Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to inform you that I am putting your team on probation.  I considered resigning from your fan base, but I’m unwilling to take such a drastic step without giving you a chance to fix things.  This probationary period will last for six months. At the end of that period, your progress will be reviewed and appropriate action taken.

I hope that by putting you on probation you will work to remedy this situation so I do not need to take further action. At the beginning of the season, I had hoped that this step would not be necessary.  I fully support the Mayo for Love trade, and believe it was the right move. Getting rid of Marko Jaric and obtaining Mike Miller makes giving up a dynamic scorer like Mayo worth it, especially since Love appears to be a solid contributor.  Unfortunately, that appears to be the only positive step taken during the off-season.

The following is a list of some of the grievances I have with your organization.

1. Your continued employment of Kevin McHale.  This is grievance number one and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.  Since he has been GM of the Timberwolves, a comedy of errors as persisted that has led to very little success for the Wolves, and a championship for the Boston Celtics.  Some of the errors include the secret deal with Joe Smith and trading Roy for Foye.  I acknowledge your attempt to remedy this situation by moving McHale to head coach, but keeping him employed with the team any longer will be grounds for my possible resignation as a fan.
2. Player motivation - This came to the forefront last night after the team lost to the Sacramento Kings on the day they fired their head coach.  The Kings are not a good team, and after changing coaches, they should have been vulnerable.  Instead, our team once again failed to play an entire game.
3. Wasting Kevin Garnett’s prime - Your failure to provide Kevin Garnett with what was needed to win over the course of his career in Minnesota is a breach of contract with all fans.  Anyone who followed the team during Garnett’s career could have told you he could not win a championship on his own.  You needed to sign or draft someone who possessed a killer instinct that could score down the stretch.  You nearly figured it out in 03-04 when you signed Sprewell and Cassell, but the team failed to capitalize.  Though I had to support trading Garnett to the Celtics, the move was only necessary because you failed to provide Garnett with support.  This move might have been avoided with a little foresight.
4. Scouting Ineptitude - Over the course of your 20 seasons, this team has made bad personnel decisions after bad personnel decision.  These decision include the following: Trading Ray Allen for Stephon Marbury, trading Brandon Roy for Randy Foye, trading Marbury for Terrell Brandon, losing five draft picks for Joe Smith, numerous draft busts recently headlined by Rashad McCants.  I understand that you cannot be perfect when making deals and signing players, but in 20 seasons you need to get it right more than a handful of times.
5. Player training - I know that the players are responsible for improving in the off season, but the team has a responsibility to provide them with support and direction.  It is apparent to me that this is lacking.  This year’s example is Al Jefferson and his lack of improvement on defense.  His defense last year was such a liability that at times I wished he would sit on the bench regardless of how great a scorer he is.  We heard reports all summer that he would improve, but nothing on the court supports this.  This is just one of many cases of the lack of development from Wolves players, and is something that must be addressed.

During this six-month period, I will continue to follow the team, but I will also be scouting other teams, looking for one that is more worthy of my support.  I am hopeful that you will show signs of progress and allow me to continue my role with the team.  I will be sending bi-monthly reports on your progress, and hope you considers my suggestions.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  If you have any questions or wish to contact me for any reason, please do so by email, at conner[AT]connermccall[DOT]com

Sincerely

Conner McCall