There are those few rare moments in life when you realize that you are witnessing something truly spectacular.  I had one of those moments last night.  As Stephanie Graham gracefully extended her slender arms to complete the perfect pirouette, it was a reconfirmation of why I love this artform and why I feel it is my life's calling to share its splendor with the world through my writing.  There are few things as breathtaking as a young dancer perfecting her craft in the dark, with a lone blue spotlight revealing her beauty to the hidden spectators nestled quietyly in the crowd.

I have seen many, nay hundreds, of versions of the Nutcracker Suite, but none were as riveting as what I witnessed last evening.  The tiny dancers, their hearts full of youthful exuberance, put on a performance of a lifetime.  Their fluid movements, their meticulous lines, they validated the notion that dance is a universal language which all human beings speak.  As inexperienced and as raw as these children were, they carried with tham an air of pride, which captured my heart and made me grateful that I was able to catch a glimpse of their playful innocence.  I believe with all that is within me that these young girls will one day be the leaders of our art, that their work and dedication will pave the way and light the streets for the young dancers that will follow them.  A legacy of dance was built tonight on that stage and it is one that will echo not only through these young girls' careers, but through the generations of dancers that will follow in their slippers.

An excerpt from The Bergen Records' review of my niece's ballet recital.

Here's a guest post about the recent Kahn Salary Dump Special, from our valued TWolvesBlog Forum user "Bonk"

Enjoy...

The Sessions/Hollins/Draft Pick for cap space (technically Delonte West & Sebastian Telfair, but word is we will be cutting both to save money) trade bothers me for a number of reasons:

1 - Unlike other KAHNstructed trades, this one included HIS GUYS. He has only been around for a little over a year, yet he has already traded multiple players that he signed to F.A. contracts and was boasting about merely a year ago?! So basically both of his FA signings last year were mistakes? For people who believe he has a long-term plan that we all just do not see, this makes ZERO sense.

2 - I read somewhere that we are now around $8 million under the minimum salary required before the season starts...so why wouldn't we keep Delonte &/or Bassy? They are solid players. We will have to use that 8 milly before the season starts on someone. What am I missing here?

3 - As the KAHNniver said several times during the season ticket holder brunch I attended with him last summer, one of his main goals is to make this organization a prime destination for player development. He wants this place to be the type of place that free agents want to go to in order to get better and become more visible. Well we did just the opposite of that for Sessions, our big free agent signing last year, so that is pretty contradictory. All he did here was go from a 2nd year on the rise starter averaging 13 & 6 to a 3rd year backup averagin 8 & 3 on a horrible team. Yeah, I'm sure that did wonders for his development, confidence, exposure, game, and visibility. NOT.

4 - Telfair is a good backup. He plays the game the right way, and deserves a fair shot somewhere. Now with J-Fly injured and Ridnour as our only healthy point, shouldn't we be keeping him? (again, see point #2 as well) Of course we won't, because he is "McHale's guy" and David already KAHNcelled his first stint here, by trading him and Rhino (2 relatively effective, young, and cheap players) for an expiring contract (Q-Rich, then Sleepy Blount) which we never used to trade, or for anything really.

5 - Ridnour > Sessions? Maybe. But maybe not. And Ridnour is older, slower, and clearly has less upside than Sessions. So David KAHNpounded his Sessions "mistake signing" by basically redoing it a year later, except for a dude who is almost 30 and has nowhere to go but down? On a 15 win team...this really makes sense? Oh, but I forgot, KAHN has a master plan. Yeah, doesn't seem like it.

6 - Did a draft pick really need to be thrown in to get this trade KAHNducted? I mean, all we are in essence doing is selling Sessions and Hollins to the Cavs for dudes who either they or we are going to cut. Therefore, they are really already getting the 2 assets in the trade. I understand that Hollins was worth getting rid of, but the Cavs clearly wanted Sessions, and are desperate for new and decent talent. I just wonder if we couldn't have pulled this trade off somehow with someone without including a pick. Once again, we are in essence getting nothing in return but their salaries off our books.

7 - Why do we keep making money saving changes over and over and over? What is this money going to ever get used for? To sign more guys like Webster/Pekovic/Darko? I really don't see how we are going to SIGN a player of much of a higher caliber than that anytime in the forseeable future. So shouldn't we occassionally try to get BETTER via trade, rather than get worse and cut money? It's not like we are over the salary cap, or have an abundance of assets, or have key free agent targets to use this money on, so shouldn't a trade involving us occassionally IMPROVE the team? (aside from the Beasley trade. So Kahn is like 1 for 6 in these trades)

8 - It seems like David KAHN't think ahead properly. He signs Pekovic & Darko first, so then everyone in the league knows he has to trade Al. He signs Ridnour first, so then everyone in the league knows he has to trade Sessions. This is killing their trade value! And everyone obviously knows the KAHNman has an itchy trigger finger, which also doesn't help our cause.

I had more reasons but these are the only ones I can remember off the top of my head this morning. Hopefully I'll think of the rest later when I have more time, and can ammend this list to make it a full top 10.

