Interesting reason to take Mayo not Lopez

[revprodeji]

Deandre Jordan
Kosta Koufos
JaVale McGee
Marreese Speights
Roy Hibbert
Alexis Ajinca
Robin Lopez
Jason Thompson
Devon Hardin
Nikola Pekovic
Nathan Jawai
Omer Asik

That is 12 big men that are decent prospects. Projected outside the top 10. Between pick ten to our 2nd rd pick there are 20 slots. So unless all but 8 of those picks are towards big men then we should be able to get a decent big man prospect with the 2nd rd pick.

In the current NBA the wing players dominate. A big man just needs to rebound and play defense. Grab Mayo and run.

[deeney0]

Testify.

[prefuse73]

I must agree. Grab Mayo and finally get some attention around the league. Foye, Mayo, Brewer, Jefferson and (insert best possible person here).

Mayo is essentially an upgrade over McCants (skills, defense and attiude) and will compliment foye wonderfully and our defense on the wings will be incredible if Brewer continues to progress and Mayo is as strong on D as advertised. I think Brew should start with that lineup simply to be our bruce bowen.

[Krapinsky]

I wholeheartedly agree.

I'd add Ante Tomic to that list as well.

[4ho5ive]

Yea, we draft Mayo and grab a Hardin/Hibbert/R.Lopez our defense skyrockets!!!!!!!!

We cant NOT do this.

[TheProdigy]

This team desperately needs a superstar. Yes, we already have McCants, but he shows no effort on defense. Draft the guy they call a combo guard and see what happens. Has there ever been 2 so called combo guards on the same team that are interchangable like Foye and Mayo? They would cause some serious matchup problems for opponents.

In the 2nd round, we have to use both 2nd round picks in hopes of finding a gem defensive big man. Two guys I like are Devon Hardin and Joey Dorsey.

[NO-KG-AI]

Here is another interesting reason: Mayo is better at the game of basketball

I'd take a long hard look at the Ajinca kid were he to drop, this kid is every bit as talented as Tyson Chandler(maybe thinner) and when I have seen him, he looks frail, and his offense isn't there, but he had a few moments where he shined, and he challenged shots so well, and played so high above the rim to get rebounds and blocks...

Seriously, Robin and Brook are identical twins right? they can't be THAT far off as prospects

[D1SGRUNTL3D]

Count me in.

[younggunsmn]

preach on!

This is the deepest big man class in years, and if we strike out this year with our 2nd rounders we'll have plenty of picks and cap space next year to find a big man.

Mayo is from West Virginia, correct?
I'd be much more worried about attitude issues or him not liking minnesota if he were from the east coast or california/oregon.

[HMFFL]

I was curious to see who you guys like and I find it interesting that this topic was created because I was thinking OJ would be a good fit and provide you guys with some PR.

Good reasoning revprodeji.


prefuse73, your right about the attention. Good or bad, Minn needs some attention, and OJ certainly brings that.

[Tor]

I wholeheartedly agree.

I'd add Ante Tomic to that list as well.

I would too, as well as John Riek (even though he's very raw).

I've thought for awhile now that Mayo has as a good chance to be the best player in this draft. We simply can't pass him up for a typical 7 footer. Lopez wouldn't be horrible, but it sure would be if it was for the sake of a guy like Mayo.

[Jonathan Watters]

Here is another interesting reason: Mayo is better at the game of basketball

What?

You can't POSSIBLY think this.

In no way, shape or form was Mayo a better basketball player than Lopez this past year - on EITHER end of the court. Lopez played for a significantly better team - he was a more important part of his team's offense - he was a more efficient offensive player - he was an absolute lockdown defensive player...

I could go on..and on...and on...

Keep in mind, we aren't talking about a 6'8 stiff. We are talking about a legitimate 7-foot center prospect who has immense skill on the offensive end and an understanding of how to play defense that can't be taught. A player who dominated the college level in his 2nd season.

And people want to make him out to be the 2nd coming of Felton Spencer.

Get a grip!

Whatever. I hope the Wolves take Lopez, and eventually people will come around to the idea when he is helping the team win games.

[Calinks]

I agree. Mayo can be a possible star, we have passed on guys like him before and they have panned out to be good players. I hate taking another undersized player but with the talent Mayo has we can't pass him up.

