The “wow, David Kahn really likes point guards” class of jokes was starting to wear a little thin. Sure, he’d signed what seemed to be dozens of them over the course of his tenure in Minnesota (I’m not sure of the actual number. You can go here to try to count for yourself. I tried, but started to go cross-eyed), but that’s all in the past.
A source close to free agent J.J. Barea tells TNT’s David Aldridge that the 27-year-old is finalizing details on a four-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, which would further add to that team’s seemingly inexhaustable supply of guards.
[…] The Timberwolves could be looking for a mentor for their high-profile rookie guard, Ricky Rubio, who finally came over to the NBA after starring in Europe as a teenager. Rubio was taken fifth overall by the Wolves in 2009 but remained in Europe until this summer. The Wolves already have veteran guard Luke Ridnour on the roster as well.
This only makes sense if the Timberwolves flip Ridnour to a team that is in desperate need of a point guard. The Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks immediately come to mind. Ridnour has three years and about $12 million left on his deal, so it’s not impossible to move him.
As for Minnesota… I’d love to say “here’s their plan,” but I can’t. Maybe it seems that Kahn has finished tinkering with his back court and he can rely on Rubio to be the man with Barea mentoring him while backing him up. I’m not sold on that as being a winning tandem at the moment, but we’ll have to see about that.
But looking at the bigger picture, this just more proof that the good teams are the teams run well, and bad teams are just run poorly. Kahn is a punch line for a reason. That’s not to say Barea’s a horrible signing. It’s just that signing your umpteenth guard over a very short time shows you just don’t know what you’re doing.
