5 Questions: David Kahn

Ever wish you could ask the manager/GM/owner of your favorite teams any question you wanted and have it answered honestly?  Given the cliches handed out one after another in interviews and the behind-the-scenes manuvering that goes on, it would be quite interesting to hear some unvarnished opinions about things.

Never has the need for a bit of unvarnished truth been greater than when dealing with current Timerberwolves boss David Kahn. 

I have to admit, I've never been much of a fan.  Doing word association with Kahn brings up words like "weasel", "shifty" and "smug".  Smugness may in fact be his defining characteristic.  He definitely comes off  as much more of a lawyer than a basketball guy, but perhaps that's not a bad thing.  After all, the team's last GM was a basketball guy through and through, and we know how that turned out.  But I can't help thinking that Kahn's off-putting style isn't going to ingratiate him to fans or his fellow GMs, it certainly hasn't so far.

Anyway, on to the queries:

1. In your opinion, what is Ricky Rubio's ceiling as an NBA player?

How I think he'd answer: That depends on a few factors, namely what we put around him.  We know the shooting is going to be a work in process, and that he's not going to do a lot of scoring initially.  That means it's crucial we put a solid team around him, allowing him to affect the game in other ways.  Frankly there are guys on the current roster who might not coexist well with him, and if conflicts emerge, they'll have to be moved. 

It's also crucial that whoever is hired as the next coach has the right personality to deal with young, developing players and employs a system that meshes with his talents.  I think that's where we got it wrong with Rambis, pairing up a coach from a veteran team with a young roster in a rebuilding project.  Not to mention the nuances of the unique offense he wanted to run didn't really fit the talents of the draft picks that had just been made.  Making a similar mistake this time could spell the end of things for me.

But with those caveats laid out, I see no reason Ricky can't be an NBA All-Star.

2. Speaking of Rambis, word is he's done.  This has been pretty obvious for some time to anyone paying attention, why the delay on taking action?

How I think he'd answer: In hindsight, we've blown this one.  Glen was dragging his feet, due to the money issue and his hope we could get out from underneath it somehow if Kurt quit or a lockout kicked in.  I finally convinced him that the longer we left him twisting in the wind, the worse we were going to come off, and he gave me the go ahead.

3. Based on this situation and some others, the team's management and ownership aren't getting too much favorable publicity right now, do you think your personal and professional style is going to hurt you when dealing with free agents, coaching candidates and other front offices?

How I think he'd answer: Well that's really three questions.  On the free agents, I think there are bigger issues that need to be overcome.  Minnesota is not a desirable location for quite a few reasons, we're a losing team that plays in the league's coldest city and don't have a star player to draw other players here.  It's a bit of a Catch-22 really, the team can't improve until we get better players, and we can't attract better players until the team improves.  At this point the draft is our path back to being competitive, and so far it's yielded some pieces, now those pieces need to be turned into a team.

For coaching candidates, I'm not worried.  NBA jobs are few and far between, so most coaches need to jump at the opportunities that arise.  Although things haven't worked out with Kurt, it can't be denied that he was a hot commodity when we hired him, impressions of the franchise didn't hurt us there.

The topic of dealing with other front offices is more problematic, as I get the impression that most other GMs don't like me and want to see me fail.  I know I brought a lot of this on myself by coming off arrogant and self-satisfied, but you have to understand, a lot of that was false bravado motivated by my own insecurity.  When I was hired by Minnesota, I'd been out of the day-to-day NBA for five years.  Before that, a lot of my experience was on the business side of basketball, not necessarily dealing with personnel.  Sure, after being involved with the game for 20 years, some of it is like riding a bike, but here I was walking into a tough situation and a little unsure of my ability to fix it. 

Consequently, I kind of acted like a prick.  I'm not proud of it, part of it is just how I'm wired, I am a lawyer after all.  I just hope that any other executives won't purposely avoid dealing with me when doing so will help their teams.  Not only would that make them vindictive a**holes, it would make them stupid vindictive a**holes, but there I go again, so I'd probably better quit while I'm ahead.

4. Drafting either Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams would seem to create a glut of players at either PG or PF.  How desparate are you to trade this pick?  If you can't which guy do you prefer?

How I think he'd answer: More desparate that a drunk girl who just got dumped by her boyfriend at bar close.  The problem is, and from the looks of you, this isn't new info, the stink of desparation drives off the exact people you're trying to attract.  This is a cutthroat business, and everyone out there knows we don't want to stick at #2, so they're trying to lowball us.  Of course I'll never let that happen, as I've demonstrated before, I'm perfectly willing to cut off my nose to spite my face.  If they don't give me what I want, I'll just take my ball and go home.

As for the player though, if it has to be one of the two, please let it be Williams.  I can't imagine how much fun they'll have at my expense if I get painted into a corner and have to draft another point guard, the embarrassment would probably reverse the last 6 months of prickishness removal therapy I've undergone.

5. Do you ever kick yourself for some of the stuff you say?  Calling Darko "manna from heaven", turning the hype machine up to 11 on Rubio and now having to backpedal?

How I think he'd answer: Sure, sometimes, but when you like the sound of your voice as much as I do, you're bound to talk a lot, and by default say some stupid things.  I mean you've watched the Chris Webber interview, right?  Breakfast and lunch, what the hell was I thinking?  I sat down and got dead drunk after that one.  But in my defense, Webber is a total dick.


So that's the conversation I wish I coule have with Mr. Kahn.  A bit of candor and a lot less spin would go a long way in making the guy palatable, likeable is probably too big a stretch.

But as I've said many times, I'll take jerks who win over likeable losers any time.  Now please Dave, try not to do anything embarrassing tonight.