In this massive episode, The Forecaster returns to T.E. as he joins Joey to talk everything positive and negative, regarding the Timberwolves and the NBA leading into this coming season.

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Hosted By: Joey Awaijane

Wouldn’t you know that the first article posted here in a few weeks, would be bad news. Kevin Love suffered a fracture in his right hand on Friday night, and is expected to miss up to six weeks.

The injury to Love’s hand occurred when he banged his hand against Oleksiy Pecherov’s elbow, when trying to go for a rebound in the 3^rd quarter. Love was injured trying to do what he does best, rebound. Luckily, the injury was not to Love’s shooting hand, and the hope is that the double – double machine will not be out later then early December.

Pecherov, a man that I recently criticized in episode number 35 of Timberwolves Explosion, will likely see significant time on the court while Love is out. Pecherov also had a significant injury to his non-shooting hand a few weeks back, and is trying to return to form. Pecherov performed fairly well against Chicago Friday night, finishing with 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting. This most recent performance, was quite an improvement over Wednesday night’s abysmal showing against these same Bulls, when Pecherov was 0 of 5 with no points, and looked lost the whole time.

With that being said, it does seem that something more exists but isn’t being said. According to TheSportsBank, Kahn has taken numerous trips to Spain and is currently there now. Could this be the trip to reel him home? It seems that way, but nothing is guaranteed. Stay tuned to www.thesportsbank.net and TimberwolvesPress for more news.

Enjoy!

http://www.thesportsbank.net/minnesota-timberwolves/wolves-hope-rubio-situation-solved-soon/

The search for a new Head Coach is nearing an end for the Minnesota Timberwolves and according to our knowledge, Mark Jackson looks to be the front-runner out of the final three candidates that includes Lakers Assistant Coach Kurt Rambis and Rockets Assistant Coach Elston Turner. In a decision that should be announced within the next week, Jackson has a step over his competition according to sources close the situation. It is important to point out that Kahn’s final selection still has to meet with Glen Taylor before any final decision is made. That meeting may or may not impact the process, but it’s likely Taylor will leave it up to Kahn to find the right guy.

Despite being interviewed a second time, Turner’s chances of becoming the Wolves new Head Coach appear to be very slim. Rambis seems to be in a close second behind Jackson as the front runner. Rambis is currently one of the leagues hottest coaching candidates in the league because of his winning background from his playing and coaching days with the LA Lakers. He would bring a vast amount of discipline and knowledge to the Wolves and is by far the most experienced out of the three candidates. The big question is, would his coaching style fit this young team? Our current roster may take more of a liking to a player’s coach like Mark Jackson than say the hard nosed defensive minded Rambis.

Ultimately it seems to me that this will come down to a gut decision from David Kahn as all three candidates have no prior head coaching experience. Whoever Kahn selects, he will be taking a gamble. With Jackson, Kahn would be getting a guy that he is familiar with as the two spent several years together in the Pacers organization (Jackson as a player, Kahn in the front office). Jackson also happens to be a former point guard who has the experience of leading a team on the court; I think he could translate that leadership to the sidelines with ease. One thing you have to remember is that it just so happens that the Timberwolves future lies heavily on two young point guards, Jonny Flynn and Ricky Rubio. Who’d be better to coach them then one of the league’s most prolific passers in Mark Jackson? Jackson would be an excellent mentor to these two young men on and off the court.

If I’m the Wolves, I’m probably looking to make a splash with this new hiring and Mark Jackson would give this team hype on a national level.From a fan’s perspective, I would be much more excited to see Jackson coach the Wolves than I would if Rambis or Turner was named the coach. Just by listening to him on TV, you can tell Jackson would be a player’s coach and that’s what our young players need in Minnesota, a guy who can relate to his team. We saw how this team responded to a player’s coach last year in Kevin McHale, and I think those results speak volume that this team needs to find a guy with a similar approach.

TimberwolvesPress will keep you updated with any new info on this situation!

The Timberwolves made yet another trade Monday when they sent recently acquired F Etan Thomas and two 2nd Round Picks packing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for PG Chucky Atkins and G Damien Wilkins.

