Jonah Ballow
Wolves Editor/Writer
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David Kahn Audio

Kahn Opening Statements:
“As you know, we have traded Randy Foye and Mike Miller to Washington for the fifth pick in the draft and three players that I think in various ways will help us next season, and in one case maybe for a couple season, in Etan Thomas, Darius Sonagalia and Oleksiy Pecherov.

“First off, let me say this, I wish Randy and Mike well. I am hopeful that they are pleased. Meaning, in the case of Randy, he is moving closer to home first of all from a logistics standpoint but second of all that he will be on a very good team. I don’t think he’ll have the pressure that he may have felt here perhaps at times during his three years here. Randy is a very good player. Mike is a very good player and I feel the same way for him too. I think that Mike will thrive there. I’m very hopeful that they help Washington next year and that they have a great year. So, I wish them well.

“In our case, not only do we get the pick, but very quickly I do believe that all three of these players have an opportunity to help us next season and perhaps beyond. Etan gives us somebody who in the past has started some games at center, very physical, very tough and I think will have a significant place on this team next season depending on what other moves we are made only this week but throughout summer.

“I believe Darius could help us not just this season, but if he chooses to stay – he has an option for the second year. Darius can help us. He’s what’s known in the nomenclature as a spacing four, which is a power forward that steps out and shoots. Which with our team and Al Jefferson is a very effective quality.

“And lastly, I’m very intrigued by Pecherov. He was the 18th pick taken in the 2006 Draft. He’s a seven-foot forward. He’s really not a center or low post guy. He’s very young like everybody we deal with these days. We’ll have an opportunity to see him this summer and in training camp before we make a determination if we want to pick up his option for 2010-11.”

Kahn on whether they are selling the 28th pick to the Knicks:
“No. We’ve had a lot of interest in it, but we’ve made absolutely no decision with any of these picks. I know it might sound crazy, it’s early still. It really is. I think there will be a lot of discussion today and a lot of discussion tomorrow. Some things may happen during. It’s very early.”

Kahn on offers for picks:
“It’s not that we have dismissed or agreed to anything. Right now we have all this stuff on the table. And we need to now put all this stuff on the table and figure out what would be the best combination of stuff to do. We may not even figure some of this stuff out until the Draft. I felt that it was important to do this trade first because I wanted it to kind of sit out there a bit so people kind of absorbed it and maybe would increase our options based on what people thought the extra pick required. So that remains to be seen too.”

Kahn on whether he will be making other moves during the Draft:
“Don’t’ know. We’ve thought about everything. What I will not do – I want to be really clear on this -- we will not trade five and six for two. We will not do that under no circumstances.”

Kahn on whether he has any clearer picture on what is going on above him:
“Just when I think I have a pretty good idea, it changes one hour later. It’s like clockwork. So no, I don’t. And frankly I think some of the teams above us legitimately are probably still thinking it through. I don’t necessarily think it’s all necessarily subterfuge. I think that they’re struggling perhaps, in a good way because I think there are a lot of good choices.”

Kahn on whether acquiring another top pick was part of the plan:
“This is only the first period of activity that I anticipate over the next 15-16 months. No matter what occurs tomorrow, training camp doesn’t start Friday. We have all summer to continue to explore some opportunities and to address the roster and three months is a long time. We have free agency this summer. I think I’ve said this in the past, I expect us to be active. If not necessarily as a team to sign a free agent as somebody who is perhaps a trading partner. I think this is going to be a very intense, fascinating summer in that respect.

“We did this deal because I felt that this was the last chance for some of our expiring contracts to procure a pick – a high pick. After Thursday, you can’t trade these guys for a pick. You can only trade them for another player or you choose the route they play here for a year and survey how they do and you make a decision if you want to re-sign them or you use their room if the contract is expiring and let them go in free agency. I felt very strongly that it would be good for the team and for our organization if we had another high pick. I felt that this was the time to do it with these two players because after Thursday you can’t do it.”

Kahn on whether this is a weak draft:
“I think at the top of the draft in particular, it feels about like it always feels. So, no. I feel that it is a guard-heavy draft, so maybe that’s what some of the perception is. And maybe the depth isn’t quite what it is in some years. I think I’ve said this before, every year you run into worst ever, best ever. No matter what year it is, it’s always something ever. I don’t know. I haven’t researched it. But I think some of the players especially at the top of the draft in the vicinity that we are at can be very helpful.”

Kahn on whether Miller fit in:
“We talked about that of course. The threshold issue was, given the ages of Al and Kevin and that we already had a high pick, at Mike’s age is he going to be part of the core nucleus? And if he’s not. Then that begs the question: Can he be a complementary piece and at what price? You begin to sort through all those things. It kept coming back as a threshold issue and he was probably not part of our core nucleus as we move forward. And if that’s the case, you have to examine what could we get. And that was sort of the thinking there.”

