Change approaching slowly for growing Timberwolves

The Timberwolves are going to play this season with or without Ricky Rubio, though it would be nice to figure either out. Buyout rumors swirled this week about the Spanish point guard's future outside the NBA, prompting new Minnesota general manager David Kahn to issue a statement Wednesday pronouncing nothing new on that front.

So as the Rubio saga drags on, the Wolves move on. Change has been the order of the offseason as Minnesota hopes to reverse its half-decade slide. These lottery participants of the last five years have turned over the front office, with Kahn and coach Kurt Rambis, and overhauled the roster.

The change in direction could be seen as alarming, considering the Wolves "blew it up" just two summers back with the trade of Kevin Garnett. The latest round of upheaval hasn't sped up the timetable.

"Our time is many years away -- at least two, perhaps even three," Kahn said recently. "But I think that league-wide there is a sense that there are some pieces here that are nice pieces and that there is the opportunity to be part of something special."

Rubio and fellow point guard Jonny Flynn highlighted an interesting Draft class that also included guard Wayne Ellington. The team is clearly built around bruising power forward Al Jefferson, who is coming off knee surgery, last season's promising rookie Kevin Love and the new wave of youngsters.

Kahn made it clear during the coaching search that player development and management, along with establishing an up-tempo style, were the keys in turning the franchise around. Rambis realizes it won't be easy and the lumps are going to come.

"Clearly with younger ballplayers, mistakes are going to be made," he said. "We understand that. I will allow the players to learn and grow through their mistakes. Repeating the same mistakes will not be tolerated, but the players know they will have the freedom to go out and play the style of ball that we will be working to instill here.

"But in running, we don't want to run with reckless abandon. We will slowly show them what we want them to do given the options that they will have when they are working their way up the floor and then we will increase the pace with which we play."

Kahn has set out a bold and somewhat nebulous goal with respect to coaching these guys, calling it an "epiphany" that he shared with the staff in Las Vegas during NBA Summer League.

"We should become the best player development team in the league," Kahn said. "And I said to them very quickly thereafter, now I don't know what that means necessarily and it's for us to find out. And I said to them you might even need to put together a mission statement. What does it mean to become the best player development program in the league?

"We will have on this staff a couple of young coaches who I expect to be on call 24/7 throughout the season so that if Jonny Flynn wants to shoot at 10 o'clock at night in our practice facility, there is somebody available to shoot with Jonny Flynn at 10 o'clock at night at the practice facility."

The Wolves have also added athletic center Ryan Hollins and several players that could be valuable in future trades, including Mark Blount, Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins. Among those dealt this offseason: Mike Miller, Sebastian Telfair, Randy Foye and Quentin Richardson.

Minnesota may be hard-pressed to match last season's 24 wins after the latest roster flip. Kahn is fully aware of the fan disconnect and the challenging days ahead, but is confident that this course is the right one.

"I understand the next couple of years in particular, we may not be the winningest team in the league, although I'm hopeful we can create some trouble for people, especially with the style of play," Kahn said. "But I truly do believe that there will be few places that will be more exciting and more fun than our place these next couple of years with the people we've added and with the style of play change and a new coach and some of the other things occurring.

"And that will continue to occur that this could be a very, very energized atmosphere and we'll be able to start to show people on the court that it's a new day."

If you have a question or comment for Art Garcia, send him an email.

Minnesota Timberwolves