The Hate List

I get accused of being a "hater" a lot. It's a fair enough charge. But, I have my reasons, man. So, in the interest of tracking my "hating" in the new season, I thought I'd list some of my "targets"

• David Kahn/Timberwolves future: I've been pretty open in my mockery of Kahn since his laughable handling of the Rubio situation, both immediately following the draft and since then. It's not exactly difficult to rip off a list of the substantive moves he's made that look, well, odd:
  

1. drafting Rubio apparently without a plan;
   
   
2. immediately following by taking a second PG who he had probably only seen play once who was self-evidently a terrible fit for the offense his newly picked coach wished to run;
   
   
3. sign yet a third point guard in Ramon Sessions to ensure the second point guard had as little trade value as possible;
   
   
4. talk down the ability of his two best players (Love and Jefferson) to play together;
   
   
5. sign Darko;
   
   
6. pass on DeMarcus Cousins to draft Wesley Johnson (which may have made sense if he wasn't about to acquire Michael Beasley in an admittedly decent move which showed he could help build a winner, in Miami, or if he wasn't hell-bent on trading Jefferson for pennies on the dollar); and
   
   
7. make said deal which sent Jefferson to Utah.

And that's before we even get to the fairly ludicrous figure he has cut in public at various times, which leads us nicely to today's dose of quality PR (h/t to TSC):

According to a league source, the Timberwolves have asked the NBA to look into whether Portland knowingly traded them an injured player when the Blazers dealt Martell Webster to Minnesota for the 16th overall pick in last summer's draft.

Webster on Monday underwent surgery to repair a disk in his back and is expected to miss about six weeks. He said the injury dates to last spring's playoffs, when he was undercut and fell hard in a game against Phoenix.

The Wolves are likely looking for a draft pick as compensation.

Because due diligence is hard. Yet for some reason, hope springs not quite eternal in Minny, but still it springs. Because they have a plan. All evidence to the contrary. Hate rating: A+

• Brandon Jennings: Ok, he's already better than I thought he would be. While that not be saying that much yet, I'll admit that I missed on this one a little (which may turn into "a lot" if he learns how to shoot). Hate Rating: C+
  
  
• Atlanta Hawks: I don't hate the Hawks, I really don't. I just look at their roster and see a not-quite superstar two guard getting paid as if he were, an undersized center who they don't seem sure what to do with, and an all-world talent in Josh Smith who is at least an all-continent knucklehead. Jamal Crawford is both not really that good, and not especially likely to duplicate his performance from last season. Mike Bibby is D-O-N-E. They are going to put up a decent record in a terrible Eastern conference and have no real shot at doing anything meaningful in the post season. Not hate, just real talk. Hate Rating: D+
  
  
• Tyeke Evans: I think he'll have a fine career as a stat whore on bad-to-mediocre teams. Which is perfectly fine, but some were comparing him to a young Dwyane Wade last season. Simmer down, now. Hate Rating: B+
  
  
• Andray Blatche: Similar to Tyreke, but with a much more demonstrable history of knuckleheadedness. Congratulations, you were the least awful option for the Wizards during the franchise's nuclear winter. That doesn't make you good. It makes you Cory Maggette minus the awesome nickname. Hate Rating: A-
  
  
• Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton: I don't think either are necessarily bad players, I just think that the explosion both experienced during the second half of last year doesn't really tell us much. The analogy I'd use is that they were pitchers called up by non-contenders in late August who blew through the league the fist time through. Now that people have seen their stuff, they might start to get knocked around a little bit. Hate Rating: C+
  
  
• LakerFan: Like I need an explanation for this. Hate Rating: A+++