw, whatever...I'll call him the Other Great White Hope (OGWH) who hasn't played defense since college, and a living, breathing point guard who might actually be able to bring the ball up the court all by his lonesome. How quaint!

Oh, and they get the remains of Ben Wallace and the somehow still productive Joe (franchise killer) Smith. But hey, the Suns are banking on Shaq having a little left in the tank, so why not? Let's hope they meet in the Finals so we can see whose contract is more of an albatross over the course of a meaningful 7 game series.

Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas' shot blocking stats should improve with all the opportunities they'll have due to Wally's matador defense.

But, Danny Ferry and John Paxson had to look like they were doing something this year, so they decided they might as well spin their wheels together. I know everyone out on the internet thinks this is a great move for Cleveland in terms of getting geared up to win now, but consider this: if this doesn't work, what do the Cavs do from here? Their championship window is really small now, since the Franchise Killer, Ben Wallace, and the Big Z are all well over 30 (and Wally plays like he's about 35).

Lebron becomes a free agent again in the sumer of 2011. That may seem like a long time from now, but this team has clearly bet it all on winning the championship in the next 2 years, given the players they have acquired.  If they do not win a championship in the next 2 seasons, James could get really cranky and put the Cavs in the unenviable position of possibly having to pull a Kevin Garnett-type trade lest the risk losing James and gaining nothing in return.

However, Larry Hughes was starting to show signs that he knew how to play basketball again, so perhaps he'll finally make one of the Bulls' various diminuitive guards expendable in the off season. You know, the Bulls might be inclined to field a "Lollipop Guild" lineup with Tyrus Thomas, Larry Hughes, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon and Chris Duhon in an effort to secure a higher draft pick this year. Or, they might pull a Golden State with that kind of lineup and sneak into the playoffs as the 8th seed.

Might as well put Aaron Gray on the treadmill and call it a season.

And while most people watching the NBA are calling Danny Ainge the executive of the year, Sonics GM Sam Presti gets my vote. The insane number of first round draft picks he has put together via trade in 2007-2008 (the Sonics will have 6 in the next three drafts) along with the expiring contracts set to come off the books in the next 3 seasons puts them in position to have a completely rebuilt team with cap flexibility in the very near future. Whether the city of Seattle or Oklahoma City is the fan base that will benefit from these moves remains to be seen.

Art Thiel over at the Seattle P-I has a pretty good article on the subject. Scroll to the bottom and see what I mean.

I'll write up a more coherent post sometime this weekend....

As currently constructed, the Minnesota Timberwolves look much like the beginning of the career of any young Hollywood starlet: young, full of energy and potential, but not quite ready for their close-up.

 
This is a season all about rebuilding. It appears the tactic Kevin McHale and Glen Taylor are employing when it comes to this rebuilding process is meant to mirror that of the Chicago Bulls, whose quick ascent to the top of the Eastern Conference was brought about by a stockpiling of young ballplayers, particularly along the perimeter, to infuse the organization with quickness and speed. While the Bulls and Scott Skiles have taken a lot of time to talk about defense, this team's goal is to hedge their bets: if your guys don’t learn good offensive fundamentals, and can't seem to stop anyone, you're still young and quick enough to get out on the break.

The Timberwolves attempted to add a huge piece to their puzzle with the Garnett trade, shipping him off and gaining in return more young talent to run up and down the court. The key to the trade, however, was that of Power Forward  Al Jefferson, whose presence is meant not only to take the place of Garnett as the Big Man at the Target Center, but to speed up the maturation process of the team. Just take a look at the current Bulls and their 0-4 start to the season, and ask yourself whether the presence of Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett would have been the key to turning the Baby Bulls into a championship team.

Hint: the Bulls can’t possibly jack up any more outside jumpers and make themselves a better ballclub. 

But the Timberwolves have a long way to go before they can be even in the same class as the Bulls, who were selected by many to be a frontrunner in the East (but that’s a lot like going to Prom with that nerd on the chess club. Sure, you’re at the dance, but all the real fun’s going on somewhere else).

For the Wolves to ascend to even those above-average heights, some tweaking of the roster and some good analysis of what this cadre of players is currently able and unable to do is the mission of the season. In the Twin Cities, we’re in for 82 games of evaluation.

To outline what fans and management had to evaluate to during the match-up with the Orlando Magic last night, I’ll go cliché on you and give you the Good, Bad and Ugly of their current roster and their performances in said ballgame.

The Good

Even in defeat, there were a lot of positives to this performance. In the first quarter, the Wolves came out on fire, led by Rashad McCants, who seemed to be fully recovered from microfracture surgery that kept him out of most of the 06-07 campaign. However, late in the quarter, McCants rolled his ankle, an injury that seemed to deflate the team. It took them a while to recover, and in the meantime, a double-digit lead was whittled away before the end of the first quarter.

