Mayo traded to Memphis for Love

[4ho5ive]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008 ... id=3463045

WORST DRAFT EVER!!!

[Mikchek]

I would have to agree....Mayo will sell tickets....Love gets NO LOVE from me...

[GopherIt!]

WTF? when you go to the front page of the Star Trib sports section it says this:

The media got fooled into thinking the Timberwolves rated Southern California guard O.J. Mayo and UCLA center Kevin Love even in ability, and that it was going to be tough to pick between them with the third overall choice in Thursday's NBA draft.

Well, there never was any doubt. Wolves assistant general manager Fred Hoiberg verified Thursday night that Mayo was their choice all along.

Hoiberg said the Wolves never came close to making a trade. The truth of the matter is they think so much of Mayo that they wanted him on the team.

"Our people thought that Mayo had far more upside than Love," Wolves owner Glen Taylor said. "And very important was the fact that Fred played for Tim Floyd at Iowa State, and we knew Floyd [who coached Mayo at Southern California] was going to give an honest scouting report on Mayo."

In fact, there are NBA scouts who like Mayo more than Memphis guard Derrick Rose, who was taken No. 1 by the Chicago Bulls.

Mayo is going to be in the news because of accusations that he was paid by an agent all the way through high school. But that won't make any difference. He can play. Win, baby -- that's all that counts.

Roster revisions
Now that the draft has been completed, Wolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale said the attention will turn to the players who were on the roster last year.

"We have some free agents like [guard/forward] Kirk Snyder and [point guard] Sebastian Telfair," McHale said. "Depending on after the draft and what positions we fill and where we're at, we'll know more.

"I would like to keep ... our roster, on a nightly basis, 13 guys. That might mean there's a guy in the [NBA Development] League or maybe a guy or two in the D-League. So we'll know exactly how many guys we have on our roster exactly after the draft."

The Wolves would like to get rid of the contract of forward Antoine Walker, who rarely played from late February on last season and is due some $9.3 million on the last year of his contract.

"We're going to see what happens with Walker and all those guys," McHale said. "Free agency kicks off on July 1, and we'll see what's happening."

On the other hand, McHale is glad guard Greg Buckner is under contract.

"I couldn't be happier," McHale said. "He is just a world-class kid; he was great to have around the young guys. He was a great leader."

[DmoneyH3]

wow..sorry guys. I would put in a petition to fire McHale if I was in your camp. Mayo had the chance to be the BEST player in this draft. It makes you better next year, but not long term.

[Ojmayo]

Great thing to know because I knew Mchale was'nt smart and i knew he would trade him for love and make yet another mistake by seeing Mayo be rookie of the year watch

[Xand1]

Disgusting.

I think we should all email anyone we can find with a @timberwolves.com address expressing our disgust. This was the most blatant F YOU to the fans that the FO could have possibly come up with.

[Pedro Pistolas]

You guys getting Mike Miller?

Dude is 50 % shooter

He can rebound and pass....

[Diggr14]

Mayo is a tweener guard who IMO will never amount to anything more than an overpaid hype machine in the NBA. Against good competition last season he was just average.

Kevin Love is the better player, not to mention you guys got one of the most underrated players in the NBA in Mike Miller.


Im a bucks fan, I really like this trade for your team.

[Dewey]

Worst draft ever... ??? I made this prediction and the only unkown was Gallinari or Love.

1.) The Wolves know the USC staff extremely well and I would assume they had some concerns or felt he would not stay at MN long-term (ala Marbury-like). I guess the Wolves had the smokescreen, and selected him with a couple deals on the table - chose Memphis.

2.) We dumped a boatload of contracts (Walker, Jaric, Buckner).

3.) We gained 2 big-men (Love, Collins). We knew the Wolves like Love a ton.

4.) Mike Miller (SF) had an outstanding year and is a quality player.

5.) This deal really straightens out our roster.

Foye, McCants, Brewer, Miller, Jefferson, Love, Collins (Cardinal & Maddog)
Resign Telfair & Gomes?

[ChazzleDazzle]

I don't know...

Cardinal cuts a year off of Jaric's deal.
Miller is a definite player and an asset.
Love is the guy they wanted (and John Hollinger's 2nd rated player after Beasley...)
Walker's gone
We have a ton of picks (probably) next year
We have the cap room to resign (at least), Gomes, Telfair, Smith.
Miller, Cardinal and Madsen all expire the same year

And...
Nikola Pekovic, a 22-year-old Montenegrin with a similar contract problem. Pekovic was little-known 12 months ago but absolutely dominated in the Euroleague this year.

My numbers from 2008 suggest he could start for most NBA teams tomorrow -- 18.3 points and 12.0 boards per 40 minutes, with 51.4 percent shooting and a 17.09 PER. I take this with a bit of a grain of salt, because his numbers from 2007 were terrible, but only a bit -- if it weren't for contracts I'd have him rated third on my board. Yes, third.

He's not coming over soon, but he's only 22. We're not going to win a championship next year. I think this works...

1 – Foye/Telfair
2 – Miller/McCants
3 – Brewer/Gomes/Cardinal
4 – Love/Smith/Madsen
5 – Jefferson/Collins

I call that a fun group. Foye penetrating. Al and Love wreaking havoc on the low and high block respectively, Miller spotting up for 3s and Brewer cutting to the hole.

And your second unit is Bassy, McCants, Gomes, Smith and Collins. Which has its good points too.


I liked Mayo, but to me, Love+Miller>Mayo(+Jaric)

Or maybe I'm a homer

[TheFranchise21]

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