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Under a cloak of secrecy Thursday, the Clippers worked out guard O.J. Mayo, at an undisclosed Southern California private facility.

Previous workouts for prospective draft picks by the Clippers have been conducted at the team’s interim practice home, Spectrum South in El Segundo. However, Mayo’s audition was conducted somewhere else.

Apparently, the decision on where to have the workout was made by Mayo’s new agent, Leon Rose, who was selected after Mayo parted ways with his former agent, Calvin Andrews.

shrink wrote: A number of odd events have occured in this draft for which I could offer no rational theory.

First, if the Heat's front office believed this were truly a two player draft, why would Riley be talking up Mayo, and talking down Beasley? He isn't going to affect who CHI picks (they pick first), or in this draft, MIN either (they pick whoever is left from the big three). If Riley truly thinks Beasley is #2, by giving publicly a negative opinion of the kid, he starts the relationship off with insults. even if he's taking Beasley just to trade him, by focusing on his negatives, he's reducing his trade value.

Then this came out, from the OC Register:

Under a cloak of secrecy Thursday, the Clippers worked out guard O.J. Mayo, at an undisclosed Southern California private facility.

Previous workouts for prospective draft picks by the Clippers have been conducted at the team’s interim practice home, Spectrum South in El Segundo. However, Mayo’s audition was conducted somewhere else.

http://clippers.freedomblogging.com/200 ... /#more-395

So why do this secretly?

Here's a wacky theory that fits: MIA is going to trade the #2 to the Clippers.

1. LAC may be one team that would take Mayo over Beasley at #2. Mayo not only is a local hero, he fulfills a position of need (they didn't give the questionable Livingston a qualifying offer), but most importantly, he's a cash cow, selling not only tickets but merchandise.

2. If MIA is trading Mayo and not Beasley, Riley talking up Mayo actually helps his trade value. If he convinces LAC that both are good, the Clippers might wait until MIN picks, and see which has a better deal.

3. Why do this workout secretly, in a location not geared up for prospects? Riley may have demanded this to keep the idea of a trade quiet.

4. Why would Riley go to Chicago to watch OJ Mayo a second time later this week, and maybe ask him to come back to MIA for more interviews next week? If Beasley is the clear #2, this is more of an insult to Beasley. Riley's second close inspection supports the idea that Mayo is a legit #2 pick, and gives Riley one last look if he is truly concerned over Beasley.

5. LAC has a number of assets that MIA would love, and tops on that list is probably Elton Brand. Brand owns a movie producing company in LA, but he has expressed interest in going to Miami in the past. Can the Heat get a better package for the #2 from LAC than they can elsewhere?


Yeah - I know this is unlikely, and its thinking way outside the box. However, its a theory that actually give Riley's actions some goal-oriented rationality. Thoughts? A better explanation?

MN Die Hard wrote:shrink I think the stuff you're suggesting is logical, but I would offer something more simple - Riley is just doing his due diligence. I'm not sure Beasley should be insulted that Miami is exploring all of its options with this very valuable #2 pick.

4ho5ive wrote:HEY Quick reply is back awesome!!! and the board looks much better too!

Anyway. I wouldnt think LAC would be so quick to offer up Brand, and if they were, wouldnt Beasley make more sense then, or at least almost as much? I would think Kaman + ____ would be the offer, if there was one to speak of. That said, I cant wait, I am SOO excited, I have been waiting on the draft since late April and its finally here! Cant wait to see how this plays out.

Carpe Diem wrote:A bit too Jack Bauer for me.....of course it is fun to speculate.

invno1 wrote:Shrink, Why Brand?

Jonathan Watters wrote: Could we be looking at a basic package of Brand+Westbrook (#6) for Beasley (#2) ? Does Miami have a couple of expirings they could throw in?

The price seems a little steep for Beasley and it is probably just my imagination running wild, but it might make a little sense...

shrink wrote:

Jonathan Watters wrote: Could we be looking at a basic package of Brand+Westbrook (#6) for Beasley (#2) ? Does Miami have a couple of expirings they could throw in?

The price seems a little steep for Beasley and it is probably just my imagination running wild, but it might make a little sense...

I just ran the numbers for the Heat. The problem with Brand is that he's at $16.4 mil right now, and LAC can offer him a contract extension at $18,247,525, ($16,440,000 for the Clippers now, and with a maximum 10.5% raise in the last year), so salary matching gets to be tough. MIA has to get to a level within 25% + $100,000. They can give Beasley/Mayo a max deal before LAC picks, but its tough to get to MIA's min offer of $14,518,019 without using Blount (which might mean "no #7")

Here are the pieces:

$3,739,680 Pick #2 ($3,116,400 x 120% )
$6,575,000 Udonis Haslem
$4,260,000 Marcus Banks
$8,513,916 Mark Blount

I see a couple possibilities:

#2 Pick (Beasley or Mayo signed) + Haslem + Banks for Brand + #7

#2 Pick (Beasley or Mayo signed) + Blount + Banks for Brand

Both deals require that Beasley or Mayo are signed so that the deals can meet CBS salary-matching guidelines.