Reflecting on the New GM

Welcome to Minnesota, David Kahn. The pressure is on, and there is more pressure on you than just about any other candidate the Wolves could have hired.

I had to take a few days to digest how the David Kahn era will start. After mulling it over, my view of Kahn has improved over my initials reactions, but I am still not excited. I still would have preferred Tom Penn or Dennis Lindsey, but I'm ready to bury the hatchet and wish David Kahn the best.

Kahn certainly talked the talk in his press conference, and it sounds like he wants to have the hardest working front office staff in the league. He also claims to have no preconceived notions as to who to keep around after the draft. These are the traits I like.

On the other hand, I have yet to see him satisfactorily address his legal questions concerning the Fort Worth D-League team. Also, he kind of comes across as a borderline jerk. Hopefully, that ends up being good for the team. Obviously, having nice-guy McHale did not do a whole lot for the franchise. Plus, it's not like I have to work for the guy, so he can be a little bit of a jerk and it may not hurt his performance.

So, what will Kahn need to do for me to endorse him? I'd say he needs to be successful at least 8 of out his first 10 major decisions. Given his past, he has less wiggle room on my approval threshold. Most other candidates would need 7 out of 10 successes in my opinion.

So, Mr. Kahn, I really do hope you earn my approval. I hearby drop all my preconceptions so that you may have that chance. You say you're up to the challenge. Now you have to prove it. Your move, Mr. Kahn.

Screw You, Fate!

As fate would have it, the Timberwolves have yet again dropped a position in the draft lottery. They are now slotted to pick 6th instead of in the top three like every Wolves fan had hoped. Obviously, the Wolves were long overdue for some good luck in the lottery. Fat chance of that happening.

The most frustrating part is that Memphis had the same regular season record as the Wolves moved up to the number two slot and will have the privilege of choosing Ricky Rubio.

So now I am officially joining the ranks of those who hate the lottery. I have no more hope that the Wolves will ever move up in the lottery. For that reason, I can no longer take solace in losing as a way to improve draft lottery odds. It's now up to the Wolves to work some magic with the hand they've been dealt as there will be no savior from this year's draft. If they can't figure out some way to improve, I may as well plan on using this exact same post roughly one year from now.

I guess it is time to start thinking of who the Wolves can take at number 6. (Seriously, pick number 6! Screw you lotto balls!) The early possibilities might include Demar Derozan and Tyreke Evans as even James Harden will likely be gone at number 6. I'll look closer at some of the potential picks as the draft approaches. There will be many possibilities since this draft will be such a crap shoot.

You're Kidding, Right?

Make Tom Penn the latest to pull his name out of the hat after everyone started getting their hopes up that the search was almost over. Apparently, a nice promotion was enough to get him to reject the Wolves offer. This is getting ridiculous.

At this point, the Wolves are forced to settle. Since that is the case, the only people that I am willing to accept in the GM position are Fred Hoiberg or me, with Hoiberg coming in second on that list. That's right, Mr. Taylor, I would like to throw my hat in the ring.

I suspect I would be just as good a candidate at Bill Simmons. In fact, I have a very big advantage over Simmons in that I am a lifelong Wolves fan. There is no way I would let Danny Ainge fleece me in order for Boston to get another championship at Minnesota's expense! Plus, I am an engineer so I definitely should have the numerical skills to be a fine capologist. Make it happen, Mr. Taylor!

GM Search Over?

According to Jerry Zgoda's blog at the Strib website, Tom Penn is all but assured to be the next GM of the Timberwolves.

All I can say is it is about time. The Wolves need to get some positive press by way of announcing a new GM from outside the organization. The lack of official comment from the team over the past few weeks has not been beneficial for the club. The reports that Lindsey and Pfund both removed their names from consideration, and that the Wolves were very close to offering the job to Kahn created a lot of negative chatter from the hardcore fans.

So, is picking Tom Penn a good move? I think so. Based on the limited information we have about the candidates, I think Penn would be my second choice after Lindsey if I had to pick from the candidates I listed in my previous post. Of course he could end up being a total failure, but I am optimistic that he will help make things better for the Wolves. It will be interesting to see what kind of new info emerges if/when the Wolves formally announce the hiring of Penn.

On a side note, I just want to say that Jerry Zgoda has done a great job covering this story given the lack of communication put forth by the Wolves. He has routinely been the first source that I have seen on nearly all the GM search developments. No one else in town has even come close to reporting on the search in an adequate fashion.

There's one more side note I have to mention. The draft lottery will be held tomorrow night around 7:30 Central time. Of course, ESPN will delay the actual good stuff so I'm guessing it will be closer to 8:00 before we find out our draft fate. I'm expecting the Wolves to stay at number 5, but I'll be quite happy if this would finally be the year that they move up to 1 or 2.

