I Am Sold On Michael Beasley

[cutthecrap]

As a T-wolves fan that resides in Big 12 country...I would be ecstatic to get Beasley. He lit up the Big 12 even more impressively than Durant did a year earlier.

Beasley may be shorter than anticipated, but he can play...

[revprodeji]

I like Mayo more than Beasley.

It does not mean Beasley is off my draft board, it just means I am not sold on him. I am sold on Mayo. Beasley is just an x-factor for me. Talent wise he is right behind Mayo for me. I just really like Mayo. I think he brings a very good fit, a good mentality and will help us.

Best case scenario----We get Mayo
2nd----We get a starter+draft pick (good draft pick--Love/Gallinair)
3rd---Beasley.

Yes, I think 2 very good starters (Bogut+Gallinari or Love+Green,etc) is better for me than Beasley. I do not take Beasley off the board and I would rather have him than Love or Gallinari outright.

**this is not sourced, this does not reflect the team, it is just my thoughts**

[cutthecrap]

rev - we're aligned on this!

Although I still think best case scenario is a deal with LAC or Mil that gets Kaman or Bogut and a pick to MIN...not sure either are likely, but we can dream!

I also may be jaded by the Big 12 leanings here...to me, best case is one of the trades mentioned above and then drafting Augustin for a starting 5 of:
Kaman/Bogut
Al
Brewer
Foye
DJ

[TheFranchise21]

Al is not the best go-to-guy in the league. He needs help just like KG needed another GTG. Beasley looks like a GTG. Bogut is a role player to me. If we get Gallinari, my hope is he would become a Manu Ginobili type player.

[TheFranchise21]

I like Mayo more than Beasley.

Fair enough.

It does not mean Beasley is off my draft board, it just means I am not sold on him. I am sold on Mayo. Beasley is just an x-factor for me. Talent wise he is right behind Mayo for me. I just really like Mayo. I think he brings a very good fit, a good mentality and will help us.

I'm trying to keep this thread only about Beasley but I have to disagree with you on the talent level between the two players. I don't know how else you can explain Beasley's superior numbers. Perhaps Mayo played in a bad system, but shouldn't he know when to just take over games? Wasn't that one of the knocks on him this past college season? He didn't have a sense of the moment? That killer instinct to put teams away?

Best case scenario----We get Mayo
2nd----We get a starter+draft pick (good draft pick--Love/Gallinair)
3rd---Beasley.

I see it as:
Best case: Beasley
2nd best: Mayo
3rd best: Starter+draft pick.

Yes, I think 2 very good starters (Bogut+Gallinari or Love+Green,etc) is better for me than Beasley. I do not take Beasley off the board and I would rather have him than Love or Gallinari outright.

**this is not sourced, this does not reflect the team, it is just my thoughts**

I gave my opinion about Gallinari and Bogut in my post above, but...

1 franchise player > 2 very good starters.

[horaceworthy]

**this is not sourced, this does not reflect the team, it is just my thoughts**

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but this is the part of the post that I breathed a sigh of relief on. Nothing against Mayo or your opinion, I'm just far more sold on Beasley than Mayo.

TF21, may I ask what caused you to rethink your stance on Beasley?

[Dewey]

Atleast we don't have to pick between Mayo or Beasley - one will fall to us.

Reading the posts about how great Mayo or Beasley can be, tells me Kaman/#7 or Bogut/#8 is not out of the question if those teams these guys are franchise players.

The Wolves are going to do their best to acquire a quality center. Period. We may offer up McCants to Milwaukee to make that deal go if they can pedal off Redd's contract - who knows. LAC is the team who wants Mayo most, especially, due the fact they did not offer Livingston a qualifying offer - yet. However, the Knicks may be the darkhorse to stir up a 3-way deal that could turn out be our best deal in the end. Time is ticking and the offers will be rolling in as we go.

[TheFranchise21]

As far as his character, it was really just watching videos of him and getting to SEE his personality as opposed to reading about it. I found his YouTube videos about him and the iPod pretty funny. I also read a blog about him on ESPN and how hard he was working in his personal practices, not workouts in front of scouts and whatnot, but just practicing to get better. He kind of has a Shaq attitude off the court. A guy who is the ultimate competitor on the court, but a jokester off the court.

With attitudes becoming such a huge part of evaluating prospects in any sport, I took into account what I consider bad attitudes. And that was, getting into fights, getting caught doing or having drugs, hanging with the wrong crowd, staying out late/breaking team curfews, and clashing with coaches and other players. Beasley did not have an issue with any of those things. So for me, he really doesn't have any attitude issues or character concerns.

I also read this thing on ESPN comparing his attitude to that of Gilbert Arenas. I think we all know Gil's attitude of holding grudges and seeking revenge on those who doubt or challenge him. And then I imagine Beasley and how he'll play extra hard against Miami and Chicago, and how he'll probably have a chip on his shoulder in order to prove to the league he should've been the #1. A lot of guys will tell you they don't care if they're the #1 pick, but I'm sure deep down they feel they are the best player in the draft and should get picked first.

Regarding his ability to switch to SF, it was from watching Pierce in the Finals. I just found myself saying, if a guy who is built like Pierce can play SF effectively, and still be able to slide over and guard Kobe and even be effective at it, why can't Beasley do it? Considering Beasley is a much better physical specimen than Pierce, I have no reason to believe he can't become a top three SF.