why did the Wolves lose there 1st picks?

why did the Wolves lose there 1st picks over the past years? I know it had something to do with a signing.

It had to do with trading Joe Smith to Milwaukee.

STERN DIRECTS FORFEITURE OF DRAFT PICKS, FINES TEAM $3.5 MILLION, VOIDS CONTRACT

NBA Punishes Timberwolves for Secret Deal with Smith

NEW YORK, Oct. 25 -- The National Basketball Association today announced that Commissioner David Stern has taken the following actions based upon an arbitrator's ruling on Monday that the Minnesota Timberwolves, Joe Smith, and agent Eric Fleisher entered into a secret agreement in violation of the NBA's salary cap rules:
Smith
Smith

* directed the forfeiture of Minnesota's own first-round draft picks in the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 NBA Drafts;


* fined the team $3.5 million; and


* voided the player contract between Smith and the Timberwolves for the 2000-01 season, along with all contracts previously entered into by Smith and the team.

In addition to these penalties, the Collective Bargaining Agreement also authorizes the Commissioner to suspend team personnel who were involved in the making of the secret agreement. Those suspensions will be determined after subsequent proceedings before the arbitrator.

The NBA has also requested that, as required by the CBA, the Players Association impose appropriate discipline on Mr. Fleisher for his violation of the salary cap rules.

Of all the players to take a risk on by violating salary cap rules...I could have understood it in his first couple of seasons but his career stalled after the trade to Philadelphia in 1998.

Glen Taylor and Kevin McHale had the smart idea of telling Smith to keep re-signing for a one year deal over and over again so they could get bird rights and then give him a big payday. I guess a source leaked it and they got busted. It wasn't a smooth move at all.

I believe that's how it went down. The whole thing was kind of shady.

It had to do with trading Joe Smith to Milwaukee.

Nope, it was related to his resigning with the Timberwolves

Yeah, the Wolves traded him to Milwaukee after he played for the Pistons for one year. The trade to Milwaukee had nothing to do with the infraction.

I remember the infraction being some sort of a deal with a shoe company or something... I think it was something like, if you sign for this "lower" amount of money, we will get you a shoe deal with these guys that pays you this much and we will have more cap flexibility...

I remember it was something like that... They promised him more money from a third part outside of the NBA ruling and that ticked off Stern in a bad way. Basically Minnesota tried to bend the rules and find a loophole in the process.

It could have been something else, like what you guys have said, but I remember it had a lot to do with guarranteed money from an outside party to work around the salary cap system.

That actually sounds familiar. In any case, the Timberwolves and Joe Smith had an agreement that circumvented certain salary cap rules and the NBA didn't care for it at all. I don't think any other team has ever received such a harsh penalty for an infraction.