Let's not get tricked into thinking this is a good thing fellow Wolves fans

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

I know some fans have got caught up in all the news and have talked themselves into thinking this is a good time for the franchise. Some of you talked themselves into thinking that it's a good thing Love is leaving because he's a jerk and a cancer. Some are happy because we have the new hot prospect that could be a top 5 player in a few years. I think we need to break down some facts to remind ourselves that we might be at an all time low as a franchise.

1. Wolves haven't made the playoffs in a decade. The longest drought of all time is 12 years. Where the Wolves are now, it seems like a forgone conclusion that we will break that record.

2. Love leaving means that this is the second time that the Wolves have failed to surround their superstar with enough talent to do anything. We surrounded KG with crap year after year, to the point where KG was looked at as a loser who can't carry a team. KG gave the Wolves a decade, until they had to just give up and trade him out of pity.

3. You can write the exact same story by replacing KG with Love. The big difference is Love is in a different era then KG where star players aren't going to be blindly loyal to a terrible front office. KG was loved because he stuck around with a front office that signed Joe Smith under the table, overpayed scrubs, and screwed up every draft pick. Love is being looked at as a quitter because he wants a front office that overpaid scrubs(Darko), screwed up draft picks(Wes,Flynn) and being ripped by ownership.

4. Wolves have a temporary coach who at best is a middle of the road coach. If in 2-3 years Flip finds a young coach to grow, it just extends the rebuilding process that much more.

5. And the biggest reason BY FAR is that despite everything that I mentioned above, the man in charge of it all, refuses to change and take any of the blame. Does anybody think with Love out the door, that Glen is sitting around thinking "man I screwed up"? I will bet anything Glen is thinking " Well Love wasn't a superstar anyway, he couldn't get us to the playoffs, glad he's gone"

Wither you think Flip is a good GM or not, you can't argue that the process in hiring him was absolutely lazy. There was no process, Glen got excited because it was a call back to the good ole days, where the Wolves would be bounced in the 1st round every year. That seems to be the ceiling that makes Glen happy.

Even if Lavine or Wiggins becomes superstars, don't get too excited. The Wolves have shown they have no idea what to do with a superstar

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

While I agree mostly with the spirit of your comments, I will make a partial defense of the front office and ownership. In Rubio's rookie year, we were actually in the playoff hunt until he incurred that devastating knee injury. The following year, we had some solid talent, but once again, got crushed by the injury to Love's hand and Budinger's knee (the team still managed to scrap together 33 wins, which wasn't bad considering the circumstances). And last year our bench was depleted due to injuries to Budinger (again!) and Turiaf. Plus Ademan seemed to lose his mental edge.

As for coaching, we were on the cusp of hiring Joerger, a hire I think most intelligent Wolves fans were pretty darn excited about, but he chose to stick with Memphis. So I give credit to the front office for pursuing a defensive-minded coach who has a good track record.

Injuries happen. Bad luck happens. All franchises experience it. The real common thread throughout our various front offices is its draft record. There is no need to go through the list of failed or under-performing draft picks, but needless to say, with the exception of two home runs in KG and Love, we have a stunningly bad track record.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

You make some good points, Alex...this has been a poorly run, and often unlucky, franchise for a long time and I agree that if advancing deep in the playoffs is our goal, we are not in a position right now to be optimistic short-term. Personally, I am excited anyway. I have been frustrated with the poor results of this club for the past 10 years, and am happy that Flip seems to be making the right moves to put as back on the right track. I am happy both to see an unhappy star leaving (although I acknowledge that he was a top ten producer) and a potential superstar coming in. I'm happy that Rick Adelman is gone as our coach and that he has been replaced by a coach who regularly got us to the playoffs in his last stint. And I'm excited that we are likely to have a much more athletic roster next year that should be entertaining to watch, although we will have to be patient as they adjust to the NBA.