Discuss this (and more!) in the TWolves Blog Forums

Hollins + Sessions + Future 2nd Round Pick for Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair (Welcome Back!)

Jonny Flynn out 3 to 4 Months with Hip Surgery

The "Big" Trade.  Ha.  At least we dumped Hollins! God he was worthless

From the Official T-Wolves Site

From Jon Krawczynski at the AP

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced the team has traded center Ryan Hollins, guard Ramon Sessions and a future second-round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for the player contracts of guards Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair.

"I want to thank Ramon and Ryan for their time with us last season," said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. "With the arrivals of Luke Ridnour, Michael Beasley, Nikola Pekovic and the signing of Darko Milicic, it was clear that Ramon and Ryan would have lesser roles this season if they were to remain. This move provides them a better opportunity in Cleveland and adds to our flexibility both this season and beyond in relation to the salary cap."

From Jerry Zgoda's Blog:

The Timberwolves' payroll continues to shrink.

They have traded point guard Ramon Sessions and forward/center Ryan Hollins -- two players David Kahn signed last summer to multi-year deals -- as well as a 2013 second-round pick to Cleveland for two players who likely will never wear a Wolves jersey.

They receive in return guard Delone West and former Wolves guard Sebastian Telfair.

Not long after the Wolves traded away one of their three point guards, Marc Spears from YahooSports! reported that Jonny Flynn will need hip surgery that will keep him out three to four months.

Expect West to be waived by an Aug. 5 deadline so they can pay him only $500,000 of a mostly non-guaranteed $4.6 million salary.

Telfair probably will be either bought out of the final year ($2.7 million) of a three-year deal Kevin McHale originally signed him to three years ago or traded away before training camp, if the Wolves can find a team willing to take him.

The deal further pares the Wolves' payroll.

Expect them to sign a veteran point guard to a one-year minimum contract as their next move.

- Jerry doesn't seem overly excited about this.  Count me in with him.  We have already been discussing this all night in the TWB Forums, so no need to repeat all that here.  Just check out the link and join the convo!

Wolves Will Definitely Cut Delonte West, and save $4.1 Million Dollars

From Marc J. Spears at Yahoo Sports/Twitter:

Wolves will waive Delonte West, source tells Y! Sports.

Please Click "Read More" for Additional Wolves News/Reactions and the Flynn Hip Injury...

Every first pick we have drafted in the Past 5 years...

McCants: knee, Foye: knee, Brewer: knee, Love: hand, now...

Flynn and his hip.

Ugh.  Good thing you just traded Sessions KAHN!?!?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Epic Tactical Triple FacePalm.

From Marc Spears at Yahoo Sports/Twitter:

Wolves Jonny Flynn expected to be out 3-4 months after hip surgery next week, NBA sources tell Y! Sports. Missed summer league with injury.
14 minutes ago

Per Marc Spears. Surely more details forthcoming.

Cleveland trades Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair to Minnesota for Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins and a draft pick, a source told Y! Sports.

Wolves could waive Delonte West, only guaranteed $500,000, to further get under the salary cap, and trade Telfair, source tells Y! Sports.

Let's not fool ourselves into thinking we are going to flip Delonte's non-guaranteed deal. This is another salary dump. I understand the financial position this team is in, but...really? Discuss.

***UPDATE: John Hollinger ripping us on Twitter:

If they waive West, T'wolves just traded last year's two free agent signings for a No. 3 point guard. Remind me again what the plan is here?
about 1 hour ago via web


70 replies in half an hour for a T'wolves Tweet on a Monday night in late July. Who knew Kahn could move the needle like this? #KAHHHHHHN!!!
26 minutes ago via web


On a related note, my offseason losers column runs tomorrow. Already filed before this trade. Let's just say I won't need to add any teams.
25 minutes ago via web

Discuss this (and more!) in the TWolves Blog Forums

Surprise, surprise...  It's late July and there's very little Timberwolves news out there on this fine Monday morning.  Here's what we managed to scrounge up for you today.

Chris Paul to the Wolves???
via Joe Gerrity at Hornets247.com

But if he won't listen to reason then get number three out of New Orleans for the best talent possible no matter who offers it. Chris Paul doesn't want to play for David Kahn and the Timberwolves? Tough. Nobody cares.

I really don't see this happening, and neither do the folks at H247.com.  Needless to say, it's never a good thing when a trade to your team is considered the ultimate "eff you" to a star who's worn out his welcome.

HoopsWorld Ranks Wolves Last in the West
by Susan Bible

15. Minnesota Timberwolves – The rebuilding process continues. David Kahn, President of Basketball Operations, was frank last year in saying they are a couple years away from making any noise. And so the changes just keep on coming, presumably leading them on a path to perceived glory when Ricky Rubio finally makes the move to the NBA next year. Still, sending your best player away (Al Jefferson with 17.1 points per game/9.3 boards last year) doesn't seem exactly sound, but Kahn is focused on giving Kevin Love his chance. Most eyes will be squarely on how new acquisition, Michael Beasley, performs in Minnesota. People scoffed at the Darko Milicic re-signing, but Kahn is a believer. The latest move was adding Luke Ridnour, and his goal is to challenge promising Johnny Flynn for the starting point guard position. Funny, that's what Rubio's goal will be, too. The Wolves have signed their two first-round picks in the 2010 draft, Wesley Johnson (taken fourth overall and should impact right away) and Lazar Hayward.

