2011 NBA Draft Preview: How and Why David Kahn will Screw This Up

Alright Wolves fans we've got a to talk about this morning. Today is Draft Day and we're only a few hours away from the 2011 NBA Draft. The Wolves have the number 2 pick in what is widely believed to be a 2 person draft. Of course, news has leaked that David Kahn is firing Kurt Rambis after the draft, adding plenty of unnecessary distractions for the Wolves. I could start by talking about how ridiculously this situation was handled but I want to talk about the draft because that is a lot more exciting. Here's my draft preview and I'm mostly going to focus on how and why David Kahn is going to screw this thing up in a couple of hours.

The obvious choice here at number 2 is Derrick Williams. Naturally, there are reports that the Wolves might be picking Turkish Center Enes Kanter. This is classic Minnesota Timberwolves thinking, pick for need over talent. They are forcing themselves to believe that Kanter is the better player when really Williams is the far more accomplished player. Of course the Wolves don't understand that they aren't a mediocre center from competing. Wolves don't overthink this, you need to take the best player available. You screwed it up last year by taking Johnson over DeMarcus Cousins, please don't do it again. This team needs talent because it clearly lacks it in a bad way. This is the first way in which Kahn can screw this up. Don't worry Wolves fans, even if he doesn't make this pick he will definitely still screw this up.

Here's what Wolves fans don't understand: the NBA Draft likely won't have any effect on the team. The reason behind this, David Kahn's idea of who the core of this team is going forward. Here in lies the biggest problem for the Wolves. Rather than drafting the vastly superior Derrick Williams and trading the black hole that is Michael Beasely, Kahn has his heart set on trading Williams. Derrick Williams and Michael Beasely do a lot of the same things but there is one HUGE difference between the two: Derrick Williams understands the game of basketball and Beasely doesn't. Playoff teams aren't led by guys like Beasely, who has no understanding of the game. Beasely is lazy, and in no way, shape, or form is he someone you would dare consider a core piece to your team. Derrick Williams bring all the same things on the basketball court, while bringing a solid work ethic and a winning attitude to the team. Beasely clearly does not bring any of this to the table. Beasely's flaws bring me to our next important thing.

No one wants any Wolves except for the Kevin Love and the Number 2 pick, Derrick Williams. That's the problem with what Kahn is doing. He's collecting a ton of young talent so that he can trade some of it for an established veteren, but no one wants any of his players. He can't trade Kevin Love because this team will be the worst team in basketball history without him so he's left trading Williams. Is this team in position to trade it's second most talented player (potentially most talented, anyone who watched Williams this year knows he's really, really good)? Absolutely not so why is Kahn doing this?

Kahn's doing this because he knows he's toast. If he doesn't produce a team that can't produce 30 wins he is absolutely going to be fired. Worse than that, if this team is a bottom feeder again, you can guarantee that the Los Angeles Clippers will be drafting somewhere in the top 5 with this Wolves pick (remember, Kevin Mchale wisely traded a future first round pick for Marko Jaric that is a ticking time bomb). This team needs to win next year in the worst way, but Kahn has no idea how to do it because no teams want any of his players. Which leads me to our most likely outcome.

Kahn will most likely trade Williams for a slightly above average center or shooting guard, the teams two greatest needs. Kahn might not even trade for a center because he somehow thinks that Darko Millic is an NBA player. Rather than keeping Williams, a potential All Star, Kahn will trade him in hopes of reaching 30 wins next year so that he can save his job. Glen Taylor will fall for this ploy and David Kahn will continue running this team into the ground. Kahn has no idea what he is doing and needs to be fired if the Wolves ever want to make the playoffs. Before you defend Kahn, let me end with a quote from him following the 2009 NBA Draft after he drafted Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio. "We truly believe these kids can play together." This is when we should have realized what we're getting ourselves into.