H e has been declared one of the Three Kings, yet he hasn't played in three playoff series in his seven-year career.
He is called a superstar but hasn't experienced the rite of passage that it usually takes to earn that label.
He seems to have benefited from the fortunate timing of being drafted in the same class as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, as well as being in the same free agent class.
WHERE DOES HE FIT
But do we really know just how good Chris Bosh is? Will he prove to be even better than he was in Toronto, or will he be less than advertised given how quickly we all elevated him to the same status as Wade and James?
Is he top 10? Top 20?
Is he the Heat's version of Kevin McHale , or is he even better?
A heat-scorched visitor from Minnesota gets the same puzzled look and essentially the same questions from every ink-stained colleague he encounters here at the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League this week.
Whatever is he thinking?
What's the plan?
Is there a plan?
The topic of conversation is, of course, Timberwolves boss David Kahn.
He's the guy who in 14 months on the job has ripped apart a roster inherited from Kevin McHale much the way a caffeinated fantasy-league owner might and completely remade it by trading away former centerpiece Al Jefferson to Utah for draft picks and keeping only Kevin Love and Corey Brewer.
Gone are Jefferson, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Mark Madsen and many others.
Arrived are Michael Beasley, Martell Webster, Jonny Flynn, Darko Milicic, Wayne Ellington, Ramon Sessions/Luke Ridnour and first-round picks Wesley Johnson and Lazar Hayward and the looming aura of Ricky Rubio.
There's no question these new Timberwolves are a resoundingly more athletic and better-shooting team than the ones that won a total of 61 games the first three seasons since Kevin Garnett was traded away.
But will they be remarkably better than last season's 15-victory team?
After sending Jefferson away for two conditional first-round picks, the Wolves' oldest player, at least until Ridnour is signed, is 25-year-old Ryan Hollins; their highest-paid player is Beasley ($4.96 million).
If Kahn was indeed hired to win a championship and not just cut costs, then what is Kahn poised to do?
Answer: Maybe whatever he wants.
The Wolves' salary cap now, even with Ricky Rubio's salary on hold, isn't much more than $40 million, provided they still sign European prospect Nikola Pekovic.
The NBA's salary cap this upcoming season is $58 million.
That's mucho money.
Kahn can sign Ridnour to a four-year, $16 million contract to which his agent says he has agreed, or just about any of the other dwindling number of free agents left out there in an unprecedented summer of NBA free agency.
But now Kahn also has millions and millions in salary-cap cushion, two extra first-round picks and young players such as Brewer, Flynn, Johnson and Love to offer should a big-moneyed player -- maybe even a young, blooming superstar -- signed for the coming seasons arrive on the market from a franchise looking to slash costs.
Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala or Houston's Kevin Martin?
Think bigger than that.
Denver's Carmelo Anthony?
OK, maybe not that big ...
How about, say, Atlanta forward Josh Smith or Indiana forward Danny Granger, a pair of potential perennial All-Star players given the right time and place?
Kahn vows he and the Timberwolves remain poised to be "nimble," a word he has chosen during a unique moment in league history where conditions have changed minute by minute since the free-agency period began July 1.
"Historically, when you're under the cap as much as we aim to be, we should be able to take advantage of opportunities that will present themselves," Kahn said. "I don't feel any urgency or pressure to do anything right now. We can wait all summer. We might even wait until the season starts, or until next summer.
"This team will be better. I'm really pushing myself to make this season better than last season. I understand the public's frustration over the last several years. I know it has been hard. It's up to us to show them things will be better. They will be better. They just will."
After sending Jefferson away for two conditional first-round picks, the Wolves' oldest player, at least until Ridnour is signed, is 25-year-old Ryan Hollins; their highest-paid player is Beasley ($4.96 million).
If Kahn was indeed hired to win a championship and not just cut costs, then what is Kahn poised to do?
Answer: Maybe whatever he wants.
The Wolves' salary cap now, even with Ricky Rubio's salary on hold, isn't much more than $40 million, provided they still sign European prospect Nikola Pekovic.
The NBA's salary cap this upcoming season is $58 million.
That's mucho money.
Kahn can sign Ridnour to a four-year, $16 million contract to which his agent says he has agreed, or just about any of the other dwindling number of free agents left out there in an unprecedented summer of NBA free agency.
But now Kahn also has millions and millions in salary-cap cushion, two extra first-round picks and young players such as Brewer, Flynn, Johnson and Love to offer should a big-moneyed player -- maybe even a young, blooming superstar -- signed for the coming seasons arrive on the market from a franchise looking to slash costs.
Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala or Houston's Kevin Martin?
Think bigger than that.
Denver's Carmelo Anthony?
OK, maybe not that big ...
How about, say, Atlanta forward Josh Smith or Indiana forward Danny Granger, a pair of potential perennial All-Star players given the right time and place?
Kahn vows he and the Timberwolves remain poised to be "nimble," a word he has chosen during a unique moment in league history where conditions have changed minute by minute since the free-agency period began July 1.
"Historically, when you're under the cap as much as we aim to be, we should be able to take advantage of opportunities that will present themselves," Kahn said. "I don't feel any urgency or pressure to do anything right now. We can wait all summer. We might even wait until the season starts, or until next summer.
"This team will be better. I'm really pushing myself to make this season better than last season. I understand the public's frustration over the last several years. I know it has been hard. It's up to us to show them things will be better. They will be better. They just will."
Asked if Jefferson had asked to be traded, Kahn said, "I think both sides independently came to the same conclusion. He recognized we were at least a couple more years away from becoming a winning team, and I completely understood where he was coming from. I'm very happy for Al. He's just been so professional throughout all of this."
