Hungry Like the Wolf

[brutusbrutus]

Before I continue with the draft I would like to display the personality profiles of my three self drafted players that I have developed.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have had many draft picks over the last few years and all but a few of them have been traded to make room for more veteran talent or to get more future draft picks. There are three notable exceptions. David McDermott, who is the lead scorer on the team, Shang-de Teoh who is the starting SF and the defensive stopper of the team. Then there is Travis Tennell the starting PG and lead distributor.

Tennell was the 7th pick in 2011 he is coming into his fourth year in the league. He is 25 years old just entering his prime.

Travis Tennell shouldn't be as good as he is. It was a stretch for him to be drafted at 7 in 2011 and the pick was roundly criticized. Minnesota did the cardinal sin of the draft they drafted need over talent. Shannon Driggers was who the Timberwolves were after, but he was taken at number 6. Driggers went on to be one of the best defensive slashing point guards in the league with a bright future just as expected, Tennell however has surprisingly created his own path in the NBA.

Born to a working class family in a suburb of Detroit Tennell had hard work instilled into his personality at a young age, his father was a plumber and his mother worked as an in home care aid. Tennell remembers a childhood filled with family and friends. Tennell is the oldest of four siblings all three of his other siblings being sisters. Tennell didn't make his varsity basketball team until his Junior year and was no where near any scouts radar at that time. Tennell credits hard work and his high school coach with teaching him many fundamentals and tactics that he uses to this day. Tennell was noticed at this level by a scout from South Carolina State. Tennell immediately made an impact in South Carolina and by his junior year he was the teams leader.

Still not considered anything more than a 2nd round draft pick Tennell had an amazing run with South Carolina getting all the way to the finals, despite his skinny frame he defended well and had excellent fundamentals. Tennell had always wanted to finish his degree but his basketball stock was probably as high as it ever would be, so he declared for the draft expecting to be picked in the late teens or early twenties instead he was picked at 7.

In the NBA Tennell surprised everyone very quickly by having an outstanding rookie season scoring 13.0 PPG with 6.5 assists per game. Tennell shot better than expected.

Tennell's game is not based on speed, he does not have a good first step and does not drive into the lane like a classic point guard would, instead Tennell lives on the perimeter, usually when he drives it seems as though he is going in slow motion, he is able to use his long arms to make passes around opponents, when he does drive through the lane it is usually with the intention of drawing contact not actually making a shot.

Tennell's real world comparison would be Andre Miller, Tennell is not only crafty offensively but defensively as well. He swarms his opponents and rotates on defense as well as anyone, only his physical limitations(slowness and skinny frame) limit him. Tennell is a natural leader, he was married last June to his college romance, who was a star on the track and field team. Tennell has established a charity foundation to help with sports programs in public schools. Tennell is expecting his first child a girl in seven months.

David McDurmott is and always was an intense individual. Born in Cleveland, McDurmott was raised in a single family household as an only child. He was always a gifted athlete and has been scouted since he was 12 years old.

McDurmott his a road block in his Junior and Senior years in high school where despite leading his team to a successful record he was suspended from the team after he was caught with marijuana and alcohol. This forced McDurmott into a Division II college, Akron. McDurmott immediately made an impact becoming Akron's leading scorer, breaking a single season record of 29.8 points per game. McDurmott was known for getting in intense arguments with his teammates and his coach. McDurmott always claimed that he had good relationships with his teammates and his coach and that he just has a confrontational style and intense demeanor his teammates and coach backed this up.

McDurmott always wants the ball in his hands, he considers himself a star, he declared for the draft after only one season at Akron and he showed him self to be a great athlete in the workouts. The Timberwolves were extremely high on McDurmott, where other teams saw a headcase, the Timberwolves saw an intense competitor who could flat out play basketball.

Standing at only 6'3" McDurmott is small for a SG, he makes up for this somewhat with a good amount of muscular bulk and long arms. McDurmott has many tatoos, he rarely cracks a smile. McDurmott is known to play his best when he is against strong competition especially on defense. He is sometimes at odds with his teammates due to perceived bad decisions he sometimes makes, he also frequently yells and speaks harshly to teammates and coaches in practice. He is at the same time generous however often times inviting teammates out to local clubs and restaurants, where McDurmott sports flashy suits and a more laid back demeanor.

McDurmott works with the poor people of Minneapolis and his home town of Cleveland regularly volunteering with toy drives and works with business owners on community development projects. McDurmott has already expressed an interest in being a business man after his NBA career is done. A real world player comparison to McDurmott would be Jason Terry.

Shang-de Teoh Teoh was a dominant player in China, playing center and power forward there. He is from the Fuijan province and grew up in poverty. He was noticed by the government because of his incredible height at an early age. Teoh was promoted in China as a Chinese version of Magic Johnson or LeBron James. While he possess many skills and a strong drive to improve this was never really the case for Teoh.

Although it is true that Teoh dominated in China this was mostly because of his large 6'8" frame and his ability to score under the basket. What impressed the Timberwolves was Teoh's athletic abilities. While other teams were hesitant to select the athletic savant because they knew he would be a project the Timberwolves readily took on the role of molding Teoh into a good NBA player.

