National Basketball Association

Timberwolves tumble to number 4

Published May. 19, 2010 3:05 a.m. ET

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The Minnesota Timberwolves are lottery losers again.

Just don't expect them to sit there and accept it.

The Timberwolves went into Tuesday night's draft lottery with the second-best chance to land the No. 1 overall pick. They ended up tumbling down to No. 4, the latest in a long line of hard luck in the NBA's annual drawing.

But team president David Kahn made it clear that the Wolves, who own pick Nos. 4, 16 and 23 in the first round, will be looking to move.

``I'd say the likelihood is that we do do something before the night of (June) 24th,'' Kahn said. ``I'd be very surprised if we are at 4, 16 and 23 on the night of the draft.''

In 13 tries, the Timberwolves have never improved their position in the lottery. They have fallen seven times and picked where they were slotted on six occasions.

Knowing that, Kahn did his best to try to manage expectations heading into the event, and that didn't stop when disappointment again fell upon this unlucky franchises.

``I know that the first reaction is one of despair and disconsolation,'' Kahn said in a conference call from New Jersey. ``It's just not that kind of night for me, at least, and I hope it's not for our entire organization.''

Now it's time for Kahn to go to work. In less than a year on the job, he has already shown a penchant for dealing. Shortly after taking over as the basketball boss last May, Kahn made more than a dozen roster moves - trades, buyouts, signings and cuttings - to remake the roster and put the team in a position to compete for free agents and draft picks this summer.

One of those moves was trading veterans Mike Miller and Randy Foye to Washington for the No. 5 overall pick in the last draft, so he isn't shy about moving players for picks.

With all those draft picks, a few attractive salaries on the roster and an abundance of salary cap room, Minnesota has the chips to be a power player leading up to the draft.

``I think we have enough in our arsenal and enough maneuverability to move around in this draft,'' Kahn said.

The Wolves would have loved to stay put and pick No. 2. Kentucky's John Wall and Ohio State's Evan Turner are widely considered the best two players in the draft.

A gathering of season ticket holders at Target Center bellowed a collective ``Noooo!'' when deputy commissioner Adam Silver pulled the Timberwolves' card out of the No. 4 envelope.

Hey, it could have been worse. The Timberwolves could have fallen as far as No. 5. Even though they tied a franchise record for futility and finished with the second-worst record in the NBA at 15-67, the best odds - at over 30 percent - were that the Wolves would get No. 4.

That's just what happened, but don't count Kahn among those dejected.

``I'm sorry if I'm not appropriately saddened, but I'm not,'' he said. ``I'm looking forward to really attacking this over the next six weeks.''

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