Kevin McHale's shady signing of Joe Smith would end
up crippling the Wolves years later.
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Few would argue that Kevin McHale's success rate on draft day was exceptionally low. Kevin Garnett was arguably his only real success, while the regrettable draft day trade of Ray Allen for Stephon Marbury is another blemish on McHale's tattered record. ,Part of the blame can be placed on the fact that the Timberwolves didn’t have first round picks in 2000, 2001, 2002, or 2004. Of course, the fact Minnesota lost those picks also falls on McHale’s shoulders.
In an effort to work around the rules, McHale worked out an illegal agreement with free agent forward Joe Smith in 1999, where Smith signed a series of cheap one-year deals, in turn being promised a lucrative multi-year contract later. By signing for less than his market value, Smith allowed McHale to make a number of other personnel moves. The drawback? The NBA found out.
As a result, the team forfeited its next five first round picks (though the sentence was later reduced), lost Smith (who became a free agent), and was fined $3.5 million. The lost of picks was devastating, especially for a team whose second best draft pick up to that point may have been Wally Szczerbiak. McHale’s misstep severely crippled the Wolves’ chances to give Garnett a championship-caliber supporting cast and contributed to the team’s dropoff after 2004.
The fact that the Wolves made the playoffs every year from 1997 to 2004 is slightly more impressive considering the lack of first round picks in that span. However, the team’s sudden transition from a perennial playoff contender to conference bottom feeder becomes much less surprising in that context.
Though the Wolves’ success from 2000-2004 (they averaged 51.2 wins per season) meant their draft position would have been relatively low, it also meant they didn’t have any first round picks to try and move up with. As a result, Minnesota fans had to watch as players such as Kenyon Martin, Pau Gasol, Joe Johnson, Tony Parker, Yao Ming, and Dwight Howard were taken by other teams while the Wolves were forced to sit idle.
To rub some salt in the wound, McHale’s one pick during this time was Ndudi Ebi, one of the few major busts in the 2003 draft. Though the Wolves’ spot picking 26th overall left them out of the running for LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade, the three players picked after Ebi all own successful NBA careers, something McHale’s Nigerian-British bust cannot claim.
Kendrick Perkins, picked by Memphis immediately following Ebi, ended up playing in Boston, where he contributed to the Celtics’ 2008 title run. Leandro Barbosa, the 28th choice in the ’03 draft, was the 2006-07 winner of the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award with the Phoenix Suns. Josh Howard, the last pick in the first round of that draft, has averaged 15.6 PPG for Dallas and was an All-Star in 2007.
Ebi on the other hand, scored 40 NBA points in just 19 games. Meanwhile, the three players picked behind him have appeared in a combined 1,186 regular season and 140 playoff games. While Ebi languished in D-League and International play, Minnesota fans lamented the fact McHale would blow the franchise’s only first round pick in four years.
The fact that McHale drafted Ebi was regrettable but not unforgivable; first round draft busts are common enough that most teams can shrug them off. But when you have just one shot in a four-year period, you better make it a good one. The fact that McHale put himself in that position in the first place is what ultimately helped spell the end of his player decisions in Minnesota.
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