7 comments:
H e has been declared one of the Three Kings, yet he hasn't played in three playoff series in his seven-year career.
He is called a superstar but hasn't experienced the rite of passage that it usually takes to earn that label.
He seems to have benefited from the fortunate timing of being drafted in the same class as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, as well as being in the same free agent class.
WHERE DOES HE FIT
But do we really know just how good Chris Bosh is? Will he prove to be even better than he was in Toronto, or will he be less than advertised given how quickly we all elevated him to the same status as Wade and James?
Is he top 10? Top 20?
Is he the Heat's version of Kevin McHale , or is he even better?
Better than McHale?
Right
A heat-scorched visitor from Minnesota gets the same puzzled look and essentially the same questions from every ink-stained colleague he encounters here at the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League this week.
Whatever is he thinking?
What's the plan?
Is there a plan?
The topic of conversation is, of course, Timberwolves boss David Kahn.
He's the guy who in 14 months on the job has ripped apart a roster inherited from Kevin McHale much the way a caffeinated fantasy-league owner might and completely remade it by trading away former centerpiece Al Jefferson to Utah for draft picks and keeping only Kevin Love and Corey Brewer.
Gone are Jefferson, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Mark Madsen and many others.
Arrived are Michael Beasley, Martell Webster, Jonny Flynn, Darko Milicic, Wayne Ellington, Ramon Sessions/Luke Ridnour and first-round picks Wesley Johnson and Lazar Hayward and the looming aura of Ricky Rubio.
There's no question these new Timberwolves are a resoundingly more athletic and better-shooting team than the ones that won a total of 61 games the first three seasons since Kevin Garnett was traded away.
But will they be remarkably better than last season's 15-victory team?
After sending Jefferson away for two conditional first-round picks, the Wolves' oldest player, at least until Ridnour is signed, is 25-year-old Ryan Hollins; their highest-paid player is Beasley ($4.96 million).
If Kahn was indeed hired to win a championship and not just cut costs, then what is Kahn poised to do?
Answer: Maybe whatever he wants.
The Wolves' salary cap now, even with Ricky Rubio's salary on hold, isn't much more than $40 million, provided they still sign European prospect Nikola Pekovic.
The NBA's salary cap this upcoming season is $58 million.
That's mucho money.
Kahn can sign Ridnour to a four-year, $16 million contract to which his agent says he has agreed, or just about any of the other dwindling number of free agents left out there in an unprecedented summer of NBA free agency.
But now Kahn also has millions and millions in salary-cap cushion, two extra first-round picks and young players such as Brewer, Flynn, Johnson and Love to offer should a big-moneyed player -- maybe even a young, blooming superstar -- signed for the coming seasons arrive on the market from a franchise looking to slash costs.
Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala or Houston's Kevin Martin?
Think bigger than that.
Denver's Carmelo Anthony?
OK, maybe not that big ...
How about, say, Atlanta forward Josh Smith or Indiana forward Danny Granger, a pair of potential perennial All-Star players given the right time and place?
Kahn vows he and the Timberwolves remain poised to be "nimble," a word he has chosen during a unique moment in league history where conditions have changed minute by minute since the free-agency period began July 1.
"Historically, when you're under the cap as much as we aim to be, we should be able to take advantage of opportunities that will present themselves," Kahn said. "I don't feel any urgency or pressure to do anything right now. We can wait all summer. We might even wait until the season starts, or until next summer.
"This team will be better. I'm really pushing myself to make this season better than last season. I understand the public's frustration over the last several years. I know it has been hard. It's up to us to show them things will be better. They will be better. They just will."
That must mean there's a plan.
After sending Jefferson away for two conditional first-round picks, the Wolves' oldest player, at least until Ridnour is signed, is 25-year-old Ryan Hollins; their highest-paid player is Beasley ($4.96 million).
If Kahn was indeed hired to win a championship and not just cut costs, then what is Kahn poised to do?
Answer: Maybe whatever he wants.
The Wolves' salary cap now, even with Ricky Rubio's salary on hold, isn't much more than $40 million, provided they still sign European prospect Nikola Pekovic.
The NBA's salary cap this upcoming season is $58 million.
That's mucho money.
Kahn can sign Ridnour to a four-year, $16 million contract to which his agent says he has agreed, or just about any of the other dwindling number of free agents left out there in an unprecedented summer of NBA free agency.
But now Kahn also has millions and millions in salary-cap cushion, two extra first-round picks and young players such as Brewer, Flynn, Johnson and Love to offer should a big-moneyed player -- maybe even a young, blooming superstar -- signed for the coming seasons arrive on the market from a franchise looking to slash costs.
Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala or Houston's Kevin Martin?
Think bigger than that.
Denver's Carmelo Anthony?
OK, maybe not that big ...
How about, say, Atlanta forward Josh Smith or Indiana forward Danny Granger, a pair of potential perennial All-Star players given the right time and place?
Kahn vows he and the Timberwolves remain poised to be "nimble," a word he has chosen during a unique moment in league history where conditions have changed minute by minute since the free-agency period began July 1.
"Historically, when you're under the cap as much as we aim to be, we should be able to take advantage of opportunities that will present themselves," Kahn said. "I don't feel any urgency or pressure to do anything right now. We can wait all summer. We might even wait until the season starts, or until next summer.
"This team will be better. I'm really pushing myself to make this season better than last season. I understand the public's frustration over the last several years. I know it has been hard. It's up to us to show them things will be better. They will be better. They just will."
That must mean there's a plan.
Asked if Jefferson had asked to be traded, Kahn said, "I think both sides independently came to the same conclusion. He recognized we were at least a couple more years away from becoming a winning team, and I completely understood where he was coming from. I'm very happy for Al. He's just been so professional throughout all of this."
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