The Timberwolves traded for Martell Webster back during the Great Small Forward Rush of 2010. Jest aside, Minnesota was awful on the wings and in the backcourt last season. (And also at center and, according to some, at coach and general manager.) It made sense that Wolves GM David Kahn would seek to improve his top-line talent and depth in the backcourt, and Portland made the young veteran Webster, a sharp shooter and solid defender, available in exchange for a mid-first round pick. That is how the Blazers came to acquire Luke Babbitt and how Webster became the de facto starting small forward of the Wolves.
Only Webster isn't playing. He had surgery Monday to correct a back injury, and he'll miss the first six weeks of the season. When was his back injured? Well, that's a question that has the Timberwolves concerned and quite possibly angry.
Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports via an anonymous source that the Wolves have asked the NBA to investigate whether the Blazers traded Webster knowing that he had an injury that would require surgery. TrueHoop's Henry Abbott essentially confirmed the news in a discourse with an unnamed Wolves official. Abbott goes on to both point out that this is exactly what physical examinations are all about and that at least one unnamed NBA executive is laughing about the latest Wolves folly.
The machinations of the Blazers' draft night also looms large. Kevin Pritchard was fired from his job as the Blazers' GM just hours before the draft, but still ran the team's war room, executing the Webster trade and making a few draft choices. As such, it's easy to surmise Pritchard and Kahn had been discussing a possible Webster deal leading up to draft day; whether Pritchard's demise forced Kahn's hand at the last minute only adds to the intrigue.
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