Kahn on his Draft war room:
“We’ll have the same staff members, both the basketball operations staff who have been scouting these players and the coaching staff, just as they have been in every meeting this week and previous weeks with us. It will be my decision. They understand that. But of course, Glen (Taylor) will be here and I will continue to keep Glen apprised of all our options. And of course he will be there as well.”

Kahn on whether Ricky Rubio’s excitement perception would factor into his evaluation:
“Not at all. I’ve said this in the past, not that anybody I know has done this, but I think that if we based a decision on that fact and that fact alone or even if that fact was a big piece of it, I think that would be a big mistake. If you take that to its logical next step: what if he doesn’t perform up to expectations? Then all of a sudden nobody is really excited with what you have as much as people are disappointed. Let me say this, I don’t want this to come across the wrong way, this is a hypothetical. I do think Ricky Rubio will be a very good player.”

Kahn on whether he has spoken with Memphis:
“We’ve been in discussions with Memphis over the last several days.”

Kahn on whether it mattered Washington was in the Eastern Conference:
“I think you always try to just make the best deal basketball-wise. If Washington had been in the Western Conference, I don’t think that would have influenced our decision. I think people are driven by self desire, as we all are.”

Kahn on whether it was easier to part with two guards knowing it is a guard-heavy draft:
“Yes and no. I do think it was helpful, but I also want to offer a cautionary note. As I’ve said, many of these kids are 19, 20 and 21 years old. And the likelihood of them being able to step on the court on opening night next season and immediately contributing is pretty far-fetched, no matter how good they are. I don’t expect that we will see the kind of production, whoever these two kids are or more, immediately to match Randy and Mike. I think that’s impossible frankly. It would almost be too much to believe.

“I think what I’m trying to say is: We will have to be patient. We are in the player development business – happily. It will be incumbent upon us to help not only these two young players but our other young players be the best they can over the shortest amount of time.”

Kahn on whether shooting or ball-handling is more important from his guards:
“As I’ve said, we didn’t shoot well enough last year. Just look at the statistics. We need to shoot better, especially if Al is on the team. And he is on the team and he’s being double teamed in the post. But we also need to do other things better. We need dribble drive penetration. We need a five with some length. We need several components still. But I’m hopeful that at least this week we can maybe knock one or two off the list, leaving still some things to do but if we can start making progress toward over the next 15-16 months addressing all these needs. Having said that, no team is perfect. We can’t expect at the end of 15-16 month that it will be a masterpiece. It won’t. Given the complexities with the salary cap, the luxury tax and the kind of fiscal challenges that we all face throughout this league, there will probably be a flaw or a blemish even after we are done.”

Kahn on whether he feels confident heading into his first Draft:
“I’ve been in enough Draft rooms and that’s helpful. I’ve been in nine of them so I kind of know the drill. While I wouldn’t say it’s like riding a bike, I’m sure it will feel as we approach it that there will be some anxiousness. That’s human nature, right? But in a good way. I think we’re fairly well positioned. Based on the way the Draft has laid out, I’m pretty confident stating we will be able to obtain two pretty good players. And again though, two very young players. And what they will become, and you can say this for almost every kid in this Draft, what they will become will remain to be seen. It’s just impossible at that age to say he will be this, he will be that. We’re all in the same boat.”

Kahn on how he thinks Foye will play in Washington:
“I mean this sincerely, I think both these guys will do very well and help that team a lot. They’re good players, that’s why Washington wanted them. That’s why Washington did this. They’re going for it and they found on our roster two players, in two different positions, who will help them. I’m excited for both those players. Unless something disastrous happens, it looks to me on paper that Washington will be formidable next year. And I imagine they will really be meaningful parts to what they are doing.”

Kahn on whether Foye struggled because he was being compared to Brandon Roy:
“That wasn’t it. I just felt that he’ll be better at the next place because here he went through what position is he, he had some injuries. He needs to find his groove and I think he will. First of all, he averaged 16 points last year. So we’re not talking about somebody who really struggled. But I think even Randy would say he needs to find his groove. And this is just me, maybe I’m wrong, my gut tells me it’s easier to find a groove in a new environment. And I think he will.”

Kahn on whether he and McHale disagreed about evaluations of players:
“No. I think we covered that quite early and I thought he was very accepting of the notion that as long as it was a fair deal and we were getting value back, you can’t become too attached to the players. I thought he was very up front about that. Kevin is not like that. I think Kevin is very mentally healthy and he gets it.”

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