Is anyone else tired of hearing "journalists" ask the '09 rooks how the NBA is different from college? (?)

Don't we know the rote answer by now? -- "The NBA is a lot faster." Yes. Tis. Thank you. Move on. 

So, when this Summer League donkey asked J. Flynn, "What have you noticed that's different in NBA than what you are used to playing in college?" I was pleasantly surprised when Flynn answered: 

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Here's Jerry's lede from his post-draft recap:

"Just as Noah did before he floated away into the deluge, the Timberwolves cast off into their great unknown Thursday night two by two."

Did I miss two to three generations? Did we just draft a point guard from Duluth to complement George Mikan? Is the Cold War on? What is this contraption I'm fingering? How long before the Strib hires the Canis boys to manage the Wolves content?

I did some research. Here's where J.Z. writes from

From Simmon's Friday mailbag:

"OK, you're San Antonio. Your Duncan window is closing and so is your chance to contend. You're in NBA no-man's-land, a little like Utah from 1999-2002: 45-50 wins guaranteed, no real chance of contending, no way of getting better because they spent too many years picking at the bottom of the first round. So what do you do? You can't trade Duncan; he's an icon and has to finish his career in San Antonio. You can't get fair value for Ginobili because of his injuries and because he's an expiring contract. Your best trade chip is Parker, a good character guy coming off a career year. He's also your most replaceable guy: a gifted scorer who can't shoot 3s, isn't a traditional point guard and struggles to defend certain points. You only need to replace him with someone who can provide 80 percent of his numbers and you'll be OK. You also need to turn him into multiple pieces.

Now, you're Minnesota. You have three keepers: Al Jefferson, Kevin Love and Randy Foye. (Note: I still like Corey Brewer but let's see how he recovers from his ACL injury.) You are a joke of a franchise with an owner who has one of the poorest reputations in the league and a fan base that doesn't care, namely because you hire failed GMs and coaches, recycle them, then expect the fans to care. Jefferson could be the best guy on a contender, Love could be the third-best guy and Foye could be a starter or a sixth man. But you're not winning anything if that's your top three. Too young, not quite talented enough. You need to acquire an experienced blue-chipper who can show everyone else the way (shades of Ray Allen and KG in Boston). And you have no chance of landing a marquee free agent because NBA players want no part of Sota when they can play for a well-run franchise in a warm city. Thanks anyway.

So what do you do? You have to bowl someone over with a big-time offer. That's why you call San Antonio and say, "We'll give you Foye, our No. 6 pick and Brian Cardinal's 2010 expiring contract for Parker." Note: The deal can't work until July 1.

OK, you're San Antonio again. Foye is a scoring point guard like Parker (his January/February splits: 27 games, 19.3 PPG, 40 percent 3FG), he's four years younger, he's a quality 3-point shooter, he's on the books for cheap ($8.3 million combined in '10 and '11), and between Foye and George Hill, you have a shot of replacing nearly all of Parker's numbers. Plus, you're adding the sixth pick and some much-needed young blood (maybe swingman James Harden, power forward Jordan Hill or shooter Stephen Curry); you'd have $27 million of expiring deals (Cardinal, Bruce Bowen, Fabby Oberto, Kurt Thomas, Matt Bonner and Roger Mason) for a possible mega-trade during the season; and you're selling high on Parker, who will never have more value than he does right now. You're telling me that trade doesn't make sense?"