Give Him Some Respect: Minnesota's Rodney Carney Deserves To be Re-Signed

The Minnesota Timberwolves are a team that has made a lot of moves this offseason and are virtually a new team.

In an offseason full of guard play, trades, injury recoveries and buyouts, the Timberwolves have made headlines nearly every day with the complex plan of David Kahn.

Personally, I think that Kahn is actually molding the team to make a championship run after two years.

With that being said, the roster still has some to be desired.

If Rubio does not come over, then the Timberwolves will have to sign another free agent point guard that can play legitimate backup minutes. But if Rubio comes over, then we have no need for another point guard.

David Kahn Statement

I think that a lot depends on whether (Ricky) Rubio comes or not, this season or not. Obviously, if he doesn’t come, we certainly need to add a backup point guard to Jonny Flynn or somebody who can play considerable minutes alongside Jonny.

We probably need maybe one more wing. I’m debating. There’s one scenario where we could move him, but another scenario is he could be on the team.

So I think we still have some tweaking to do. We’ve been doing some tweaking and I believe some of this will continue to occur perhaps even through September.

It depends. I can’t really dictate the flow of events. They kind of just occur as they occur.

Rodney Carney Should Be Re-signed

If Kahn needs a wing, Rodney is a perfect fit for what the Timberwolves are trying to do next year.

Head coach Kurt Rambis and Kahn have continually stated that the Wolves will be a Run-n-Gun team with a half-court offense running through Al Jefferson.

In terms of running, Carney was the fastest player on the team, hands down.

He was born to run, as he is the son of a former world class sprinter. Carney played with the 76ers before, and Andre Igoudala says "he's a better dunker than me".

Carney, believe it or not, is about defense first. He's incredibly intimidating and athletic with an enormous leaping ability to help propel him to get blocks.

Coach Maurice Cheeks said that he was impressed with Carney's defensive abilities as well as the little things so essential to winning.

The Timberwolves are in need of one versatile wing, and I think that Carney would be a perfect fit.

Please consider for a guy that averaged seven points:

1. 25 Points, five Rebounds and one Block in 34 minutes shooting 61 percent on 8-13 and shooting 5-for-8 for 62 percent from the three-point line against the Utah Jazz.
   
2. 21 Points, two Rebounds, two Blocks in 32 minutes shooting 70 percent from the field on 7-for-10 and shooting 7-for-8 for 87 percent from the three-point line against the Philadelphia 76ers.
3. 21 Points, two Rebounds and two Blocks in 27 minutes shooting 61 percent on 8-for-13 and shooting 4-for-7 for 57 percent from the three-point line against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Statistics show that in games that Carney plays at least 30 minutes on the floor, he averages 18 points.

He shot 35 percent from the three-point line and is a defense wing with arguably the quickest first step in the NBA.

At 6'7'' or 6'8'', he makes a very tall shooting guard, and a decent sized small forward.

Despite averaging only seven points throughout the whole season on 17 minutes, Carney stepped his game up in April averaging 16 points in 32.2 MPG. He also shot 45 percent from the field and 34 percent from the three-point line.

Kahn has said that he is interested in bringing Carney back, as well he should be. Any guy that can bring defense and offense on the same play should be brought back.

He was a fan favorite and is a perfect fit for a run and gun team.

With that being said, what would his role be?

He played the "role player" last year, and with the Wolves in need of another guard, he could seek a bigger role.

Statistics show that as a starter, Carney averaged 15 points a game, shooting 45 percent from the field and 45 percent from the three-point line in six starts last year. Although we cannot expect him to shoot that well from the three-point line all next season, he has proven that he can shoot a high percentage.

With Carney, and possibly Rubio, the roster would look like this:

PG- Ricky Rubio (or FA Signing/Jonny Flynn Starts)/Jonny Flynn/Chucky Atkins/Bobby Brown

SG- Rodney Carney (SG & SF)/Wayne Ellington/Corey Brewer (SG & SF)/ Damien Wilkins

SF- Ryan Gomes (SF & PF)

PF- Kevin Love/Darius Songaila

C- Al Jefferson (PF & C)/ Ryan Hollins/Olekisy Pecherov (PF & C)

While Mark Blount is on the roster now, there's no need for him, and sources say that Blount will be waived by the start of the season.

A big debate could arise as to whether Carney, Wayne Ellington, or Corey Brewer should start at the SG spot.

Because Corey Brewer is coming off an injury and has a versatility to play both SF and SG, Corey Brewer will most likely come off the bench as a sixth man.

That being said, Carney and Ellington would battle for minutes at the 2-guard spot. But having two rookies in the backcourt would really put us in more pain than we are already suffering.

Why not give the starting shooting guard spot to Carney? Then we would have two wings that are defensive-minded, tall and can hit three-point shots.

With a young backcourt in Flynn/Rubio-Carney, that gives you a defensive mentality, some three point shooting with Flynn, some extreme athleticism, and some fastbreak killers.

In other words, if David Kahn wants another wing, RE-SIGN RODNEY CARNEY!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Rodney Carney goes so fast that it looks like he's traveling all the time. Not traveling like going state to state, but traveling as in taking too many steps. HAHA.