The team rebounded because of the brilliant play of Marko Jaric, whose double-double was the overall highlight of the evening. When Jaric was in the game, the team ran smoothly, and was in the double-digits on the puls/minus whenever he was on the floor. Jaric made great decisions with the ball, took care in his shot selection, and played inspired defense. Though he should remain a bench performer, getting Jaric big minutes would be wise, as he’s a versatile performer with a rare commodity on this roster: experience. Allowing him the chance to be a leader could go a long way toward teaching the young ball-handlers what it means to be a pro, so long as he makes these kinds of performances the norm, and not an aberration.  

Al Jefferson was a beast on offense late in the ballgame. He was ready and willing to take big shots down the stretch, something new for T-Wolves fans – a star big man ready to be the focus of the offense when the game is on the line. Jefferson’s 10 rebounds also led the team. However, a closer look at his match-up with Dwight Howard proves that rebounding numbers can often be deceiving. More on that later.

Greg Buckner stepped up mightily once McCants went down. His perimeter shooting and hustle early kept this team afloat as the rest of the roster was foundering. Antoine Walker got minutes late in the ballgame as the Wolves surged back into it to make the 4th quarter interesting, and the times when he decided to attack the rim got him to the foul line, creating scoring opportunities with the clock stopped, which was important to their staying close in the endgame.

Ryan Gomes and Corey Brewer showed their versatility, willingness to play defense and energy – all traits that should compose the heart of this basketball team for years to come.

The Bad.
Antoine Walker, his forays into the paint notwithstanding, appears to have one foot on the court, and another on a long future involving something other than the hardwood. His shot was flatter than the state of Nebraska. I’m not a huge Ricky Davis guy, but I question whether it was wise to trade him away if this is all they could get in return.

Rashard Lewis killed this team on the perimeter, hitting 7 threes on his way to 27 points. That they did not try to funnel Lewis inside once he got hot from beyond the arc might be a coaching blunder, or it might mean that the Wolves simply didn't have anyone capable of doing the job. In any event, losing a "big money" player like Lewis for wide-open threes like that is Bad. Simple as that.

Dwight Howard’s stat line was monstrous: 28 points, 16 rebounds. With Theo Ratliff a late scratch, Al Jefferson was forced into service as the primary defender on Howard, and he got creamed. Howard went for a bevy of dunks throughout the game, helped to get Jefferson into foul trouble that shortened his time on the floor in the 3rd quarter, and grabbed 16 boards to Jefferson’s 10. A quick glance at the game tape will show the main weakness in Jefferson’s game: while he’s a beast in the post on the offensive end, he’s a softie on defense. Jefferson routinely failed to meet Howard early, which allowed Howard to get good low-post position before Jefferson even attempted to make contact. When Jefferson would find himself in trouble, he would shade to one side of Howard, looking to deny the entry pass or flag for the steal. Unfortunately, the passer from the top would routinely read Jefferson’s gambit easily. The pass would go to the side Jefferson wasn’t on, or worse, Jefferson would gamble to try to get the steal and in either case all Howard had to do was pivot and dunk.

This also created a problem on the glass, as Jefferson’s poor defensive position also kept him from properly blocking Howard out. Plus, Jefferson’s foul troubles forced the Wolves into putting even smaller players on Howard, making it even easier for him to clean up on the glass. For Al Jefferson to be considered a bona-fide superstar, he cannot routinely get his #### handed to him by less-skilled players. And yes, I am saying Dwight Howard is not "skilled". He has power, but he lacks skill. Any comparisons to Shaq in his younger days are fairly accurate.

Perhaps all these deficiencies are merely a result of playing (and defending) out of position. This would bring me to the most troubling issue facing this team: injuries. Theo Ratliff’s flu bug could not be helped. However, he is the one true center this team has who merits any significant tick, and was the one guy on the roster who might have handled Dwight Howard adequately. The Wolves are relying too much on the aging Ratliff to be a consistent participant in games. If it’s not the flu, something else will most certainly come along - as it did all last year. Without him, the Wolves will be forced to employ All Jefferson’s relatively weak defensive skills on the opposing team’s best big man. This does not bode well, for if Jefferson's on the bench, he's not in the game scoring.

Injuries also took Rashad McCants out of the ballgame just as it appeared as though he would be emerging as this team’s go-to guy on the perimeter in Randy Foye’s absence. His development is paramount to this team’s future plans being successful.
Foye’s quick and successful return from his knee problems will also be key to this team’s development. Though many consider Foye to be a combo-guard, employing him at the point with Jaric in relief is currently their best option. Which brings me to…

The Ugly.