Trade Analysis:

I like this deal a lot for us because we filled two huge roster needs by bring in 1) a veteran point guard in Atkins and 2) a veteran wing player in Wilkins. With Telfair out the door, we were left with Bobby Brown backing up Jonny Flynn at the PG position. Now we have a serviceable guy in Atkins who can provide leadership and will occasionally have some nice scoring nights running the point. Wilkins’ name may sound familiar to some of you, that’s because we actually signed him to an offer sheet back in 2005 when Wilkins was a member of the Seattle Supersonics. I’ve always like Wilkins as a player, he’s nothing more than a back-up, but he is an athletic perimeter player who has a nice jump shot. Both of these players should have key roles off the bench next season and possibly in the starting lineup from time-to-time. The best part of this deal is we gave up virtually nothing. Etan Thomas’ value on our team was very low considering we already have Al Jefferson and Kevin Love ahead of him on the depth chart, so moving him was nothing worth crying over. I’ve also heard that Thomas is quite the head case and that he got in several disputes with his teammates in the past, most notably Brendan Haywood. We also gave up two future 2nd round picks in the deal, which we ironically end up trading on most draft nights anyways so its likely we would have never even seen these picks. Atleast this time around our 2nd round picks helped obtain players rather than future 2nd round picks. What makes this deal even better is that we didn’t take any hits financially by obtaining these two veteran players. Both Wilkins and Atkins will come off the books next season, keeping our cap space open.

Grade: A

Taken from Timberwolves.com

“We’re committed towards rebuilding our roster with an eye towards flexibility and long-term success, and this move better positions us for the summer,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “I want to thank Etan for his professionalism and understanding, and wish him all the best moving forward.”

Quentin Richardson will now be posing in a T'Wolves uniform...well maybe.

David Kahn made another trade Monday afternoon when he sent PG Sebastian Telfair and Forwards Craig Smith and Mark Madsen packing to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for veteran SG Quentin Richardson. With this trade, Kahn once again has made a strong point that he is doing everything he can to reshape the Timberwolves roster. It is unknown if the Wolves will keep Richardson, who has ironically already been traded three times this offseason, but right now his services would be a nice addition to a very young team. The Wolves are in serious need of a perimeter player with some veteran experience and Richardson could help fill that void for the time being.

Departing from the Wolves will be three players that were well liked in Minnesota, but because of logjams at certain positions were no longer needed on the roster. Telfair in particular, looked to be gone the moment after the 2009 NBA Draft after the Wolves selected two point guards with their top picks. One of those top picks, Jonny Flynn looked superb this past week in the Las Vegas Summer League and that probably made this trade a lot easier to make. David Kahn in a press conference noted that the Clippers wanted Telfair (……??? Remember folks is the Clippers) and that he felt the timing was right to send Telfair packing. Telfair’s time in Minnesota comes with mixed reviews, but it’s safe to say that his departure was necessary with Flynn and Rubio on board. Telfair at best is a back-up point guard in this league and he will now play that role with the Clippers where he will back-up Baron Davis.

It’s tough see a hard-nosed guy like Craig Smith go especially when we drafted him in the 2nd Round and turned him into a solid NBA back-up. Smith is great guy and teammate, but unfortunately he also plays the same position as our two best players, Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. Like Telfair, you could see his departure coming a mile away. The good news for Craig is that he will now play closer to home as he is a Cali boy.

Finally but not least, Mark Madsen will no longer grace us with his presence in his practice gear on the Timberwolves bench. Mad Dog is a great community guy, but his contract was so hard to look at,  I can’t help but be happy that he is no longer a T’Wolf.

Trade Grades

Timberwolves B | The T’Wolves got rid of three very average players who were no longer in the team’s future plans and in return got a solid NBA starter in Quentin Richardson who’s contract will expire after this season allowing the Wolves to free up more cap room.

Clippers A- | I like this trade a lot for the Clippers simply because they got three players in exchange for one. The Clippers won’t take a big hit salary wise and all three of these players should provide nice depth for this up and coming team in the West.