Hey, if the above trade goes through, the #14 Hornets could eeeeeeeeasily swap places with us.  All hope is not lost!

Kahn off limits?
via Jerry Zgoda's Twitter acount

How long do you think new #Timberwolves media policy - all requests for David Kahn go thru PR, no more texting or calling him - will last?

Could this be some backlash from the Be Easy "smoked too much marajuana" comment?  I know that this personally upsets me.  The Jeff VanGundy/David Kahn interview was such a rousing success.  The fact that a road block has been set up for a repeat is a little frustrating.

On a semi-related note, how much do you think the Kahnster makes per year?  I was thinking that if I were fined $50k, I'd be seriously hurting financially.  Obviously the Kahn Man is pocketing significantly more coin than I am, but how much more?  What is Kahn's "value" to the team?  Does Glen Taylor, who has to be losing tons of money from this team, spend $500k, $1M, or even more for Kahn's basketball "expertise"?  And what makes Kahn soooooo qualified that he would deserve a massive salary like that over, say, you or I?

Granted, Taylor is trusting Kahn to run his franchise worth hundreds of millions of dollars and relying on him to wisely spend tens of millions each year in salaries for the team's players.  That alone probably makes Kahn's salary in the seven figures annually.  But it does raise some questions.  I get that Kobe Bryant makes $10 Million plus per season because he can do things that I physically can't and get millions of people to watch him do it.  But what does the Kahnster do that you or I can't do?   Pick Wes Johnson over DMC?

I'm not saying that Kahn doesn't deserve what he's making (I dont' even know what he's making) or that he's bad at his job.  I'm just wondering what qualifies somebody to earn that kind of coin for their basketball insight.  Even a guy like McHale, who's an NBA legend, might add some prestige or credibility to the position (ironic as that is), so I get where he could be worth a large salary as compared to any knowledgeable fan off the street.

What are your thoughts?

Kahn is starting to become more and more classic as the days go by. The whipping boy of the NBA. I find it all hilarious and dare I admit it: fantastic. Stop whining about the guy "shutting up" or "keeping his mouth shut." This is the stuff of comedy legends. Just remember one thing: this is sports and entertainment, not filing your annual tax return. Let's all stop taking this stuff so seriously.

Have a good weekend all and Say No to Drugs.

On to the news of the fine:

NEW YORK (AP) -The NBA has fined Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn $50,000 for his comments about forward Michael Beasley's marijuana use.

The league also fined the Timberwolves organization $50,000 Friday for what it called inappropriate comments.

In an interview with a local ESPN Radio affiliate, Kahn called the recently acquired Beasley "a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana" while he was playing in Miami.

UPDATE

I also want to take this opportunity to emphasize the below quote from the ESPN 1500 interview.

"He has developed a really good support system around him this past season in Miami," Kahn told 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. "He has hired people to help him grow up. He is growing up -- he's not grown up. He's 21 ... and if you think back, as I do all the time, to when I was 21, and if you had given me this kind of money and put me in this kind of world with these kinds of pressures attached to it and some of the demands, I don't know how well I would have handled it, any easier than, say, he has."

"I think that if Michael was 25 or 26, maybe I would have felt differently," Kahn said. "Some of these kids simply deserve the opportunity to make mistakes and grow up."

In Kahn's defense, that is a very well put, articulate and sensible thing to say as follow up to the much talked about pot comments. Of course, this will never be talked about nor published, nor ranted about on sister sites. Give the guy a break. And again, have a good weekend and never take life too seriously.

Warmest Regards,

Mike

Ummmmm... what?  Why would Kahn say this?  At least he has apparently stopped.  Hopefully.  I will add that this doesn't exactly appear to be the greatest thing for Beasley's image. 

From Tom Pelissero at 1500ESPN.com:

Rumors about Michael Beasley's drug use dogged him during his two disappointing seasons with the Miami Heat, and Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn didn't overlook the issue when he traded for Beasley earlier this month.

But Kahn continues to speak highly of the former No. 2 overall pick's potential -- in part because Beasley has assured him he's done with dope.

"He's a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana and has told me that he's not smoking anymore, and I told him that I would trust him as long as that was the case," Kahn said this morning, during an interview that will air at 1:40 p.m. on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities

Oh boy, I hope the Michael Beasley T-Wolves era goes well. I really want to like him. Seriously, I do.  On the bright side, I guess Kahn's honesty in addressing this should be noted.  Overall, I don't see Kahn speaking out to be a problem, although a players influences/friends/environments can really have quite an effect on some athletes... so who knows if Beasley has truly changed? 

Here's to a fresh start, and for (hopefully) Beasley's dominance as a T-Wolf!

Discuss this (and more!) in the TWolves Blog Forums