Wolves get lucky, win draw with Memphis
Posted on April 18th, 2008 – 4:20 PMBy Jerry Zgoda
A franchise that has had none in the draft lottery won Friday’s blind draw with Memphis, which means the Wolves get slotted for the third overall pick in the June draft and the Grizzlies the fourth pick, provided the lottery goes according to the odds.
That also means that the Wolves will pick no worse than sixth in the June 26 draft. They tied with Memphis for the league’s third-worst record at 22 victories after winning three of their final four games. That tie created the need for Friday’s blind draw.
By winning it, the Wolves also get a 13.8 percent chance at the No. 1 overall pick rather than a 13.7 percent chance.
Now, the question is: Can their luck continue?
79 Responses to "Wolves get lucky, win draw with Memphis"
Of course it can! The Wolves are on a roll. Foye scores 32 in the season finally, Wolves win the draw with Memphis, Wolves winning the lottery is sure to follow.
The law of averages always prevails–one cannot lose forever in games of chance.
They blew all their luck on this damn coin flip. If they had just lost that last game, they could have saved that luck for the lottery.
don’t go games twolves fans until Kevin McHale is gone.
can’t have bad luck forever. sooner or later the pendulum must swing back. simple matter of probabilities and time.
Wolves will pick 7th.
Well here’s hoping they have more success in the ping pong ball dept. Fiannly this is the year we get the #1 pick, take the big fella Beeswax and build on him and big Al then we have a founddation better than KB and googs. Snag a decent PG and we’re on our way.
If there is any justice in this season, the Wolves will pick in the top 3.
Regardless of what pick they end up with my money’s on McHale drafting Spencer Tollackson.
jon
The Wolves can’t pick lower than #6 now after winning the coin flip. So your guess of 7 is not possible. I’ll guess they pick 4th.
There is a law of karma at work here. You try to lose games, you are screwed. You do the right thing and try to win, you will be rewarded.
Wolves draft in the top two.
Let’s hope the NBA office doesn’t conspire to get the Knicks to win the lotto like they did when Ewing got drafted.
clone16: you’re funny. conspire. ha ha ha.
Wolves won’t win lotto even if Taylor summons a leprechaun….Problem here wolves faithful, is McFAIL himself…He’s been the Wolves lotto jinx all these years…The minute he’s fired, lotto wins will come in bushels.
wild maniac: since there are no leprechauns..i’ll leave that one alone.
and before McHale we had such wonderful luck? pff…stick to hockey chum.
last bit is pure speculation…thus not worth getting into.
another flop by flip in the playoffs. perhaps its not a coincidence he lost 7yrs straight in the first round? hmmm….
Did he play in the game? I would really like to see that…I must have missed that on the news. I guess they still might finish the series and play the rest of the games. Keep your fingers crossed. Maybe Wittman can call him with some of his sage advice.
What happened after Flip left the Wolves (I mean, got fired by his “friend”) and Mac-Daddy took over the team? Hmmmmmmmmm, Mchale thought he could make a difference…WRONG Grasshopper. Guess that didn’t last too long. He decided to go back to GM’ing where he had more control over screwing up the team.
This year there have been some exceptions with some decent decisions…but, I’m going to give Freddy Hoiberg credit for that.
Go Pistons!!! (really not a pistons fan)
hey,maybe we can get Isiah rider with this years pick!!!!
Well, Slam-Man, McHale (19-12) had a better record coaching in that season than Flip (25-26) did.
Flip has proven he is a good, but not great NBA coach. He has also proven to be an underachiever come playoff time. The problem with the Wolves is that both Flip and McHale should have broomed years earlier.
Unless I saw something wrong, do the Grizzlies now draft a spot ahead of the Wolves in the 2nd round? What is the date of the lottery?
Yes, since the Wolves won the flip for the lottery, the Trail Blazers (who own the Grizzlies’ pick) get to pick in the third spot in round 2.
arenal says:
April 18th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
can’t have bad luck forever. sooner or later the pendulum must swing back. simple matter of probabilities and time.
Every time I read a post by arenal, I hear Circus music in my head, and I’m pretty sure he does to while posting those funny statements.
You’re very amusing.
I’m sure McHale and Taylor are going to do the right thing. I hope they sign Wittman to a long term contract. That would be par for the course.
Actually I think McHale has already set Wittman up for the fall with his 20 win improvement prediction.
