Arizona State sophomore guard James Harden did fly into Minneapolis and will work out privately for the Wolves this afternoon before David Kahn holds a 3:30 news conference to talk about yesterday’s trade.

All the other Wolves workouts have included media availability. This one is closed.

Still curious if the Wolves don’t work something with the Thunder with that 18th pick to get to 3 to ensure they get the guy they want, which could be Tyreke Evans before Sacramento gets a chance to take him.
Wednesday got off to a hurried start for Minnesota, which diverted the travel plans of Arizona State’s James Harden.

NBA officials confirmed that Harden was supposed to be at Wednesday’s media session in New York but had an unscheduled workout thrust onto his schedule late Tuesday night.

According to a source close to Harden, Harden flew to Minneapolis for an interview and light shooting workout with the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

The source said Harden was told by Washington that he would have been the Wizards’ pick at No. 5 prior to Tuesday’s trade that shipped the fifth pick to Minnesota for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, with three Wizards — Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov — also heading to Minnesota.

The source said Harden would go to either Oklahoma City at No. 3 or Minnesota at No. 5 or 6, pending further moves by the Wolves.

I’ve just been informed by a source close to the situation that the Wizards and Etan Thomas have taken care of the paperwork that was required for them to be able to proceed in completing the trade with Minnesota.

Thomas had to sign an agreement that he wouldn’t exercise his early termination option on July 1 and pursue free agency. He has, and now, the teams can submit everything to the league offices.
Expect a press conference or some kind of public comments from David Kahn later today. I’ll tweet from there…
From Posting and Toasting: Knicks Acquiring 28th Pick?
The Timberwolves have reached a deal for this pick, as noted above, and now have the No. 5 and No. 6 picks. They are hoping to grab two of these three players: Rubio, Thabeet and Evans. But we have all three of those players off the board. In that case, they’re willing to settle for Harden and Curry. Then again, to get what it wants, Minnesota might be ready to make further moves. While the Wolves say they won’t trade both 5 and 6 to move up to No. 2, they might be willing to move 5 and 18 to move up to 2 or 3.
Either way, these are two players that nobody in Minnesota will miss, and for good reason. Giving up on them … worth it for the fifth pick and a good Minnesota can now jump-start the rebuilding process with the fifth and sixth picks, using them to surround building blocks Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. Songaila could prove useful as well, as he might play a fair amount in their Mischa Barton-thin frontcourt. After all, Brian Cardinal played 909 minutes for these guys a year ago.

Presumably, one of those picks will be a lead guard. This draft is loaded with point guards, and the Foye trade leaves the Wolves with only Sebastian Telfair to play the position. The other is likely to be a wing to shore up another soft spot in the rotation, or perhaps a combo guard such as Tyreke Evans.

Minnesota also added more than $8 million to its salary-cap bottom line for the summer of 2010; they weren’t going to be a major player in the LeBron Sweepstakes anyway, and they still will be well under the cap, so this is of comparatively little significance.

From Kelly Dwyer/Ball Don’t Lie:

Either way, these are two players that nobody in Minnesota will miss, and for good reason. Giving up on them … worth it for the fifth pick and a good year having to pay Washington’s retreads? That’s another story. The same story, but another story. And one I don’t think Minnesota should care about.

Listen, this team was thin, and set to have to extend Miller and/or Foye’s contracts. And these were Kevin McHale acquisitions. Why act all sentimental with this lot?

Word is Mike Fratello will not receive consideration for the Wolves’ coaching vacancy from former NBC colleague David Kahn. However, Kahn apparently did want Fratello to serve as Kevin McHale’s top assistant/successor-in-waiting if McHale had been willing to return to Minnesota’s bench on the one-year deal extended to McHale before Kahn’s hiring.

When he’s done lording over the draft with his four first-round picks, Kahn is expected to target a young coach to take over his young team. That’s one of the reasons ESPN’s Mark Jackson has been widely billed as the favorite for the job, ahead of ex-Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell in spite of Mitchell’s status as a longtime favorite of Wolves owner Glen Taylor.

Bonus Wolves nugget: Kahn’s willingness to take on Darius Songaila, who is scheduled to earn $4.5 million next season, looks like the clincher that persuaded Washington to take Minnesota’s offer over New York’s for the Wizards’ lottery pick: Randy Foye and Mike Miller in exchange for No. 5, Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov and Songaila. Shedding Songaila wasn’t an option in a deal with the Knicks built around Wizards ex Larry Hughes.

This leaves the Timberwolves with the 5th and 6th selections in the draft. Donnie Walsh’s former protege, David Kahn, trumped his mentor for the moment. Who will Minnesota take with the fifth pick? You’ve got to believe it could have something to do with Curry . . . or Tyreke Evans? They also were said to love Hasheem Thabeet, who could slip a tad.

The word was Kahn was really after Rubio. Minny was supposed to have met with Rubio today. Or were trying to.