Gearing up for the NBA draft this Thursday, I started playing around with ESPN’s NBA trade machine and found a potential trade that could improve the Knicks point guard position going forward once the Chauncey Billups- 2 year plan is over in New York.

Knicks:
Bill Walker SG- $854,389 for 1 years
&
Renaldo Balkman PF- $1,675,000 for 2 years

For

Minnesota Timberwolves:
Jonny Flynn PG- $3,192,000 for 3 Years

Analysis: David Kahn, GM of the T-Wolves, has three point guards on his bizarre NBA roster made up of former college All-Americans. With Ricky Rubio finally coming to the Timberwolves, Kahn needs to get rid of Jonny Flynn, whom he foolishly picked with the 1st round pick the Timberwolves received from the Kevin Garnett trade to Boston. Flynn was never put in a good situation to succeed with the T-Wolves. He was constantly playing with new teammates, the wrong system in Kurt Rambis’s triangle offense, bad chemistry coupled with the worse team in the NBA, and of course had to deal with Rubio waiting in the rafters to take over the starting point guard position. The Knicks would be an ideal landing spot for Flynn, who had a terrific college career at Syracuse University and would be embraced by the Garden faithful for being a hometown kid. Flynn is also a true point guard, and his distribute the ball first mentality is something the Knicks need going forward. Further, having Chuancey Billups as a mentor to Flynn could work wonders for the Knicks and could potentially make Billups even more expendable at the trading deadline next season.

Written By, Mike Durnin @ Sports Fan Blog Network

The day has finally come. Call the press. Mark your calendars. Two years after being drafted 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2009 NBA Draft, Rick Rubio has finally signed a contract with the team, and plans — for now — to play in the NBA next season. Under law, all babies born in the next 3 days will be named Ricky Rubio. That will be their first names. So their names will be Rick Rubio, and then their last names. So if a child’s last name is Smith, its name… Okay I think you get the point.

Rubio’s arrival to the NBA and the Timberwolves has been delayed by contractual issues involving a $6 million buyout clause Rubio would have had to pay out of his own pocket if he decided to leave his Regal Barcelona (I think that’s a basketball team) last year after he was drafted. It has also been fairly obvious that Rubio has had his doubts about moving to and playing in Minnesota. Now before you go criticize young Ricky, you should remember that he comes from a country that looks like this. And that he’s going to a place that looks like this. And yes, the title of that picture is “desolate.”

That being said, Ricky Rubio now has by far the best name in the NBA, and is surely going to be a massive hit with the good folks of Minnesota. In fact, Timberwolves All-Star forward Kevin Love jumped at the opportunity of welcoming the young Spaniard after hearing the good news, tweeting “Rick Rubio, huh? I’ll believe it when I see it…” Great start. Hey, at least the Timberwolves shouldn’t feel bad about the guys they passed up in the 2009 Draft. I mean Stephen Curry isn’t really all that good, neither is DeMar Derozan or Ty Lawson or Darren Collinson. I mean look at Memphis, they picked Hasheem Thabeet ahead of Tyreke Evans.

Still have no idea who I’m talking about? Perfect. Then it is my honor to introduce you to a future star and one of the purest and rawest talents in recent memory. Move over LeBum. This is Ricky Rubio’s time. [Roll video titled "Born to be Wild"]. Classic.

We are now three weeks into the NBA season. Already there have been some players and teams that are stepping up their game and outperforming expectations. So let’s take a look.

Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets
I picked Nawlins to squeak into the playoffs in the preseason. Who would’ve thought they would come out firing like this? Chris Paul is once again at the top of his game after missing extended time last year. Everyone pegged Deron Williams as the best point guard in the game, but they seemed to have forgotten just how good Paul is. The Hornets started out winning their first eight games with quality wins over the Bucks twice, Spurs, Nuggets, Heat, and Blazers. At 8-1, the Hornets are rolling along. The question is, can they keep it up? They’ve answered the dinner bell so far.

Richard Jefferson and the San Antonio Spurs
The silver and black stumbled out of the gate last year with a 4-6 start. At 8-1, this year is a completely different story. The Spurs offense is explosive, currently ranked second in the league behind the Lakers at 108.9 points per game. Richard Jefferson has looked markedly better and more comfortable than last year. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have been one of the best backcourt tandems in the league once again, all while Tim Duncan rests and has scored in single digits in each of the last three games. All that’s left to do is show what they’ve got against the elites. The only quality wins so far were against the Suns and Thunder.

Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat
So I guess that 72-10 mark isn’t going to be contested this year? First it was the Heat who had the chance to do this, then it was the Lakers once they started 8-0. Kids these days… We are so eager to demolish records before teams even play the games. But I digress. I included Chris Bosh because he has been unbelievably mediocre. He is averaging just 14.5 points per game at this point with only 6 rebounds. That’s no good with the label of the Big Three and the remarkably high expectations. This team is still figuring out the kinks. They might not figure it all out until the playoffs arrive. Could it be possible this team isn’t as good as advertised?

Cleveland Cavaliers
A lot of people said the Cavs would be dead in the water this season. One analyst said they would only win 12 games this year. Through 10 games they sit at 5-5 and are playing tremendous team basketball. The highest scoring guy is J.J. Hickson with 15.2. Granted, the only team they’ve beaten with a winning record are the Celtics, but let’s not take anything away from them. They’ve endured so much already. Cleveland should be ecstatic and optimistic for the future. Maybe this team wasn’t just LeBron James and a bunch of bums…

Monta Ellis and the Golden State Warriors
A 7-4 record to start the season with a new coach and a hobbling Stephen Curry ain’t too shabby. Their only marquee win was against the Jazz, but with their style of play, they can beat anybody on any given night. The trio of Curry, Ellis, and David Lee looks stellar. Ellis has been lights out since game one when he dropped 46 on the Rockets, averaging 26.5 points per game. Their play style and lack of defense probably won’t take them far in the long run, but one thing’s for sure, when these guys take the court, you better get your popcorn ready (in the famous words of Terrell Owens).

Michael Beasley
B-Easy, as some call him, has reemerged as the player everyone thought he would be as the number two pick. He is averaging 21.2 points per game, including 42 and 35 point performances against the Kings and Knicks respectively. Problem is, the Timberwolves still suck. They sit at 3-9 and have played a rough schedule to start out. Losses include games against the Hawks twice, Magic, Heat, and Lakers. The good news is there is renewed optimism with this franchise starting with Kevin Love and Michael Beasley.

By Josh Delp of the Sports Fan Blog Network

There are a pair of games on ESPN tonight that are sure to impress. The humiliated Bulls, who lost to the Knicks at home last night, travel to Boston to play the Celtics. In the night cap, Blake Griffin and the Clippers travel to the mile high city to play Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets. Both should be good games, but the one I wanted to see was the Heat going up against the surprisingly 4-0 Hornets. It will be interesting to see how the Heat match up with quite possibly the best point guard in the league in Chris Paul.

So without further ado, here are my picks for each of the 12 games on the Friday night slate.

Bucks over Pacers
Scott Skiles is having a hard time getting their opponents to fear the deer in this early season. They’ve stumbled out of the gate at 1-4 and are facing Granger and the steady 2-2 Pacers. I like the Bucks to get the road win against another East team who is still trying to find their way. Indiana looks pretty good though with the improvement of Roy Hibbert and the arrival of Darren Collison.

Magic over Nets
Stan Van Gundy’s crew is fresh off a butt-wooping they put on the lowly Timberwolves in which they scored 78 points by halftime. They get this win at home tonight over a Nets team that is still figuring out who they are with all of the new pieces.

76ers over Cavaliers
This was a tough one, but I’m going with the home team. I’m still waiting to see what Evan Turner has to offer this team. I had high expectations for him, but with Andre Iguodala still in Philly, it will be tough to figure out where he fits in on this team. Still, I like them over the reeling Cavaliers, losers of three straight after their opening win over Boston. Antawn Jamison is likely out but Mo Williams will play and start for the first time this year.

Bobcats over Pistons
Will this be the game where the Pistons get their first win? I don’t think so. After stumbling out of the gate a bit, the 1-3 Bobcats eked out a win against the Nets on Wednesday. I look for them to keep it going against the hapless Pistons.

