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Is it possible that Darko Milicic, regarded as one of the biggest flops in NBA draft history, will have a major impact on the Timberwolves' offseason agenda?

A day after Wolves management used Thursday night's draft to become a more athletic and open-court team, president of basketball operations David Kahn suggested that the 7-foot center from Serbia Montenegro could be the difference in whether Al Jefferson returns to the Wolves next season.

Kahn acknowledged Friday that he is looking into trading Jefferson, the team's leading scorer last season, if Milicic, an unrestricted free agent, is re-signed.

"It's the right time finally for us to explore this," Kahn said of a possible Jefferson trade. "I've met with Al and discussed this. If Darko comes back, there could be a need to create some playing time. We really need to get our front line settled."

The Milicic-Jefferson scenario is one of several significant issues facing the Wolves after the draft, including a high-caliber collection of free agents, which hit the market Thursday. The Wolves began an important offseason with a draft that yielded a possible future star at small forward in Syracuse standout Wesley Johnson and five-year veteran Martell Webster, acquired in a trade with Portland. Webster can play small forward or shooting guard, giving the team an immediate upgrade at the combo position.

The front line is another matter. With Kahn and Wolves coach Kurt Rambis aiming to give the team an up-tempo

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look, there's an uncertainty whether Jefferson, one of the league's top low-post scorers, fits into the new approach.
"I want to run more, but a lot of that is predicated on our defense," Rambis said. "Our big players have to be able to run and step up their rebounding and defense. We have lane runners now. I expect us to be able to take advantage of that."

Jefferson spent most of the season battling back from major knee surgery. His tenure with the Wolves would be even more fragile if 6-foot-11 center-forward Nikola Pekovic, the team's second-round pick in 2008, agrees to a buyout and joins the Wolves.

Pekovic, who plays for Panathinaikos Athens in the Euroleague and Greek League, is eligible to negotiate with the Wolves. Pekovic is ranked seventh among Draft Express' top 30 foreign players whose rights are held by NBA teams. The Wolves have been waiting for the opportunity to get him in the NBA, and the time might be this summer.

Like Milicic, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft by Detroit, Pekovic is from Serbia Montenegro. Kahn said if both are on the Wolves' roster next season, a front-line move would have to be made. Pekovic is viewed as a player who can handle the center and power forward spots. When asked if power forward Kevin Love is up for trade consideration, Kahn said no.

Kahn emphasized, however, that Jefferson will remain if Milicic or Pekovic, or both, do not sign with the Wolves.

"We can't take that risk," Kahn said.

Milicic started 18 of 24 games with the Wolves following his trade from New York in February. After disappointing stretches with Detroit, Memphis, Orlando and the Knicks, Milicic expressed interest in returning to the Wolves if he got assurances of playing time. Kahn said signing Milicic is one of the team's top offseason priorities.

The Wolves also hope to address their front-line situation in free agency if Milicic and Pekovic decide not to sign.

The Wolves will have between $18 million and $20 million of salary cap room to bid on players considered to be in the second tier behind Cleveland's LeBron James, Miami's Dwyane Wade and Toronto's Chris Bosh.

That group includes forwards Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, Utah's Carlos Boozer, Charlotte's Tyrus Thomas and Memphis' Rudy Gay, along with guard Joe Johnson of Atlanta.

"Nobody should look at what we did last night as an end or if anything was settled," Kahn said of the draft. "The draft was opening night to a very long summer for us. We have to continue to be proactive and aggressive in figuring out ways to improve the team."

TMS wrote:they're considering this to shed salary so they can make some signings in free agency... pretty much the same thing that Donnie Walsh his mentor did last year... right now they've got about $20M in cap space to use but that only gives them enough room to sign 1 impact guy & 1 or 2 role players... if they can shed Al's $13M salary it gives them room to make multiple impact FA signings & hold onto Darko as insurance for their frontcourt... Darko isn't dictating his decision, the payroll & this summer's other free agents are... it's not like he's thinking of dumping Al so he can hand Darko a $13M contract this summer... if that were the case, then yeah, he's a moron.

let's wait and see how much money he gives darko.

and he's still a moron. he's potentially alienating one of his best players - he's potentially trading one of his best players for DARKO?

he's an idiot. no free agents will sign there. rubio will never set foot in that state. he's the worst GM in basketball.

crzymdups wrote:he's potentially alienating one of his best players - he's potentially trading one of his best players for DARKO?
he's an idiot. no free agents will sign there. rubio will never set foot in that state. he's the worst GM in basketball.

Why would he put this out for everyone to see. You also devalue Jefferson's trade value by saying, in essence, that if the Serbian boys stay, Jefferson is the player who has to go.

tkf wrote:

TMS wrote:they're considering this to shed salary so they can make some signings in free agency... pretty much the same thing that Donnie Walsh his mentor did... right now they've got about $20M in cap space to use but that only gives them enough room to sign 1 impact guy & 1 or 2 role players... if they can shed Al's $13M salary it gives them room to make multiple impact FA signings & hold onto Darko as insurance for their frontcourt... Darko isn't dictating his decision, the payroll & this summer's other free agents are... it's not like he's thinking of dumping Al so he can hand Darko a $13M contract this summer... if that were the case, then yeah, he's a moron.

the difference is teams like minny usually have to rely on the draft to get talent.. which free agents are looking to play in minny? their own draft picks are hesitant to take the trip over the pond to play with them.. with all of the other major makets with cap room, kahn is in fantasy land thinking he will get key free agents to sign there, at least FA as good as Jefferson..

that's a legitimate point but who's to say he's got his sights set on the elite names? maybe he plans on divvying up the cap on 2nd tier guys to add depth & focusing on his young guys to form the core for the future? the article suggests Kahn considers Kevin Love & Darko a good enough filler for Al Jefferson's production in the middle & wants to focus the new team on a more uptempo style game... this is all very similar to the same approach Donnie Walsh took when he took over the reigns a couple years ago, deciding that David Lee would be able to fill Zach Randolph's production & wanted to go more uptempo to suit MDA's SSOL system... no one said he was an idiot then, why are people saying Kahn's a moron now? that's the only thing i don't get... both GM's decided things weren't working out the way their teams were constructed & decided to go in another direction... it's a common occurence with rebuilding teams... yes, Donnie had his sights set on guys like Lebron & Bosh, but for a small market team like the T'Wolves, saving dollars is a much bigger concern.

Al Jefferson puts up numbers but has he helped the Celtics or T'Wolves win many games over his career? this is the same argument we've been using to explain why the Knicks shouldn't overpay to hold onto David Lee... what good is having a "great" player on the team taking up a huge amount of cap if your team still sucks? especially if that player isn't a superstar calibre player that you can market & will fill seats in the stands to come watch? i can't rag on Kahn if he plans on putting together a core than he thinks will fit in better with his new youthful acquisitions, especially if Rubio ends up coming to Minny after next season. (apparently he's pretty confident that that will happen)