How else do you describe draft night other than…

Timberwolfish…

New boss David Kahn got the player — Ricky Rubio — nearly every Wolves fan fantasized about in a sequence of good fortune that left those gathered at Target Center giddy and singing that “Ole, ole, ole” chant the moment David Stern announced Rubio as a Wolf.

And still many Wolves fans went to bed livid, partly because of a team history that has brought such draft nights as Roy-for-Foye and Chalmers-for-cold cash.

From the jaws of victory Thursday the Wolves snatched…well, two point guards with their back-to-back 5th and 6th picks and immediately Kahn sent word from the war room that, contrary to everybody’s  assumption, he took both Rubio and Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn to keep them in the same backcourt, not trade them.

Then, with the third of their four first-round picks, the Wolves went and took yet another point guard, North Carolina’s Ty Lawson after the guy they presumably really wanted, Wake Forest’s James Johnson, was already gone.

Even Lawson’s college coach, Roy Williams, was mystified.

Cameras at Madison Square Garden captured him looking perplexed and holding up three fingers after the Wolves picked his guy.

Shortly thereafter, word came that the Wolves were dealing Lawson to Denver for Charlotte’s first-round pick (top 16) protected next summer.

(The Wolves took a fourth point guard when they selected Greece-bound Nick Calathes in the second round and then traded him to Dallas for a 2010 second round and cash considerations. The Wolves got North Carolina shooter Wayne Ellington with their final first round pick and forward Henk Norel from the Netherlands with their final second round pick).

Rubio’s chilly reaction to being Minnesota-bound and his pending $6.6 million buyout from his Spanish pro team  begs the question whether he will even play at Target Center next season, or ever.

His agent is Dan Fegan, the same guy who represented Yi Jianlian when the Chinese forward balked and balked at playing in Milwaukee, eventually signed and then lasted just one year there before he was traded to New Jersey.

“Yes, it’s a big problem,” Rubio said of his buyout after he lost significant money by being the fifth pick instead of second or third.

Rubio had said before he’d basically play for free next year to pay off his Spanish team just so he could play in the NBA, but after tonight’s happenings he left open the possibility of returning to play in Europe next season.

He said he most wants “minutes” and the chance to succeed because he will make up the money he will lose through the buyout not with his rookie contract, but when he cashes in on his second one.

Kahn said the buyout situation will be an “interesting ride.”

He called the complications a  buyout issue and said he doesn’t think Rubio will refuse to play in Minnesota.

“I don’t think its a destination problem,” he said. “I really don’t. I believe he would have been more than happy to play in Oklahoma City, and with all due respect to Oklahoma City (a very long pause).

“And I will say this, yes it’s cold here. I told this to Dan Fegan, and I will say this personally to Ricky when I have the opportunity: it’s cold in Detroit, Toronto, Chicago, Milwaukee, and by the way it’s pretty cold in Oklahoma City in the winter. I’ve seen a couple of ice storms in Tulsa.

“Here’s one difference. We’re in the Western Conference. We get to go to L.A. for four games. We go to Phoenix twice, to Texas and play those teams. We leave. And I told them today, in the off-season, we don’t have any restrictions on where he works on his game in the off-season, provided he works on his game.

“If he wants to work on his game back in Spain, we’ll send a coach and staff and help him work on his game in Spain. We’d do that for any player by the way, that’s not about Ricky. But we’re in the player development business and we have to be mindful that we live in a different world than the NBA was 15 years ago. ”

Rubio fell to the Wolves at No. 5 after Oklahoma City quit its bluffing and took James Harden third and Sacramento made Tyreke Evans the fourth pick.

Target Center erupted during the team’s draft party when Evans’ name was announced because it meant Rubio was Minnesota bound.

But when they took him, there options were limited with the sixth pick because Evans and Harden, the draft’s two best shooting guard types, already were gone.

Steph Curry was available, but he’s considered a point guard, even though he’s the best shooter in the draft and seemingly was  a better fit than Flynn because he can play off the ball and spot up for open shots.

The Wolves other option would have been to take a guy like USC’s DeMar DeRozan, who went ninth, outright at No. 6 or tried to trade down a few slots to get him.

Kahn called Rubio a “transformational” player and “the orchestra leader” and said he picked Flynn next because he loved Flynn’s toughness, his leadership and he said, “I’ve never seen a kid 6-feet look and feel like he’s 6-3 or 6-4 like this kid does.”

Flynn’s vertical leaping ability was measured at 40 inches at last month’s Chicago combine. He was the only player there to do so.

But the question is: Can two guys used to have the ball in their hands actually play together?

Kahn swore they can and cited old-school examples of Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge in the Boston backcourt and Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars from the Pistons’ backcourt ages ago as similar examples.

He envisions Rubio, an otherworldly passer, as the distributor, Flynn as the scorer in that tandem.

“You can kind of see the NBA going in this direction, a 2-point guard look in the backcourt,” Flynn said. “You’ve seen that in the playoffs a lot this year and I think it’s going to carry over to next season.  Rubio is a guy whose knack for passing is unmatched and I think he’s definitely going to raise my level of play and I’m going to try to do the same for him.”

Rubio said he liked the concept as well.

“When I began to be a professional player, I played with another point guard, too, and it made it easier to play,” Rubio said. ” I feel comfortable playing with two point guards.”

There’s also a very good chance Rubio, if he indeed does ever play for the Wolves, could end up playing for point guard as his coach.

Longtime NBA point guard Mark Jackson looks like the favorite for the Wolves’ head job.

Kahn presumably will begin his coaching search today, now that the draft is over.

When asked what he wanted in the new coach, Rubio said a guy who has played the pro game.

Asked if he’d like to played for a former NBA point guard, he said, “Yeah, absolutely.”

Both Rubio and Flynn are expected into town Friday.

If Rubio doesn’t show because of a flight delay or illness or some other reason, well, oh, oh…

It sure will be an interesting ride.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 2:56 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.