There are plenty of Big Men in this draft and Lopez may be the best one but he doesn't have the skill set we necessarily need at the 5. I like Lopez and would probably take him at 4 but for now Mayo should be our man and both second rounders should be used on quality bigs. I'm talking 6'10" plus 5's. No more undersized players.

[4ho5ive]

Here is another interesting reason: Mayo is better at the game of basketball

Whatever. I hope the Wolves take Lopez, and eventually people will come around to the idea when he is helping the team win games.

Yea, we would get about 5-10 games better

I think Mayo makes us a Top-Tier contender in the West in 2-3 years. Lopez will hit his ceiling long before Mayo sees his.

Its been beaten to death, but you dont use the #3 pick on role players. Bargniani is a prime example of this.

[Jonathan Watters]

Please explain to me one way in which a player who plays the way Brook Lopez plays isn't perfectly suited to play next to Al Jefferson...

[4ho5ive]

He is a solid defender, but he is not the enforcer that I think would work best with Big Al. He disappeared occasionally and I dont think will be a big enough force to make an impact on either side of the ball. He is good on both sides, but I dont see him impacting like I see from Mayo

Even if Mayo were to have an off night, he is still an above average passer and an excellent defender.

[Jonathan Watters]

He is a solid defender, but he is not the enforcer that I think would work best with Big Al. He disappeared occasionally and I dont think will be a big enough force to make an impact on either side of the ball. He is good on both sides, but I dont see him impacting like I see from Mayo

Even if Mayo were to have an off night, he is still an above average passer and an excellent defender.

Your arguments would be spot on if you were making them for Lopez instead of Mayo.

Lopez disappeared sometimes? He was more involved in Stanford's offense than Durant was at Texas 2 years ago. He hit numerous huge shots in the postseason, despite the fact that he was Stanford's only legitimate option.

Mayo, on the other hand, disappeared plenty of times during his one season at USC. A disastrous outing against UCLA comes to mind, and large stretches of the K-State game as well. Those are only a couple of several blatant examples.

When Mayo is off from the field, he is borderline useless. He isn't an excellent defender. Where you get this idea I'll never know. He was slightly above average in college last year. It will take him 3 years to not get killed on defense at the next level, given his natural size/athleticism.

Meanwhille, Lopez pretty much shut down everybody he went up against at the college level. He made Love work really hard for his points, and is going to be a competent NBA defender/rebounder from day one.

[GopherIt!]

Rev I agree with you 100%

I was talking to my dad today as the picks were annouced. He's retired and watches NCAA and pro hoops non-stop. When they cut to the commercial before annoucning the top three picks I mentioned the names of possible top picks to my dad. He is usually a pretty stoic guy but when I mentioned the name Brook Lopez I was surprised how he couldn't contain his disapproval of us potentially drafting Lopez. I could almost see the snarl on his face over the phone. After a brief criticism of Lopez' game, he quantified his analysis, saying it's so dumb it would be a perfect McHale move. That made me bust my gut.

[Jonathan Watters]

-= original quote snipped =-


I think Mayo makes us a Top-Tier contender in the West in 2-3 years. Lopez will hit his ceiling long before Mayo sees his.

I don't think Mayo did anything at the college level to indicate that he will be playing with Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant within the next 3 years. And he'd been passed up by other players in his HS class long before he got to USC. So it is hard to argue that last year was some sort of fluke. I don't think you understand just how hard it is to lead a team to wins as a combo guard.

At any rate, if Mayo was a guy who had a realistic chance to be the best player on western conference contender within 2-3 years...absolutely ZERO chance he is there at #3. None.

Simply put, what you speak of is a pipe dream. Not impossible, but certainly so for the purpose of discussion at this stage...

Its been beaten to death, but you dont use the #3 pick on role players. Bargniani is a prime example of this.

Bargnani was certainly no roleplayer in Italy the year before he came over. Rudy Gay and Lamarcus Aldridge played no more than equal roles on their respective teams.

[4ho5ive]

He is a good man to man defender yes, but he had problems, as a legit 7 footer, keeping guards from getting past him and getting easy buckets. Which is why I think we need an enforcer, not a solid man to man guy. We dont have the solid backcourt defense so we need someone to be a bigger help defender.

As for Mayo, slightly above average defender? we were probably watching different players because from what I have seen, he is gonna be a damn good defender from day one.

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