We're fairly sure we've used a similar intro before -- perhaps ever year RandBall has coexisted with the NBA draft lottery -- but it's just too apt. You see, we remember "The Lottery," a short story by Shirley Jackson, very well from our youth. The main, plot, per wiki, is a small town that has an annual lottery, where one person wins. And what do they win? Well, that person "is then stoned to death by everyone present as a sacrifice, all the while protesting about the fairness of the lottery." If that doesn't describe the Wolves' two decades of lottery futility, we don't know what does. Thirteen years in the lottery. Thirteen times the Wolves have either held steady (six) or moved down (seven). Never have they moved up; often they have missed out on franchise-changing talent because of it. Had they simply stayed put last night based on their record, they would have likely been able to take Evan Turner. Instead, David Kahn won the special Wolves' lottery and was pummeled internally with the realization that his job just got harder.
And that's about what we're left with here, isn't it? In this, the Summer of Kahn, there was no early break. His maneuverability would have been made so much easier with the No. 1 or No. 2 pick. Now, to jump into the top two (likely No. 2), the Wolves would have to trade some of the assets they could have otherwise used to acquire other desperately needed pieces.
So: it's all on Kahn now. He's been pointing toward this summer pretty much since he got here -- cap space, draft picks, a year to evaluate what is already in the stable. This is the offseason in which the Wolves cannot fail. If they do not remake themselves now, and give themselves some serious momentum, then when? It got considerably harder last night, when per tradition the NBA's members turned and threw their stones at the Wolves. David Kahn took the beating and insisted that this situation is not the end of the world. He talked about how with the Nos. 4, 16 and 23 picks right now, it's unlikely the Wolves will still have those three picks come draft night. Hopefully it wasn't just defiance in the face of disappointment. Maybe he can cook up something that makes all of this work in spite of the bad luck. He'll have a few months to pull it off, and we have to believe it will define his tenure here.