The Search Rambles On

The Wolves search for a new GM continues to ramble on longer than most people thought it would. Over the last few days several names have looked to be front runners only to fall back behind. Speculation is running rampant. Many people claim to be "in the know" but the Wolves haven't made any sort of statement. Let's review the status of all the candidates for the job:

• Dennis Lindsey - withdrew from consideration, was fan favorite
• David Kahn - was rumored to be the guy a few days ago, Wolves have apparently cooled to the idea of hiring him, fans HATE the idea of hiring him
• Randy Pfund - he is interested, no good reports on his chances
• Tom Penn - new name that popped up last night, currently assistant GM with Portland
• Jim Stack - internal candidate, not believed to be strongly considered
• Fred Hoiberg - internal candidate, could end up being new GM's right-hand man
• Lance Blanks - no evidence he was actually interviewed
• Bill Simmons - entertaining sportswriter who volunteered for the job, fans are so desperate for change that they have been flooding the email of Wolves personnel begging them to seriously consider him

That is up to eight candidates. Maybe four of them (Kahn, Pfund, Penn, and Hoiberg) could be under serious consideration at this point. I actually wouldn't be opposed to Bill Simmons as things could be very interesting with him, but there is no way the Wolves seriously consider him.

At this point it is one big crap shoot. I wouldn't be surprised if the Wolves are leaking small amounts of info saying that one candidate is leading just so they can gauge public reaction. That could be why Kahn was the front runner for two days and now they are continuing their search. I don't think I can even make a guess anymore as to who the final choice will be.

Took the Plunge

This die-hard Timberwolves fan finally took the plunge and purchased season tickets for next season. The 10 game weekend pack to be specific. I'm not in a position as far as free time is concerned to go to all 41 games. Also, the Wolves haven't played well enough for me to fork over that much cash.

So why did I decide to make a season ticket commitment when the Wolves were only able to muster 24 wins this year? Well, there are several reasons that I will share.

The biggest reason is that Wolves season tickets have been a goal of mine for roughly the last 12 years. Back then, the Wolves had just started to become successful and had a promising future. I wanted to be a part of that. Over the years, time, money, and the state of the Wolves themselves have always delayed that goal. But the goal was still there.

Ticket prices have been cut to their lowest level in quite some time. I was able to get 2 tickets about 10 rows up in section 205 for $220 for the 10 game weekend package. While those aren't great seats, they are good enough for me to test out being a season ticket holder. Maybe if the Wolves would show some more ability on the court, I would have shelled out for something a little better.

Finally, I still have hope that things will eventually turn around, and I want to be one of the true supporters that is there for the beginning of something good. Maybe the Wolves will have the good fortune of landing Rubio or Griffin in this year's draft and will be next year's overnight success. Or maybe they will regress even more. If that is the case, I may only be a "one season" ticket holder.

GM Search

The Wolves are well into their process of selecting a new GM. (At least they had better be well into it by now.) I was hoping to do a good post of possible candidates, but I quickly realized that is a tough task for someone who does not have good contacts with personal knowledge of the candidates. One can scour the internet for the names that have been mentioned, but there is only so much out there. It's not like searching for draft prospects or even head coaches. The GM often does so much behind the scenes that there is not a lot of public information on these guys. Plus, even if there were more information, it would not be very interesting.

So instead of an in depth post, I'll just give a quick summary of my thoughts on the four candidates that have been mentioned the most.

First, we have the two internal candidates in Jim Stack and Fred Hoiberg. Stack has been in the Wolves front office for a while now and has surely at least been consulted in personnel decisions. I think he has been too tied into the organization to be "the" guy to make all the upcoming personnel decisions. Hoiberg is a likable guy and has supposedly been groomed to become a GM someday. However, he instantly lost credibility with the fans when he said the Wolves drafted Mayo to keep only to see Mayo get traded for Love a few hours later. The problem with both guys is that they can't offer a fresh perspective that is so vitally needed for this team.

Another leading candidate is former Timberwolf Lance Blanks. He has front office experience with both the Spurs and Cavs. Unfortunately, there isn't much info out there about him. Obviously, he would have the new point of view, but I haven't seen anything that makes me want to either endorse or dismiss him as a candidate. I'd take him over Hoiberg or Stack, but I couldn't get excited about him.

Finally, we have Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey. He is reportedly the leading candidate and we do know the Spurs have been contacted by the Wolves about him. Canis Hoopus has some decent info about him. It looks like this guy is highly regarded within the NBA. I don't know that there is enough info to get excited about landing Lindsey, but at least there are no red flags that pop up.

So, who will it be? Hopefully, we will find out next week. Based on the limited info I have seen, I'd endorse Dennis Lindsey if it had to be one of the leading candidates. Of these four, I'd only be disappointed if Stack or Hoiberg became the official GM. Of course, there could be some secret candidates no one knows about. Even choosing a secret candidate would probably be a step in the right direction. (As long as the secret candidate is not named Kevin McHale.)