In his latest mock draft, Chad Ford/ESPN has the Wolves taking O.J. Mayo with the #3 pick:
As of Sunday, the word out of Minnesota was that the team will draft
Mayo if Beasley is off the board. Though Mayo doesn’t fit a need, he
would be considered the best player available, and that appears to be
swaying Minnesota in his direction.
Mayo if Beasley is off the board. Though Mayo doesn’t fit a need, he
would be considered the best player available, and that appears to be
swaying Minnesota in his direction.
At the same time, a lot of trade talk surrounds this pick. The Knicks,
Clippers, Bucks and Trail Blazers all have tried to maneuver to get
this pick. The Bucks may have the best chance of succeeding if they
offer Yi Jianlian or Charlie Villanueva as part of a package.
Clippers, Bucks and Trail Blazers all have tried to maneuver to get
this pick. The Bucks may have the best chance of succeeding if they
offer Yi Jianlian or Charlie Villanueva as part of a package.
If the Wolves trade down, their target seems to be Lopez or UCLA’s Kevin Love.
Forde has the Wolves using their two second-round picks on California center DeVon Hardin (31) and Australian power forward Nathan Jawai (34).
From Ian Thomsen/SI.com:
Minnesota Timberwolves: The roundtable in their draft room is said to be split between UCLA forward Kevin Love and USC guard O.J. Mayo. Can they rationalize taking Love as high as No. 3? They can’t afford to trade too far back for either player.
Note that the Timberwolves have done a good job of hiding their true intentions in previous years.
I’m thinking Mayo is going to emerge as their choice over the next couple of days. Not only is he seen as the best player available, but it’s also in Minnesota’s interests to have the rest of the league know that Mayo is the guy. That way, if a rival wants to trade up to get Mayo, it must negotiate with Minnesota to do so. Stanford center Brook Lopez remains in play here too.
Stop-N-Pop/Canis Hoopus posts the last draft board before the draft this Thursday.
Let me explain something. Teams don’t want to trade for a player who wasn’t all that highly rated when he was drafted and has since missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. So rumors of the Minnesota Timberwolves possibly making a deal for Morrison is highly unlikely. Maybe at the trade deadline, once Morrison has been able to log 40 or so games without getting hurt again, but if he’s productive and playing well enough to be of interest in a trade the Bobcats would most likely want to keep him.