Simply put: Sebastian Telfair might be the most disappointing player ever to come out of high school. There is a reason he was the first point guard ever selected without any collegiate experience. The point is a position that requires a steady hand, maturity and leadership much more than nifty passes and quickness. If you can bring the latter along with the former, you have Steve Nash. If you're all substance, you still have an Andre Miller. If you only have the flash and no substance, you have nothing (and don't start in on me about Jayson Williams. He's a champion only because he happened to be there when Dwayne Wade went Jordan on everybody).

Telfair might have single-handedly ruined any chance the Wolves had of coming back to win the ballgame with his errant no-look pass on what should have been a secondary break, or even better, a nicely handled half-court possession to cut further into the Magic lead just as the Wolves looked like they had their opponents on the ropes. This turned into a steal and points on the other end, a gigantic mistake that signaled the end of the night, even if there may have been time left on the clock.

Telfair was only 1-5 from the floor, dished out a measly 4 assists and negated nearly all of his assists by committing 3 turnovers. But he constantly lacked in his decision-making, and it never looked like he was truly the leader on the floor when he was in the ballgame. You may say it is too early in the season to expect a point guard to be a leader on a new team, but it’s clear that both Portland and Boston did not believe Telfair was capable of being a floor general, as each team traded him on elsewhere. For the first point guard ever to be taken out of high school, a first-round selection, getting traded twice in less than 4 years in the league is more of a referendum on the player than the teams that traded him.

OK, so now what?

In the end, it’s clear the Wolves are pointed in the right direction. But in reality, any ship can sail smoothly out of the dock. The question is how management steers this team toward their destination of respectability and possible title contention. While those goals might not be realistically attainable in the near future, it’s quite possible this team will be poised for a big move up the standings within 2-3 years, given the right moves now.

First, if there was a trade in the works to flip Antoine Walker to another team, make it sooner rather than later. The more other teams see of his flat shot, the less his trade value. It is not worth waiting 2 years for his contract to drop off the books if that’s what you’re going to get out of him.

Second, once Randy Foye returns, find whatever taker you can get for Telfair, and take damn near anything they will give you. If you can’t get anyone to take him off your hands, stow him on the bench only as insurance if your other ball-handlers run into foul trouble or end up inactive due to injury. It sends the wrong message to your team when you give playing time to someone who clearly doesn’t get the memo. What message does it send to the inactive Gerald Green, whose only transgression is one of limited experience at a position of depth, when Sebastian Telfair turns the ball over on a key possession late in the game and still remains out on the floor, a ticking time bomb of ineptitude? 

 
I’ll take Greg Buckner, the Mascot, Al Jefferson, or even Mark Madsen at the point before I take Telfair. Coach Randy Wittman might be forced to play Telfair now due to injuries, but if he continues to play Telfair after their backcourt is healthy, then all questions of Wittman’s ability as a coach should only intensify, and the question of the direction this team is headed will remain unanswered.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-061214
tank,1,3574314.story?coll=chi-sportstop-hed

If I know the people who read this blog previously, I guess nothing should happen to "Tank" Johnson if he's convicted on his gun charges either. Or maybe the NFL should make sure they're playing the Lions when they suspend his ####, so at least it's not a meaningful game.

But, I digress. Here's why I am writing this morning. I have a letter to send to the Target Center.

Time to Put Up or Shut Up, Minnesota

Dear Glen Taylor, Kevin McHale, Fred Hoiberg and everyone else in the Target Center:

Look, I'm just going to say it: if you don't trade for AI, trade Garnett. With all this trade talk, you have a good idea who's looking to deal what...so you really should have a good indication of who's available. (Assuming, Mr. McHale hasn't just been throwing darts at pictures on the wall all week.)
If you don't get AI, give Garnett an out. Trade him to a contender - maybe Chicago. Get some of their young talent back. If you get into the lottery this year, I think you're still lottery protected through the top 8(?) or something like that and it looks to be a draft chock full of potentially great big men - first such crop in a long, long time. Might not be a bad year to be bad.

Not trading for AI means you're clearly hanging onto your future, as all accounts are Philly wants young talent in return if they can't get expiring contracts. That future could take some time to build. Why keep Garnett around for that?

Make this your final move, Kevin McHale, and walk away. Mr. Taylor, do your fans a favor and find someone who knows what they're doing to take his place. You can even keep grooming Hoiberg for a GM job or something like that if you feel like it, I don't care. But let this be the end of the Garnett era, if you're not going to give him anything to work with.

Don't keep Garnett just for the sake of keeping him. The Wolves are losing $20 mil by all accounts this year anyway (if you don't get AI)...might as well make losing all that money worth something down the line.