FanHouse David Kahn

MINNEAPOLIS -- A look of disbelief crosses Bill Laimbeer's face. After all, he spent years perfecting such expressions for NBA referees.

"I don't know what you're talking about,'' Laimbeer said when asked if he's teaching those on the young Minnesota Timberwolves to flop.

When it comes to flopping, Laimbeer made Manu Ginobili's moves today look rather amateurish. The former Detroit Pistons center was the all-time master.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Al Jefferson wasn't even born when the incident happened in 1984. But he's seen the old footage.

"The only thing I knew about Kurt (Rambis) from him playing is the highlight of Kevin McHale knocking him out,'' said the Minnesota forward.

Jonny Flynn wasn't born when Rambis won the last his four titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988. But Flynn has seen the highlights as well.

"I remember he had the high socks, the thick glasses and the short shorts,'' said the Timberwolves point guard. "That was my first impressions about him. I said that when we first talked on the phone, and we got a good laugh about it.''

DENVER -- Big Al's health is no big concern.

At least that's the word from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Minnesota star center Al Jefferson missed Tuesday night's 129-100 preseason loss to Denver at the Pepsi Center. But Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said the primary reason was Jefferson being under the weather rather than the sore left Achilles that kept him out of practice Monday.

"Yes, he would of if this was an important game,'' Rambis said when asked if Jefferson would have been able to play Tuesday had he not taken ill and been left at the team hotel in Denver.

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When new Minnesota GM David Kahn made a play for free agent point guard Ramon Sessions, there were two ways to look at it. On the surface, the Sessions deal (four years, $16 million) is a fair price for a solid young playmaker. Given how bad Minnesota's backcourt has been, Sessions can't hurt, right?

But Kahn famously selected two high-profile point guards within the top six picks of the June draft, Spaniard Ricky Rubio and Syracuse's Jonny Flynn. Rubio stayed in Barcelona, all while Kahn insisted the plan was for the pair to play together in Minnesota. When Kahn signed Sessions, the plan was to play him and Flynn together. The problem, which I noted at the time of the signing, is that neither Sessions nor Flynn has any business playing off-guard.

It seems Wolves coach Kurt Rambis has now arrived at the same conclusion.

Come 2011 or 2012, the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to have a hell of a rotation at point guard.

Everybody's favorite new maverick GM, David Kahn, got over Ricky Rubio's rebuff in a hurry and went out and signed restricted free agent Ramon Sessions to a four-year, $16 million offer sheet, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Sessions, who played in Milwaukee last season, has been hanging out there all summer, drawing interest from a number of teams but never quite receiving that elusive offer. Until, that is, Rubio did his number on the Timberwolves.

At what point does Jonny Flynn become insulted?

Sure, Timberwolves capo David Kahn made fierce Flynn the No. 6 pick in the NBA draft, higher than Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday or Ty Lawson. But that pick came after Kahn already took a point guard, Mr. Ricky Rubio. Kahn proceeded to spend all summer trying to get Ricky to actually come play for the Wolves. (It didn't work.)

Now, as Rubio's rejection has seemingly made Flynn's path to the starting lineup clear, there's one more potential roadblock. Gerry Woelfel of the Racine Journal-Times reports that Kahn may soon be presenting restricted free agent point guard Ramon Sessions with an offer sheet.

Largely, Timberwolves general manager David Kahn's final statement on L'Affair Ricky Rubio is concillatory. Kahn echoes the assertion that Rubio will actually become a better basketball player by competing in the world's No. 2 league for the next two years instead of getting 25 minutes a night in the NBA. He says he understands and even endorses Rubio's decision.

But before he gets to all that Kumbaya, he lets the world know that Rubio, DKV Joventut and the Wolves had a handshake deal Saturday night to bring Ricky to the NBA immediately ... and that Rubio backed out on Monday.

It's July 1, 2011. The Timberwolves have added only a second-round pick in the June draft ... but hope to get much better by adding the 21-year-old Euroleague MVP, Ricky Rubio, to the team. Corey Brewer is a restricted free agent, and Kevin Love is eligible for an extension. But the real focus is on Rubio, a gifted passer who has blossomed into an uncanny playmaker while developing in Barcelona.

There's just one problem: the league's owners have locked out the players. The union and ownership couldn't hash out a new collective bargaining agreement over the previous two summers, and the 2011-12 season is in jeopardy. The Wolves are not allowed to ink Rubio to his rookie deal, because there's no guarantee he'll have a team to play for if he ditches Barcelona.

With all the uncertainty swirling around the NBA, Rubio declines his Barcelona buyout option before the August deadline, and stays in Spain another year. Or longer. This, surely, wasn't what David Kahn had in mind.

Remember last week's report out of Spain that Regal Barcelona had acquired the rights to Ricky Rubio, who in turn agreed to a six-year deal that included an affordable buyout in 2011?

The report was shot down by U.S. journalists almost as quickly as it was translated, but after one final weekend of failed negotiations by Timberwolves GM David Kahn, several published reports (on both sides of the ocean this time) have finally confirmed that the original report has in fact come true: Barcelona has acquired Rubio's rights, and Rubio will stay in Europe until 2011 at the earliest.

If Ricky Rubio is leaving DKV Joventut for Barcelona, as a report out of Spain indicated on Wednesday, it's news to Timberwolves GM David Kahn, who released the following statement on his team's Web site:

"Based on the information I have attained today, no team in any league has reached a deal with DKV Joventut concerning Ricky's buyout, which must be accomplished before Ricky is released from his contract with DKV Joventut."