Home

Trenton Hassell

What Have They Done for Anyone Lately?

Posted March 3rd, 2008 by wd

A while ago I made a post lamenting (to a limited extent) the departures of former Timberwolves this past offseason. At the time it looked like all of them were going to contenders, ready to do what they couldn't do in Minnesota.

Well, almost 60 games into the season it looks like none of those players (with one obvious exception and one surprise) are doing ANYTHING for any of their teams, winning or not.

Mike James: Since being traded to Houston before the draft for Juwan Howard (with Mr. Reed below) Mike James has played terribly. There I said it. In 33 games with the Rockets (a team he seemed so excited to be returning to) James averaged 6.5 points in 16.2 minutes. He shot 35% from the field.

Effing Exes

Posted November 5th, 2007 by wd

I'm watching the Rockets/Mavericks game tonight on NBATV and I just realized there are 3 former Wolves playing for these two contending teams: Trenton Hassell, Mike James and Juwan Howard. Then there's Ricky Davis and Mark Blount, also playing for a top team in the East (yes, Miami's status at the top is in peril this year). Troy Hudson signed with the Warriors, who last year had one of the greatest playoff runs in recent memory. And, of course, there's some power forward playing in Boston this year.

No matter how you slice it, a good number of players that were supposed to bring basketball glory to Minnesota over the last few years are now playing for very relevant teams in the NBA. And even though it's early, every single one of them seem to be contributing pretty well to their new teams.

I'm struggling to find an answer here, but I just can't. Why couldn't these players, that very good teams have found a use for, get it together here? Were the Timberwolves asking too much of each of them? T-Mac, Yao and a newly deep Rockets team allow Mike James to contribute at his own pace. The same goes for Howard and Hassell in Dallas with their deep squad. Ricky has definitely been contributingg in Miami, and Blount has been as well, to a more limited extent.

If there's one thing that has become obvious in the fallout to trading KG, it's that the Timberwolves lacked serious chemistry ever since Spree and Cassell crept up on free agency. And that's not to blame those two. The chemistry problems have obviously spread from the court to the owner's box and not skipped any level along the way.

I'm as excited as the next guy about this new Wolves team. And, as I wrote yesterday, they looked much better the last two games than I expected. Regardless, trading away KG will leave a bad taste in my and many other's mouths for a long time.

End pontification

Mid-day News 10/3

DLIC @ FreeDarko: Dented in the Rain. While he's right that Trenton was a big part of the 03-04 Wolves run, he was also KG's boy and likely was not happy that the Ticket was gone. The biggest reason to trade Trenton, though, had nothing to do with him. Trenton had to go because this is a rebuilding team and he's not a rebuilding piece, especially not on a team with so many young swingmen who need playing time. He's a complementary player that should be on a contender (for instance, Dallas). Even if he was happy (which very well may be the truth), it was a smart move to ship off Trenton.

John Hollinger's Wolves preview is an Insider feature, so here's a brief summary: "Not good." Hollinger predicts a grand total of 22 wins for the Wolves. His recap of last year reviewed the questionable offseason and the strange midseason firing of Dwane Casey while the team was at .500. Hollinger actually calls it "the most idiotic coaching switch of the past decade." It's tough to argue with him after he brings up that McHale wasn't happy with the teams "consistency" under Casey and that under Wittman the team didn't win consecutive games after the All-Star break. Also, he really sums up the sting of trading KG with this quote: "a team should never, ever put itself in a position where it has to trade a player of this caliber."

The biggest strength he sees is frontcourt scoring with Big Al, Craiggers, Blount and even Juwan. The biggest weakness? MANAGEMENT. "Like the party guest who's still there when you wake up in the morning, there's McHale quietly sipping coffee on the deck, not seeming in any big hurry to go anywhere.

UPDATE

Star-Telegram: Apparently Greg Buckner wasn't happy with the trade that moved him from a championship contender to a rebuilding team. He was given the option to report to the Wolves after a week, but showed up right away. That's a great sign. The tidbit that caught my eye, however, was that he had a 5% trade kicker that paid him $560,000. Thanks to The Old Timberwolves Logo for spotting the article.

Morning News 10/1

Hoop Springs Eternal: 07-08 T-Wolves: Back to the Future. Peter Weinhold doesn't seem to trust the Timberwolves management. I can't blame him.

Talkin' T-Wolves breaks down the training camp position battles.

An interesting post on MN Sports Fans about the Hassell trade. It seems this posters source implied that Hassell and Hudson were around mostly to make KG happy. Now that the ticket's gone, they were two who the Wolves made sure they moved. While there's no way to confirm how true this is, I believe it. T-Hud and KG were known to get along well and at Summer League games (when the Wolves used to host them), Trenton and KG would sit together in the stands. Hardly concrete evidence, but the logic and limited evidence together make sense to me. Further proof of how important it is for the Wolves to distance themselves from KG until a new identity is solidified.

Photos of the Timberwolves in Turkey. Thanks to SG over at TWolvesBlog

Apparently Ndudi Ebi has signed with Israeli team Bnei HaSharon. Eurobasket, Wikipedia

Washington Post: Big Hole in Minnesota. Brief synopsis of the first day of training camp.

Bleeding the Clock: Minnesota Doesn't Deserve Your Pity

Morning News 9/29

Sports Illustrated: Juwan Howard Requests a Trade from Timberwolves. Not a new headline, but apparently Howard had some things to say at Media Day yesterday. He said the Wolves were two or four years away from the playoffs and that he doesn't think he has four years left. McHale expressed some empathy and Hoard said he wouldn't cause any problem is a trade didn't happen.

Star Tribune: Hassel Traded; Richard Set to be Signed. Chris Richard will reportedly sign today before the team leaves for Turkey. Interesting not about Media Day: Ricky Davis was said to be ill and at the doctor. Hmmm....

Dallas Morning News: Mavs Trade Buckner for T-Wolves Swingman

Pioneer Press: Wolves Deal Hassell to Get Buckner

Steve Aschburner @ Sports Illustrated: Timberwolves Begin Future Without Big Ticket.

Pioneer Press: KG Gone, Five Guys Walk into a...

Stephen Litel @ HoopsWorld: Media Day and Trouble Already Brewing. The activity from vets Howard, Blount and Jaric as reported by Litel was a mixture of confusion and coldness.

Timberwolves.com: Media Day Wrap-up.

Britt Robson @ The Rake. Britt doesn't seem to like the trade for basketball and leadership reasons. Well, basketball-wise we just acquired someone who won't take minutes away from the youth and leadership-wise Hassell seemed to be drifting away from positive influence status over the last few months.

He also had a wrap-up of Media Day. Randy Foye wants to be the leader. That's good news. He sounds a lot like Garnett in the lead-by-example style. Not to say he's there yet, but having the best player be the hardest worker is a great thing. Whether it's Foye or Jefferson doesn't matter to me.

12next ›last »