For those who aren't regular readers of Bill Simmons (you don't know what you're missing), I'll start out this article by filling you in on perhaps one of his funniest running jokes. After a disastrous draft in which the Minnesota Timberwolves had three first round picks two years ago and used them all on point guards: Ricky Rubio, who is still playing in Spain; Jonny Flynn, by this point barely treading water to avoid being labeled a bust; and Ty Lawson, the best NBA point guard of the three who was immediately traded to Denver, GM David Khan has been a bit of a laughing stock around the NBA. His ineptitude has been further compounded by the four year, $20 million contract Khan handed to Darko Milicic, and the ineptitude I speak of led to Simmons taking a Stark Trek clip and turning into the live of the average Timberwolves fan. Basically, the joke is this: after every moronic move made by the Timberwolves, Simmons would reference this Khaaaaan! clip to reflect how furious Minnesota fans must be.
After the Carmelo drama finally came to an end with last night's trade of the superstar to the New York Knicks, most of the focus has been on how the fallout of this trade impacts the two main teams of the trade: New York and Denver. Most people have ignored the lowly Timberwolves in discussion of this trade, and rightfully so, they didn't give up much. They won't miss swingman Corey Brewer, who was averaging just 8 points per game at the time of the trade. They did, however, pick up enigmatic former-Knicks Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry, giving the Timberwolves officially the most frustrating frontcourt in the league.
With Michael Beasley, Anthony Randolph, Eddy Curry, and Darko Milicic, one would be hard pressed to find a more complete collection of headcases and busts all on the same roster, a move interesting enough to make every truly loyal Wolves fan scream "KHAAAAAN!" until their lungs bleed. Curry, who weighs just under 300 pounds, has been a distraction and a bad teammate his whole career, never living up to the pre-draft hype that earned him the honor of being the fourth overall selection in 2001.
In the past, Randolph has actually proven himself a useful player, averaging 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season with Golden State, but buried on the depth chart in New York this year Randolph hardly saw time on the floor and didn't post any meaningful stats. With Kevin Love and Michael Beasley getting a lot of work at power forward, that situation isn't likely to change much with Randolph's new team. Still relatively inexperienced, Randolph has been a frustrating tease in his young career, displaying outstanding athleticism at times but with poor work ethic and terrible decision making at other times.
Adding these two to the existing megabusts Milicic and Beasley may be one of the most perplexing transactions in the NBA all season, and without even improving the team, David Khan should take a lot of hell for this trade. But neglecting weak positions and adding too much depth at others is what Khan does best, as seen with his masterful drafting of point guards galore. Given Khan's track record of falling asleep at the wheel of the Timberwolves organization, it can't come as too much of a surprise that he managed to outdo his previous drafts and the Darko Milicic contract with a trade like this.
