First of all, the question isn’t whether the Timberwolves helped
themselves last night–compare the pre-draft and post-draft rosters and
try to tell me they didn’t significantly upgrade–but whether they
helped themselves as much as they could. My answer is no, they didn’t,
but that’s because they idiotically punted the 34th pick for no
discernible reason other than to be pennywise, and we all know the
second half of that course of action…
 
 
Wait … did Kevin McHale just make a good trade?
I’m pretty sure he did, when he traded Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, Greg Buckner and the rights to No. 3 pick O.J. Mayo to Memphis for Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins and the rights to No. 5 pick Kevin Love.

When we break it down, it’s hard to see how Minnesota loses…
 
 
From RandBall:
We would have been happy if the Wolves had taken Love at No. 3; instead, they parlayed the pick into Love, Miller and the shedding of two problematic contracts (Marko Jaric and Antoine Walker). Miller is a sharpshooter. Sure, Cardinal has a bad contract as well (two years and $13 million left), but he’s at least a bigger body who can be useful off the bench. Jason Collins is a 7-footer who has 407 career NBA starts. Mostly, though, it comes down to Love. We like Love over Mayo, straight up. Factor in the rest of the deal, and it was a slam dunk.
 
Now, the only quibble we have: the way it went down. It’s tough to sell
the public on a player like Mayo and then pull him back in the dead of
night…
 
  
For the first time in more than a decade, Minnesota’s Kevin McHale is
earning an A from me. He did a really nice job getting value for Mayo
at No. 3 and putting together a young team that could win 35 to 40
games next year.
 
Love won’t be a superstar, but he’s going to be solid. Pairing him in
the front court with Al Jefferson makes the Wolves a little undersized,
but they now have two excellent low-post scoring options.
 
   
Getting rid of bad contracts is good. Acquiring Miller is good.
Trusting McHale’s judgment that Love will be a good NBA player is
worrisome.
 
Give McHale this — if he hasn’t proven he knows how to acquire great players, at least he’s getting better at dumping bad ones.
 
 
We should have known. It’s never too late for the Timberwolves to screw something up.
 
 
From Don Seeholzer/Pioneer Press , SI.com’s Chris Mannix on the trade:
Minnesota VP Kevin McHale had it right the first time.
 
What is at the root of McHale’s fascination with
Love? Yes, Love is a skilled big man who will probably have a
serviceable NBA career. But Love doesn’t have anywhere near the upside
of Mayo, a potential franchise guard. With Mayo and Al Jefferson as
cornerstones, the Wolves were going somewhere.
 
Now, Minnesota will have to build around a talented
but undersized frontcourt (Love, Al Jefferson) without a marquee guard.
They will live to regret not keeping Mayo. 
 
 
While the transforming Timberwolves bolstered their lineup, the rebuilding Grizzlies only raised more questions.