How much would you be willing to pay the restricted free agents?
if we can keep gomes/telfaif/smith for a combined 10M i’d do it. 2yr deals for them all. give ‘em all 2-3M deals/yr with incentives to push it to more.
I agree w/Paul G, that was a retarded statement by McHale.
Gomes — up to 3 mil a year.
Telfair — up to 2 mil a year if no PG taken in draft.
Smith — sign and trade, maybe? Otherwise, he can come back at the minimum or go away completely.
No more than 3 years on any of them.
I’m also intrigued by that KU’s Arthur..he’s long, he’s big..he’s got touch. he would be a nightmare matchup.
Wolves get lucky, win draw with Memphis
Posted on April 18th, 2008 – 4:20 PM
By Jerry Zgoda
Jerry,
I’ve taken the liberty of re-writing this headline/topic for you.
The few remaining fans get lucky, Wolves season finally ends, yet management continues to employ idiots, and leaves no hope for the future.
I need to follow up on Arthur a little more but right now I wouldn’t take him in the top 10. If the Wolves end up trading down then he might be a possibility. The problem is he is more of a Power Forward and the Wolves need a Center.
Jama: i agree, i wouldn’t take him w/the pick the wolves are gonna get but if they can package something to get a late teens pick…i’d definitely take him. Quick, long, lean, touch…that would be a big front line of brewer, arthur, aj.
I’d give up our late pick(s) and walker/sign and trade to get that late teen pick….
I think the Wolves really want to get Al back into the PF position. I would be shocked if they don’t pick up 2 Centers this off season. One of those 2nd round picks is going to be a Center and I think they’ll try to sign a cheap veteran.
i think the Mavs might be regretting trading for Kidd at this point. just a possibility. Paul is kicking his arse all over the place.
Lets trade a young stud for someone who is past their prime and plays no defense when the team already has a defense problem. This will set Dallas back years.
I don’t think the problem is that Kidd plays no defense. He’s an above-average defensive PG who has lost a step. I think the bigger issue for the Mavs is that Chris Paul is just that good.
Oh true, CP3 is a man among boys at this point, however, i was getting at the fact that i think Harris would be doing a much better job. his numbers wouldn’t be what they currently are.
Again this trade will set the Mavs back a few years. This is what happens when owners think they know sports.
I don’t understand why people around the league insist that Kidd is a good defender? He is an above average off the ball defender but for at least the last 3 years he has been horrible against quicker PG’s. He gets eaten alive by CP3, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, and Baron Davis. Guys get in the lane so easily against him that it makes the rest of the team look bad.
I thought a Devin Harris straight up trade for Kidd might be too much and on top of it the Mavs threw in a couple of draft picks. My guess, if the Mavs get swept or lose in 5 games, Mark Cuban does some serious rebuilding with that team. I think they will look to trade Kidd and maybe even Dirk. Avery Johnson will probably be gone and the Mavs will look a lot different next season.
Mavs have no interior presence. None. you will not win in the WC as it currently stands when you do not get 20pts in the paint/game.
And by win i mean in the playoffs. Mavs are soft, spineless, and they play NO defense. they actually did for a stretch there….not anymore.
The mavs should shake some things up next year. Maybe we can trade them Marko for Josh Howard straight up? hahahaha
We could have had Josh Howard but took Ebi…
I see Arenal is still the village idiot.
May 29th,2008
I like Kevin Garnett. He is what professional sports should be all about. Yet, I find myself pulling for the Hawks to beat the Celtics.
The Celtics are too much like the team that is suppose to win. Get all the right pieces together and you will win the championship for sure, right? Maybe not.
Denver thought they had all the right pieces before imploding against the best team in basketball right now. Even though I am not a Kobe fan,I have to admit, they are playing the best team ball in the play-offs.
i agree with you SLAM MAN. i am really cheering for the Hawks to win the series, that would be great
I think Avery Johnson is done with the Mavs. 3 disappointing playoff performance in a row. Too bad for Avery that he doesnt have the deal that McHale has. You know the kind of deal where it doesnt matter how well your team performs, you will always have a job.
Fire McHale and Wittman and hire Avery Johnson…….it b a HUGE improvement
That’s not going to happen.
When you put your head on your pillow tonight, pray, pray with all your might that the Wolves draft one of the two superstars in this years draft.
sportsjunkie:
Haha, ya i wish we could get rid of Wittman and hire Avery Johnson too. That would be exciting to get a new coach in here, and one like Johnson who the players would respect more than they do good old Randy.