Do I think the Wolves will make the playoffs this year? In all likelihood, no. But I still see the changes as positive, and am hopeful that our young talent (Rubio, Wiggins, LaVine, Dieng, Muhammad et al) will eventually have much more success than the team did in the past decade.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Yeah, I'm all for silver linings and making the best out of a bad situation, but this is still clearly a very bad situation. We've become a laughingstock in the league, and to borrow some marketing jargon, we've really damaged our "brand" over the last decade. We're the team where good players go to languish, and when Love wins in Cleveland, people will say it even more, even though obviously a huge part of that will be playing with LeBron and Kyrie. At this point, we're not an attractive destination not only for players, but also for coaches and front office types. And of course, sports journalists don't respect the Wolves at all, and understandably so. If we take a good hard look in the mirror, even with getting Wiggins, we really can't be happy with what we've become. All the more reason we REALLY need to start to turn things around in the relatively near future.

[Phenom]

I see the Love situation for what it is. We are losing one of the top 5 or 6 talents in the league. That sucks but it is what it is and we have discussed why it is what it is many times. I'm still gonna call Love a quitter. Moving on, we are getting Wiggins which is exciting on a relative level and in a way we should feel fortunate because this is potentially the best return a team has gotten for a star caliber player in recent memory or maybe ever. That said, I don't think many are celebrating the loss of Love, it's more about making the best of a bad situation and it looks like Flip did. Hopefully this time we will be lucky enough to have a couple superstars that grow up together here and want to stay so that it's idiot proof, or as close as possible. . .

[Monster]

This is coming from maybe the biggest Love fan here but Wiggins chances of being a good player is enough reason to have hope. Its gonna hurt me a little when the trade actually goes though but Wiggins was a #1 pick in a good draft and fans, media types and NBA franchises believe he is a very good prospect. I think its totally appropriate to be excited about this situation. I don't know what better reasonable return we could have gotten and I think if someone would have told this board last December we would be forced to trade Love for Wiggins plus some other assets I think we would be down but as happy as you can be for the return for Love.

As for building around a star. Q broke down how its not exactly been a total failure the past couple years. Wolves have made some big mistakes over the years and also had some pretty bad luck. Marbury left, Sealy was killed, NUMEROUS PGs couldn't stay healthy, Derrick Williams the highest pick the Wolves have ever had may be the biggest bust they ever had. The bottom line though as it has been mentioned is the draft. They have to have better success all through the spectrum of the draft. Flip is the guy hopefully he surronds himself with smart guys listens to them and has some solid basketball decisions himself. We also need a little luck too.

Personally I'm gonna get a little excited about what we may have going forward. I'm also realistic too but there is plenty to get excited about.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

This has got to stop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV1G-hsg6rg&feature=youtu.be

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

This has got to stop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV1G-hsg6rg&feature=youtu.be

I love much of Ricky's game, but that is disgraceful...a blown wide open layup and a bricked 3. Didn't really like seeing him laughing after the 3 either, but I imagine he was just embarrassed.

[TAFKASP]

If Love stays the team is in no real position to upgrade the roster around him. Short of big steps forward by other players and far better than expected production from the rookies they cannot build a contender around him. If Love agreed to opt-In or resign then what, a few more years of just missing the playoffs or if we're lucky, making them and being sent home round one. It is possible to have a super star in the NBA and still have no hope so give me the hope of youth rather than the expectation of more of the same.

And yes, I am, and have long been in the Love is an a$$hole group. There is no doubt about his skills, but I simply don't like the person, at all.

[Monster]

This has got to stop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV1G-hsg6rg&feature=youtu.be

I love much of Ricky's game, but that is disgraceful...a blown wide open layup and a bricked 3. Didn't really like seeing him laughing after the 3 either, but I imagine he was just embarrassed.

I know the result was bad but does anyone else think that shooting form (maybe better put as process of the shot) look more like something a legit NBA would be utilizing? Hard to say from one shot at that angle but yeah.

The other night playing ball I was so happy I beat my man and actually made the wide open layup. I really need to work on those. Lol I'm getting old I am trying some Sam Cassell low efficient midrange game out to see if it works. Lol