luther

To me, that's one indication that the team did the right thing this offseason. KG notwithstanding, those guys are mature (in years if not attitude...I'm looking at you, Ricky Davis) players who have proved themselves unworthy as key pieces of good teams. They can contribute in situations to certain teams, but they're nothing to build around. So why build around them?

On the other hand, Minnesota now has the ability to focus on people like Jefferson, Brewer, Smith, Telfair, Gomes, Green, Richard and eventually Foye to see exactly where they fit into the NBA hierarchy. They won't all prove to be building blocks, either. Some, like Green, are as good as gome, and others, such as Gomes and Richard, appear destined for role-filling bench players. But with Brewer, Foye, etc., we can really learn who is going to be a starter, a star, etc., without thinking, "well, Davis can get us 20, 5 and 5 tonight...I'd better play him."