Teoh is all smiles off the court he is very gracious and has come close to mastering the English language rather quickly. It is said that Teoh's test scores in China were very good academically as well. Teoh came into the NBA as a raw prospect and the Timberwolves made the risky move of immediately giving him a starting job in the NBA. Teoh had an unspectacular rookie season and many wondered if Teoh would ever be a true NBA starter.

The Timberwolves stuck with Teoh and he quickly developed into a great defensive player with a tendency to come up in big situations. Teoh seems to be flawless on defense never making mistakes and rarely fouling. His lateral quickness is fantastic and he can guard PFs, SGs as well as SFs. Teoh rebounds well for his position and this is essential for a team that regularly gets out rebounded. Although Teoh's offensive game is still very raw the Timberwolves are hopefull that he may become a regular 13-15 PPG player in the future.

The most surprising aspect of Teoh's game is his ability to pass, although he isn't a great dribbler he does make spectacular passes to open big men in the lane, in his last season he was even allowed to run the offense on some occasions. Teoh is a brilliant player with many skills and he will constantly be underrated in the NBA because of his primitive offensive game. This is good because Teoh won't command max contract even though eventually he will probably be worth it.

Teoh might be all smiles off the court, but on the court he never smiles, he even has been known to pick up technical fouls occasionally, he has a physical style of defense. His real world comparison would probably be a combination of Andrei Kirilenko and Ron Artest.

Teoh spends a lot of time in China during the off-season working to promote the Chinese league. Teoh makes appearances for China on the world stage as a spokes person for Chinese sports.

[PointGuard]

Like the personalization. It will be interesting to see how these three develop.

[brutusbrutus]

The Timberwolves are not in the Lottery so I am just going to highlight a few of the more well known prospects.

C. Tony James: A big time prospect out of Michigan that set all types of rebounding records, his offensive game is limited, but he is an absolute beast on the boards.

PF. Svyatopolk Guseinev: This Russian will have the hardest name to spell or pronounce in the entire NBA, he is skilled on multiple levels an versatile.

SF. Josh Banks: A big time scorer that gets himself to the line which is a very valuable skill.

Lets now look at who the Timberwolves have a chance in drafting.

PF: Jesse Anderson, a young PF with great upside

PG: David Johnson, would make a fine backup

C: Hassan Ivory, a Center the Timberwolves would really love to have.

[brutusbrutus]

1. Cleveland drafts Tony James: As expected, I will be following his career just to see how many rebounds he can claim.

2. Toronto drafts S. Guseinev: "The Name" is drafted second, this is also no surprise.

3. Detroit drafts Josh Banks: Again no surprises, this years draft started out as predicted.

The Timberwolves drafted PF Jesse Anderson(Likely for another team), and PG Danny Dunn who is actually the nephew of the assistant coach T.R. Dunn.

[brutusbrutus]

Kevin Garnett officially retires

The Wolves renounce the rights to Luke Ridnour who also may retire.

Teoh was resigned for 4 years at 9 million dollars a year. The T-Wolves know what they have with this guy and they were not about to let him go.

Tennell Re-Signs for two more years at 3 million per year, this is a steal for the T-Wolves.

[brutusbrutus]

Big time trade by the Timberwolves

Minnesota receives
Joakim Noah
2 future 1st rounders

Chicago receives
Ricky Rubio
Anthony Morrow
Jesse Anderson
Gomes

Winner: Minnesota figured out their big man for the next two years, Pekovic will be injured next year and will probably take another year to fully recover. They also got more coveted draft picks. Chicago got immediate bench relief and now have one of the deepest benches in the league. This trade is really a win for both teams.

[brutusbrutus]

Roster

PG
Travis Tennell
Ronald Sandler
Danny Dunn

SG
David McDermott
Cliff Foster

SF
Robert Charity
Dean Ford
Victor Claver

PF
Quincy Burke
Tiny Gallon

C
Jevin Dixon
Dexter Pittman
Damon Baker

A lot of unknowns this time. McDermott should still bring thing team to a winning record.

[brutusbrutus]

Game 1(L): Lost to the young Houston Rockets, McDermott tried to do too much he only scored 17 on 18 shots.

Game 2(L): McDermott recovered to score 27 but it wasn't good enough the Timberwolves still lose in this high octane game.

Game 3(W): Finally a win McDermott scores 29 in the win, Tennell also adds 10 assists.

Game 4(W): McDermott hit his stride and scored 30 in this victory. A lot of the Summer League veterans are having a lot of fun in what will be their last summer league.

Game 5(L): The summer league veterans didn't even show up, its alright these guys played their guts out in the playoffs, it's just the summer league right now.

[brutusbrutus]

The Timberwolves need a PF, a defensive SG backup and maybe another SF. We don't have much money to spend. They Timberwolves are looking two league minimum contracts and a contract just under 2 million per year, this is due to the ownership not wanting to go past the hard cap too far.

Main Free Agents this year

Pau Gasol
Andre Iguodala
Stephen Jackson
Derrick Favors
DeMarcus Cousins

Nothing spectacular this year.

[brutusbrutus]

Thabo Sefolosha(2.5 over three years)
Nick Collison(League Minimum)
Craig Smith(League Minimum)

Sefolosha was brought in to bring defense to the SG position.

Craig Smith was brought in for his old limited backup role

Collison was brought in to insure someone was available if an injury occurred.