When the Minnesota Timberwolves announced Thursday they wouldn't pick up the team option on David Kahn's contract, the president of basketball operations suddenly had some spare time on his hands. Soon after the team made the news official, Kahn went on Minneapolis' KFAN radio to discuss a tenure that largely consisted of questionable decision-making.
David Kahn dishes on his time with the T-Wolves, Ricky Rubio and more
Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn, relieved of his duties, now has time to kick back.
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sport
One of Kahn's most-criticized moves came when the team chose point guards Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn with the fifth- and sixth-overall picks of the 2009 draft, a seemingly repetitive move. The Flynn pick turned out poor when he underwent a hip surgery, before eventually being traded to the Rockets and then dropping out of the NBA entirely.
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Kahn reasoned that the staff as a whole had Flynn ahead of Rubio on its draft board.
“Flynn was the No. 1 point guard in the staff’s eyes at that point,” Kahn said, adding that he personally had Rubio ahead of the former Syracuse Orangeman.
Kahn said that the team didn’t expect Rubio to join them that year, and with a desperate need for a point guard the double-dip at that position made sense. Seemingly shucking the blame of the selection, Kahn also said he should have changed the scouting process of the T-Wolves sooner, and radio host Dan Barreiro asked Kahn if he was placing blame on others.
“Blame me,” Kahn said. “No matter what occurred, good, bad, indifferent, I’m the one that should be blamed.”
Barreiro also asked Kahn if there was any knowledge of forward Kevin Love's broken hand that kept him out of the 2012-13 season for all but 18 games. Rumors had crept up that the breaks didn't occur when Love was doing knuckle push-ups.
“To this day, I have no reason to think otherwise,” Kahn said.
From a wider lens, Kahn said he thought he was leaving the team in a good place. He wondered how many other NBA teams had two future Hall of Famers on their rosters -- referencing Rubio and Love -- and said he changed the atmosphere, leading to players and coaches now viewing the Timberwolves as a landing spot.
To close out the interview, Kahn was asked what he planned to do now that he was without his front office position.
“I’ve got two Mad Men’s episodes backed up in my DVR,” he replied, “maybe have a few glasses of wine.”
Listen to the entire David Kahn radio interview with KFAN here.
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