I think the Wolves need to get after D’Antinio!!!
Him or Avery as the new Wolves coach would make a lot of people happy
New blood is the way to go….I luv the Suns style of play and D’Antinio seems to also be a hell of a coach. I can’t believe Phoniex would even consider getting rid of him.. I heard Toronto is interested in him and letting Samgo…How long is Wittman’s contract for anyways.. Why did they even offer him a multi year contract, he sure didn’t have much leverage in his negotiations
If Al Jefferson is your core player, a D’Antoni-style system probably isn’t a good fit.
Sean is absolutely right. D’Antoni is not a good fit for this team. I think Avery Johnson would fit well here though. The problem is, why would these coaches come to Minnesota? The Chicago job, possibly the Toronto job, the Suns job, and the Mavs job are all much better opportunities than the Wolves in my opinion. Although if McHale stepped down and gave one of these guys control of Personel than I think they would come.
Jerry
Is there ANY new news on the Wolves? I haven’t seen anything written about them in over 10 days. I understand that they aren’t in the playoffs but they have to be looking at some possible players don’t they?
Good for Flip Saunders and the Pistons!
Here’s hoping the Hawks put the Celtics on vacation. Not likely to happen, but here’s hoping.
KG vs. Wally and Joe Smith
That’s a whole lotta Wolves first-rounders right there!
Tod I’m confused by your comment. You are wrong either way I look at it.
1. The playoffs are into the second round.
2. Yes KG, Joe Smith, and Wally were drafted in the first round. But Joe Smith was not drafted by the Wolves. He was the #1 overall pick of the Warriors.
Other ex-Wolves in the 2nd round:
Sam Cassel
Chauncey Billups
Theo Ratliff
Mike James
True, Joe Smith was not drafted in the First Round by the Wolves, but, they did give up 3 First Round Picks to get him…ahhh, those Precious Memories, how they linger…
That was one costly note on a napkin.
Yep, those 3 guys cost us 5 first-rounders.
Didn’t we get that Wally pick from the Nets in the Marbury trade?
Of course, we turned Wally into Ricky Davis which has us getting a Miami first rounder.
And didn’t we get some first-round picks for that KG guy? 
So, nice job parlaying those old picks into future picks!
Yeah the Wolves got 2 1st round picks for KG. Unfortunately one of those picks was the one the Wolves sent to Boston for Ricky (D)Avis.
Here’s a link to what the Wolves draft positioning looks like over the next couple of years. It should be noted that the Clippers get the Wolves 1st rounder by 2012.
http://www.imakenews.com/timberwolves/e_article001077790.cfm?x=bcB2NCj,b9lyGQWc
We should blame Joe Smith for that pick we owe to the Clippers. We traded him for Cassell and then had to add that pick to unload Sam I Am.
Good link, jama. It’s going to be interesting to see how that Miami pick turns out.
Tod
If that were the case you could blame whoever the original GM was for drafting the first players. If he had done a better job they wouldn’t have ended up with any of the current players on the team and Kevin McHale never would have been hired as a GM.
I have been watching the playoffs and i have been thinking to myself how bad any one of these teams playing would absolutely beat down the T’Wolves.
We need Rose or Beasley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Does anybody know when the draft lottery is? That is going to be exciting!
Exciting? Only if the Wolves get a top 2 pick. Otherwise it is going to be completely demoralizing.
5/20…Go Freddie
If Hoiberg comes back with a top 2 pick 11 days from now, can Glen just recognize a little good karma and give him the reins?
We can only hope…..
Dwane Casey is back in action. He’s being hired as a Maverick assistant coach to Rick Carlisle.
smart move by Carlisle…..and who are the wolves assistances….JB Bicerstaf (son of a former NBA coach), and Haskin’s kid….I’d say there lacking some experience that you’d hope to have for the young Timberwolve players that they have….
But than again we don’t have the brightest GM….
Why would you even need Assistant Coaches? Don’t you know that Wittman is the head coach? He’ all the Wolves really need.
Jama- I was saying that its going to be exciting to sit there while the lottery balls are being picked out. Of course if the wolves dont get a top 2 pick thats not going to be exciting, its going to be depressing. i might even yell and throw things
Bickerstaff and Haskins aren’t the only Wolves assistant coaches. Haskins, in fact, doesn’t function as a traditional assistant coach — he’s the advance scout and spends most of the season on the road.
Wittman also has Bob Ociepka, Jerry Sichting, and Ed Pinckney as assistant coaches.
