T-Wolves GM David Kahn at It Again, Ships Al Jefferson Away

As noted here on FanHouse Tuesday morning, Timberwolves GM David Kahn has done it again: Minnesota has agreed to send Al Jefferson, a 25-year-old power forward who has two 20-10 seasons under his belt, to the Jazz in exchange for a Memphis first-round pick which (due to protections) will never be in the top-9 as well as Utah's own 2011 pick, which is unlikely to be higher than No. 20 or so.

In a vacuum, the trade is pretty questionable for the Wolves, who desperately need talent but sent away the team's most talented player. It's when you consider the move with the rest of Kahn's oeuvre that the mind-numbing stupefication comes through.

Sure, the Wolves now have some more cap space to work with. But, Kahn has repeatedly thrown away cap space on middling, ill-fitting players to date. Sure, the Wolves now could have three first-round picks in the 2011 NBA Draft. But Kahn had three first-round picks in the 2010 NBA Draft, and came away with Wesley Johnson, Lazar Hayward and two years of Martell Webster, who will be gone by the time the Wolves will be ready to contend for so much as 12th place in the West.

Share In other words, the trade might be salvageable if Kahn had shown at any point he has an actual plan for this franchise.

Kahn's performance has been so disappointing I actually wonder if a delicious avocado would have better results as the GM of the Timberwolves. Let's turn to the tape!

Assuming the avocado could not execute any trades or free agent signings but did manage to make the team's draft picks, there's the comparison of assets acquired or lost since Kahn began his Reign of Horror in May 2009. Note the lack of draft revisionism; you don't even need to make the case for Stephen Curry over Jonny Flynn or DeMarcus Cousins over Wesley Johnson to see that the Wolves would be in a better position had Glen Taylor hired an inanimate fruit instead of Kahn.

Again, the Stockholm Syndrome victims in the Twin Cities supporting Kahn's move will cite the flexibility created by moving Al Jefferson and the extra picks acquired. I implore these poor unfortunate fans to look at how woefully Kahn has mismanaged prior assets. Is the GM going to magically crack the code of the NBA and take over the league?

Because I'm a malevolent analyst, I'd also like to submit for your consumption a graphic analysis of the results of the Kevin Garnett trade.

The Big Ticket, mind you, was a 10-time All-Star and former MVP, potentially the greatest defensive player of his era. Kahn's predecessor, Kevin McHale, certainly didn't help the franchise with the relatively meager package he negotiated in the Garnett trade, but Kahn has made sure the swap goes down in history as an absolute, unadulterated disaster.