Ricky Davis is a pimp

Maybe I'm jumping the gun on this a little bit, but he had a very solid first effort out there. Here's the line:

10-18 FGs
26 points
6 rebounds
3 assists

In addition, he grabbed a clutch rebound, sunk two clutch free throws and played very solid D.

Ricky will bring a few things to the Wolves that Wally could not. The first is speed. I was really impressed with just how quick he was out there. The broadcast team went off about how this trade is really going to help our team speed, but it wasn't just lip service. Ricky can really fly out there, and isn't afraid to draw contact.

Second is his defense. A key example of this happened last night at the end of the game. The Wolves were up by 2 with about 30 seconds remaining. The Rockets are going to McGrady--everyone in the arena, everyone watching on TV, and even some people in parts of rural Africa know it. The play starts with Hassell guarding TMac. They run him through a high screen. Switch. Now KG is guarding him. Another screen. Switch again. Now Ricky is guarding him. TMac drives and is forced to take an off balance 15-footer.

The Wolves will now be able to put out a defensive unit of KG, Eddie, Hassell, Ricky, and somebody else. Now that's a solid unit.

I also think it will be nice to have him around to help McCants develop. I picture McCants as playing a very similar style to Ricky eventually, and it will help to have a player like that around to aid in his development.

Monster Trade in Minny

Linky

After years and years of talk, the Wolves finally traded away Kandi and Wally.

Now close your eyes and try think of what you would most want in a trade involving the two of them.

Did you wish for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount? Me neither, but that's what we got. We also managed to lose another first round draft pick, but pick up two second rounders and some spare parts.

I've been thinking about the deal now for about 30 minutes and the best I can do to describe it is "It's OK". It's clear that the Wolves needed to shake things up a bit. What we had going on just wasn't working. Davis should be an ample replacemet for Wally and Blount will be a slight upgrade from Kandi at center. On the minus side, we are now saddled with Blount's contract until 2010 and I sort of miss having 1st round draft picks.

My biggest concern now is that the Wolves have really mortgaged their future in a futile attempt to win now. We lost draft picks in 4 of 5 years before this one, we've traded away next years and now have traded away another one while taking on the gigantic contract of a mediocre player.

Twolves Blow

Yet again, the Wolves blew a huge lead and lost a game that they should have won by double figures. Forget all the close games that the Wolves lost earlier this season, there have been at least 4-5 games now that the Wolves have lost that probably should have been double digit victories (2 in the past week).

If the Wolves had won of these games, they would now be a very respectable 23-15. Had they managed to pull out wins in some of those other close games, they'd have one of the best records in the league.

I guess I see that they could easily have an amazing record right now and that is why I keep thinking that they could still be a very competitive team in the West. They've had a lot of blown opportunities and have had only a few games where they've been on the wrong end of a blow out.

On the other hand, their inability to actually win these games is beginning to make me lose faith in them. They have been absolutely awful when KG is not on the court. Forget about Artest (Now a Sacramento King), lets trade for some backups who can actually play.

Speaking of Trades

The huge rumor going around is that the Wolves will be shipping Kandi off to Boston for center Mark Blount. There was a rumor about a similar (but more elaborate) trade running around this summer and I had this correspondence with Jeff over at Celtic's Blog.

Me:

You'd better hope you don't get Kandi. He's a cancer.

Jeff:

Blount is a bigger cancer with an albatross contract but grass is
always greener right?

While Blount seems to have a bit of an upside over Kandi, he does have a rather monster contract that the Wolves would need to take on (about $7 million/year on average through 2010). Considering the size of his contract, I don't really like this deal for the Wolves. I don't think Blount represents any sort of long term solution to the Wolves problems at center and this contract would saddle us with him for way too long. At some point I think the Wolves should just cut their losses and let Kandi play out the season and find a better replacement at the end of the season (or wait for a better deal).

Tonight the Wolves have to play Detroit. My only hope is that nobody gets hurt.