Minnesota Timberwolves: Andrei Kirilenko Acquisition Provides Short-Term Value
The wheeling and dealing continued for Timberwolves general manager David Kahn.
He has agreed to trade Wes Johnson and a future first round pick to the Phoenix Suns as part of a three-team deal that lands Minnesota two second round picks from the New Orleans Hornets, Jerome Dyson and former Timberwolf Brad Miller.
Without Johnson’s contract and the ability to buyout Miller, removing his $5.1 million salary from the payroll freed up the space for Kahn to sign former Utah Jazz small forward Andrei Kirilenko to a two-year $20 million contract.
Take a step back. Now a deep breath. Okay. One more breath. Good. You’ve processed it all. Maybe re-read it again if needed. It’s a lot to comprehend.
Now that we cleared that air my point is this: Andrei Kirilenko is a good pickup for a team in need of a shutdown defender on the wing, but the cost was too great.
Dealing Johnson isn’t of concern. He hadn’t shown much life during his two years in Minnesota.
The No. 4 pick of the 2010 NBA Draft is on the verge of becoming an official draft bust with career averages of 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game while shooting 39.8 percent from the floor and 34.1 percent from deep. But dealing away the first round pick was costly.
First round draft picks are to be valued. They are not to be given away like the 25-cent lollipop you give to your little brother to shut him up.
Difference-makers in the NBA enter the league through the first round of the draft. More often than not, the second round picks show up for summer league action, report to training camp and then fizzle out of the league.
And on a team like the Timberwolves, which isn’t going to attract high-profile free agents, first round picks are that much more important to acquire talent.
Yes, Minnesota possesses Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic—a strong three-some to build a franchise around. That trio should lead Minnesota to the 2012-2013 postseason.
But Pek is a free agent at year’s end. Love is threatening to leave before he’s even played through half the five-year contract he signed. And Rubio says he enjoys Minnesota. But does he really?
Teams from bigger markets will court him once he’s a free agent after the 2014-2015 season. New York, Miami, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Dallas and anyone else with any money will approach Rubio with generous offers the first chance they get.
Rumors were abundant that Rubio wanted nothing to do with Minnesota when he was drafted in 2009. Rumor had it that he wanted to be in a big market like New York.
This piece by the New York Times quotes a member of Rubio’s inner circle in January 2011:
“The bottom line is, why would he want to play in Minnesota? He’ll continue to say all the diplomatic things, and Minnesota needs to keep his value up for trade purposes, but the family’s preference is to be on the East Coast, specifically New York, Miami or Boston. He wouldn’t be troubled if he has to stay another year.”
In a short time Minnesota could be without the three players it’s trying to build around.
If those three are gone, is Kirilenko’s two-year tenure (maybe longer) in Minnesota worth forgoing the opportunity to pick a difference-maker in a future draft? Will Chase Budinger, who was acquired for Minnesota’s 2012 first round pick, be worth anything on a roster without Love, Pekovic or Rubio?
Love wants to win now. Head coach Rick Adelman wants to win now. David Kahn wants to win now so he gets a contract extension at year’s end.
With so many people focused on the next two to three years it is important to not lose track of the long-term either. It’s not like signing Kirilenko boosts Minnesota towards title contention. It merely makes the Wolves a better playoff team.
In the short-term, Kirilenko is a strong acquisition. He’ll make Minnesota that much better in 2012-2013. But Kahn needs to be careful that he doesn’t deal too many first round picks for too small of a return.