Wizards over Knicks
I like the wiz kid, John Wall, to lead them to victory over the three-point happy Knicks who coming off a big win in the Windy City last night. This is the type of up and down game Wall should thrive in tonight. Don’t be surprised if he does a lot of the things he did against the Sixers on Tuesday where he almost got a triple-double.

Celtics over Bulls
Boston’s not good on back-to-backs. That was made evident in their loss to Cleveland after beating the Heat. Going on two days rest and a grind-out win over the Bucks, I think the Celtics get the win at home in a tightly contested battle of two top teams in the East.

Hornets over Heat
The undefeated “Nawlins” Hornets are at home for the slightly hobbled LeBron James and the Miami Heat. Chris Paul will impose his will whoever is guarding him. Which begs the question: who will that be? It should be interesting. On the flip side, who accounts for James and Dwyane Wade?

Hawks over Timberwolves
The Wolves are just bad. They’ve given up at least 100 points in each of their four losses, including 129 and 128 to the Heat and Magic respectively. The Hawks are undefeated at 5-0. They’ll easily win this one despite not having Marvin Williams.

Suns over Grizzlies
Steve Nash and the boys are coming off a close home loss to the Spurs. I think their bench gets it done against the Grizz with Zach Randolph questionable to return to the lineup.

Clippers over Nuggets
In the ESPN night cap game, I like the Clippers upsetting the Nuggets on the road. They played well against the Thunder a few nights ago and I think they will play well enough together to get this win. The Nuggets continue to be without post presence with the absences of Kenyon Martin and Chris Anderson. Griffin should be able to have a field day on the glass.

Warriors over Jazz
Golden State is a surprising 3-1 to start the season. They are at home for the Jazz, a team that just can’t win on the road. They do have an impressive road win against the Thunder, but they also got blown out by the Suns. Monta Ellis will continue his hot shooting streak in this one. I believe the Dubs get the upset win.

Lakers over Raptors
I don’t really have to explain this. Toronto is at the bottom of the East and L.A. is at the top of the West. It should be a blowout in a game where Kobe Bryant is done by the fourth quarter, maybe even sooner.

By Josh Delp of the Sports Fan Blog Network

The Timberwolves went into the 2009-10 season hoping forwards Al Jefferson and Kevin Love and point guard Jonny Flynn would be the foundation of an NBA playoff contender in two or three years.

That was the modest timetable set forth by David Kahn when he took over as president of basketball operations in May.

Based on the Wolves’ 15-66 record heading into tonight’s season finale against Detroit at Target Center — and the varying degrees of disappointment experienced by Jefferson, Love and Flynn — it’s uncertain whether the franchise is on course to maintain long-range plans to build around the young trio.

Injuries, trade rumors and personal problems plagued Jefferson most of the season. Love never embraced coach Kurt Rambis’ decision to bring him off the bench, yet he arguably had the best overall season of any Wolves player and established himself as one of the NBA’s best rebounders.

Click here to read the full article – By Ray Richardson of Pioneer Press

The Minnesota Timberwolves finally put an end to their long losing spell, and they did it against a team that had owned them over the last three years.


Ryan Gomes scored 27 points, the most by a Timberwolves player this season, and Minnesota snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 106-100 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.

“Man, you don’t know how much a weight is off our shoulders right now,” Gomes said. “It was tough for us, but we had to battle. We knew it was going to break one day.”

The shock was it came against the Nuggets, who had won their previous 10 meetings against Minnesota and had been dominating at home, where they’d won 17 regular season games in a row dating to last spring.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Minnesota Timberwolves Sports Memorabilia
and other Minnesota Timberwolves Gifts and Collectibles

This isn’t a joke, even if it sounds like one after the Timberwolves’ historically abysmal 146-105 loss at Golden State on Monday night …

Two Oracle Arena employees walk into work late Monday afternoon.

One guy says to the other, “If we can’t beat Minnesota, there’s no hope.”

Ditto?

By the time it thankfully was over, the Wolves had tied franchise records for points allowed in a game and biggest margin of defeat.

“It’s an embarrassment,” Wolves forward Al Jefferson said. “We just got embarrassed.”


Click here to read the full article – By JERRY ZGODA of startribune.com

Minnesota Timberwolves Sports Memorabilia
and other Minnesota Timberwolves Gifts and Collectibles