The Wolves have made their fair share of interesting decisions in the first year under David Kahn. Drafting Ricky Rubio when there were indications he may not elect to cross the ocean. Then drafting another point guard in Jonny Flynn. Then signing another point guard in Ramon Sessions.
And that’s before you get into signing a coach who runs a difficult and complicated system that’s never been successfully replicated without either the #1 or #2 player in the league, or the myriad issures around possibly looking to trade Al Jefferson.
But there could be another bizarre decision on the horizon. Choosing Darko Milicic over Kevin Love.
Jerry Zigoda of the Star Tribune tells of a conversation with Darko regarding his decision of whether to return to Europe next year or re-sign with the Wolves, who obviously wanted him after trading for him and giving him minutes. The question was framed as whether he would return if given a starting job and promised 35 minutes a game. Darko said yes, because, well, that’s a pretty sweet deal. He even said money wasn’t a huge factor there.
Sounds like a nice recovery story. Except there’s one little problem. Where does that leave Kevin Love and/or Al Jefferson?
Kevin Love has randomly wound up playing fewer and fewer minutes as the season has gone on, though he always produces on the floor. He’s a terrific rebounder, a versatile scorer, a great passer, and shows all kinds of upside. But he’s in the doghouse.
There’s no indication from the Wolves that they would be willing to give Darko such assurances, and in fact, it’s unlikely they’d move forward with such a risky move. Then again, taking a look at the decisions they’ve made so far, we might not want to discount anything. If they did decide to commit to Darko, you can be sure that’s the end of either Love or Jefferson in Minnesota. Those two are too talented to be relegated to sixth men roles.