Chad Ford- espn.com draft watch-
“If I were Kevin McHale, I’d go with Rose. But, since McHale almost always gets this wrong come June, we’ll stick with Beasley here.”
Ha ha!!
Yeah, that was an interesting Chad Ford article.
I like Rose, a lot. So that was a little depressing to read.
But what if you have Beasley, Jefferson and Foye? That’s 3 pretty good players. I have no idea if they could mesh together for a good team, though.
1 week
Like it matters who the Wolves would take with the #1 pick. We all know they are going to wind up draft 5th and they are going to take the European player none of us have seen play.
He is then going to be a complete and enourmous flop and the Wolves will never draft a player not on a Final Four team again.
The Wolves can pick no worse than 6th. This is my top 6 players that would help the team. McHale will not draft them, and I’m sure some of you will argue, but I will also put why.
1. Rose. Even though we keep screwing up at PG… Rose is about as can’t miss as there’s been in a long time at the PG position… he’s rated higher than Deron Williams, or Chris Paul were out of college.
2. Beasley. He would play the 4 while Al stays at the 5, or would play the 3 if one of our 2nd round picks (joey Dorsey, DJ White, Ryan Anderson, or someone of that ilk can come in and play the 4, and we don’t keep Gomes.
3. Lopez We need a center badly. He’s the best center in the draft, and can bring shot blocking, and take some of the inside scoring, and rebounding load off of Big Al’s shoulders, and keep him fresh longer.
4. Randolph. We need big guys that can score, and Rebound, and he is a guy that can bring us a double double most nights, and he’s more athletic than number 5.
5. Kevin Love. This guy is a rebounding machine, he’s got a great passing game, and he can score. He would be a great compliment to Al, and he’s a much more complete ball player than Richard or Smith will ever be.
6. Gallinari. Everything I’ve read on him is that as a SF he is the best all around SF to come from Europe since Petrovic. He can come in and score 15, and bring you 7 boards and 5 assists every night, and he’s fast enough to play NBA defense.
I would not want Mayo so much because he’s a headcase, and Wittman would bench him even if he’s the best player on the team.
I would not want Bayless because Foye is better. Gordon is not going to be a great NBA ball player, DeAndre Jordan needs too much work, and we can’t develop talent.
And either way I hope they draft two PF’s in the 2nd round to replace Richard and Smith because we can’t afford to keep those two ball players unless they are league minimum contracts, and I don’t want the Wolves wasting the picks by drafting foreign ball players they have no intention of ever signing.
Go Flipster!
Wow, the Pistons won. Arenal, where are you?
I agree with BC’s top 3. I would probably go Bayless #4 and Gallinari #5, and Mayo #6.
Randolph has a long ways to go before he’s going to be an effective big guy at the NBA level. He’s going to need about 20 more pounds to make that happen. Too much risk for the Wolves to take in the top 6, in my opinion.
Good job Flip! Im with you SLAM MAN, where is Arenal at talking trash about Flip?? I hope Flip and the Pistons win it all this year.
BC- no way should the Wolves take Randolph with a top 6 pick! You think he can score a double-double most nights? i dont know about that. He will probably only be as good as tyrus thomas or shawne williams from memphis.
BC
I think you have kind of contradicted yourself. You say you don’t want Jordan because he needs too much work but then say you would draft Randolph 4th. Randolph basically needs just as much work as Jordan.
I agree with your top 3. If the Wolves get the 4th-6th pick I look to package the pick with a couple of players to get an established veteran. Maybe a combo of the pick Walker and McCants for a real scoring threat and a later pick.
Also, why do you want the Wolves to take 2 PF’s in the 2nd round when they need a Center. Even if they draft Lopez I still think they should look to draft another Center if a decent one is available in the 2nd round. After that they need to draft a guy who can knock down an outside shot or a PG.
Trade Walker and McCants? Together? We can only dream…
How is McCants not a real scoring threat? he was by far our 2nd best option to put points on the board…I have no desire to see him leave and average 18+ for another team.
The only way McCants scores 18 a game is if he goes to a team worse then the Wolves. If McCants could only muster up 26 minutes a night on the Wolves, he’ll be playing 15-18 minutes a night on a decent team.
if Wittman wouldn’t wank him around with playing time it would be better…when he got time, he was our 2nd best player.
In what universe? McCants does one thing and one thing only — score. If his shot isn’t falling, there’s no reason to have him on the floor.
