Jeff:

"He did WHAT?"

It's become a common reaction for Minnesota Timberwolves' fans to seemingly every decision- or indecision- Kevin McHale makes. And his selections with the 14th and 47th picks in last night's 2005 NBA draft were no exception. With (college) seniors Danny Granger and Hakim Warrick, and (high school) senior Gerald Green still on the board, McHale used his first pick on talented and troubled two-guard Rashad McCants from reigning national champs North Carolina. With his 2nd, with ANYBODY else still available, McHale exercised his own little known rule: "with your 2nd round pick, you must take either a euro nobody's heard of, or an underachieving, undersized, and "undertalented" player from the Big 10" (remember Rick Rieckert or Marcus Taylor? I try not to either). This year, 6'1 scoring guard Bracey Wright from Indiana (which is great since the Wolves already have two small shoot first, second, and probably third point guards on the roster). To be honest, the second pick bothers me more than the first. Here's why:

Kevin Garnett will be 30 this season, and it's imperative that Minny keeps him happy-which means getting players that can contribute NOW. Say what you want about KG, but he's not only the face of the franchise--he IS the franchise. He might be the most beloved sports figure in Minnesota history, and he's earned the right to not be part of a rebuilding squad. As shown by a trade of a superstar from another team in this town, or by last summer's deals involving Shaq and Tracy McGrady, you cannot get value for a superstar in a trade, so trying to get back to the conference finals ASAP is your only decision. And that's why passing on Gerald Green makes sense. Yes, he could be the next T-Mac, and we could be sitting here 5 years from now with an aging Garnett and still no titles, and saying "what if"? But Green won't help now, and probably not next year. T-Mac and Kobe both took 3 seasons before they became dominant, and from what little I've seen of Green (ridiculous athlete with no jump shot whatsoever) he could take just as long, if at all.

Hakim Warrick is a long, athletic forward who could have helped KG on the boards, defensively, and in transition. But offensively he's not there yet. Yes, he averaged 21 a game last year at the Cuse, but I'd be surprised if he averages more than 10 as a rookie (he was perfect for New Jersey, who of course passed on him for a swing man-which they already have two of.)

That leaves Granger. At 6'8, with a solid skill set and a workmanlike attitude, this was the guy to take. The Wolves had been saying for weeks that 2 guard was the position of greatest need, and although Granger is not your protoype guard, he would have caused some matchup nightmares along with KG and Wally. And defensively he would have helped immensly. He'll be the best player from this draft next year, three years from now, and possibly beyond. And McHale passed him up.

However, I do like McCants. I don't think the attitude will be a real issue for his first few seasons here. He's going to be motivated by all the talk about, well, his lack of motivation and attitude. He'll be hungry to score and should have plenty of opportunities to do it. And more importantly he has the ABILITY to score. KG has been in the league for 10 years now. He's a perennial all-star and all-defensive guy, and if he retired right now is probably in the Hall of Fame. But he is what he is- an incredibly gifted, unselfish do-everything player who can't and won't take the big shot when it matters. If he could defer to somebody, he would. McCants has the opportunity to be that guy. He's going to get those moments. He could be a big time player. How long he sustains it is up to him.

Actually, the only thing holding him back is not his attitude, it's AVP-- as in "Alien Vs. Predator", or the previously mentioned point guard combo of Sam Cassell and Troy Hudson. Cassell looks like an alien, and Hudson the predator with his dreads, and just like the movie characters, both guys will cause destruction, mayhem and the end of life on the planet just to get their shots. And these are the guys who will be running the team. Thankfully Cassell, at the latest, will only last one more season. Hudson will be here long after that. But make no mistake, these two, this AVP combo McHale's created, are the biggest hurdle to McCants having a productive rookie year.

Now you would think that having not one, but two smallish selfish point guards already on your roster would teach you a lesson. You would learn from your mistakes. You would take either the best player available (Ryan Gomes or Lawrence Roberts), or take a project with some, yes I'll say it, UPSIDE (as an aside, did you notice nobody used the word "upside" once last night? Not once!!). Instead, McHale throws the pick away for the umpteenth year in a row. Has McHale had ONE second round pick stick with the team for more than a season? Even one? It's been bad enough the Wolves lost those first round picks, but the fact the Big Ugly Sweater has done NOTHING with the second round picks is just as bad. AND GLEN TAYLOR BROUGHT HIM BACK.

I don't know what revealing, embarrising pictures or information McHale has on Taylor, but it seems like McHale can make as many bad decisions as he wants, and Taylor's not going to do a damn thing about it. So Wolves fans will be stuck with more outbursts and reactions to his moves like the ones they had last night. THe first pick wasn't bad, it just could have been better. The 2nd was worse. BUt I guess it should have been expected.