Friday (Best Trade Ever) edition: Wha’ Happened?
Posted on June 27th, 2008 – 8:31 AMBy Michael Rand
Maybe it’s dangerous to trust gut feelings when they align with moves by a franchise that has been less than successful when doing things the hard way, rather than the obvious way. But we think the late night blockbuster trade of O.J. Mayo for Kevin Love and Mike Miller (and others, mostly for money reasons) will go down as the best in Wolves’ history and perhaps a fleecing for the ages (in the right direction) once all is said and done. We can’t explain exactly what we don’t like about Mayo. We just watch him and see more bust than boom — way more Rider than LeBron. And despite Love’s ridiculous chinstrap facial hair, we’ve been infatuated with his game for a while now. He’ll make Al Jefferson better. He’ll make Corey Brewer better. 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. Is there a good reason this deal couldn’t have been arranged and ready to go the minute David Stern stepped to the podium? We don’t think so. As we watched the draft with some RandBall regulars (good time had by all), we started trying to convince ourselves that Mayo could be a good fit. Local fans who wanted Mayo were ecstatic, only to be disappointed later. The timing and handling was bad; the end result, though, will be the best thing to happen to this franchise in a long time. And we’re not just saying that because we kind of predicted it.
Fasola-link! Stratego update.
246 Responses to "Friday (Best Trade Ever) edition: Wha’ Happened?"
I didn’t see it coming and convinced myself that I do, in fact, like O.J. Mayo. Now I don’t know quite how to feel.
Hey, substitute “Grizzlies” for “Clippers” and “Mike Miller” for “our draft pick back” and I had it, too.
First!
Oh, wait. I thought this was Access Vikings with all of the amazing front page snippets the Rand has been getting lately.
Damnit!
In his ESPN photo, Collins’ smile reminds me of that time when Ross over-bleached his teeth.
Yes, that was a Friends reference, and yes, I’ll show myself out.
(Closed circuit to Redactular attendees: did I leave enough money for the tab?)
Rand
I thought you had quit posting when still drunk from the night before. Have you looked at the potential starting line up for the Wolves?
Foye
McCants/Brewer
Miller
Love
Jefferson
If this team gives up less than 100 points per game I would be stunned. This could be the worst defensive starting 5 ever assembled.
No mention of those 2 2nd round picks? Why you would trade the 34th pick for what is likely going to be 2 picks in the 50’s makes about as much sense as having Kevin McHale as your GM.
We should trade for more white guys - how about Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Gray from Chicago; or Steve Blake and Joel Przybilla of Portland?
Bryan — fair and funny comment, though to me this is not even close to an issue of race.
If you’d like to read the exact opposite of what Rand wrote read this. Maybe this guy was sober!
http://www.twolvesblog.com/derok/minnesota-timberwolves/devastation.html
F-U MCFAIL F-U. You big dumb inbreed pail caveman. F-U stupid MCMORON McFail. I have to go watch a real team next year like the Lakers. The Tinker Wolves are a huge joke of the NBA. Foye for Roy. Love for Mayo any more needed. Rot in HE _ _ McFail!!!! Rot in HE _ _!!!!
I agree 100%, jama!
A starting back-court of Mayo and Chalmers would have been immediately better than McCants and Foye. Plus, they could have had DeAndre Jordan, left Big Al at the 4 and used Brewer as a big 2 or a quick three.
I actually thought about getting more white guys after seeing this trade too. I don’t think McHale is racist but I guess he did spend a lot of years in Boston.
Lose 1 white guy bring back 3 more. I have a feeling that isn’t a good thing.
I like the trade.
The new logo stinks. That was a step back to the ‘generic’ version they had when the team started.
Who talked them into that one?
Jama, your lineup isn’t exactly right…
It should be:
Foye
Miller
Gomes
Love
Jefferson
That’s an actual lineup that may do some damage in our division.
But McHale did royally screw up the second round picks, which should have been used for some big men with an immediate impact. Not “I’ll never step into the state of Minnesota” Euro guy and Chalmers…a guard who needs to work on being a point guard?!
Thank you very much for that article jama it hit the nail right on the head. That is how i felt to a Tee. F-U McFail F-U
Front page!!!!1111!!!!!!!!1
agreed: second round was a disaster. What’s wrong with the A&M center at 31 and keeping Chalmers? Not a thing.
“We like Love over Mayo, straight up.”
Really? You’re not much of a basketball guy, are you?
That sounds like something my girlfriend would say and she shoots with two hands.
Both those trades would work - Chicago doesn’t need Hinrich and his $11 million contract now that they have Derrick Rose; Portland doesn’t need Blake or Pryzbilla - and he is “one of us”. I agree that it doesn’t have anything to do with race, it just also happens that they’re all white… Those are just possibilities off the top of my head.
Didn’t we just watch a team win with defense? What wasn’t clear about that? We will have one of the softest teams ever assembled.
I’m all done with the Wolves. I wish all of you well.
I enjoyed watching the Celtics this year. I’m going to watch the Grizzlies this year. Bye-bye.
Rand, first time reader, last time reader. Any moron who thinks this is a good trade, let alone the best trade we’ve made, needs a new career path.
You lick the sweat off an old man’s raisins McFail
agree to disagree.
Mayo might end up being great… But regardless of this trade, he wouldn’t have done it here. He would have developed here and then headed for bigger money and a bigger stage in a bigger market.
Matt
Your lineup is very possible, but again do any of those guys play defense at all? Maybe Gomes, maybe.
Schlager Gets my vote for COW. Take that Rand.
Everyone in the world knew Mayo was going at #3. Last night before the draft, plastered on the front page of ESPN’s website was a picture of Rose, Beasley, AND Mayo…not just Rose and Beasley. Heat debated about taking Mayo over Beasley. Numerous teams tried to get our pick so they could take Mayo. Fred Hoiberg has clearly like Mayo. The fans loved the Mayo pick. So…what I think I’m trying to say is that I think we should get you to a hospital because that “gut feeling” might actually be something serious if that “gut feeling” is telling you to trust McHale over the rest of the world.
That sounds like something my girlfriend would say and she shoots with two hands.
Kind of like how RandBall plays ping-pong!
OK Jon officially gets my COW vote. ZING!!!
I’m compiling the predictions results and will let you know who gets the #1 pick in the 2008 season ticket draft.
This trade would make sense if we were a few piece/role players shy of a championship team. But when you suck as bad as we do, you search for stars to build around.
my only question is does this help our cap space? I mean ditching salaries and picking up? WTF?
And all this money saving crap would apply if we were a team that anyone would actually want to play for. No one wants to come here but role players.
I’m still wondering who is going to play center. It’s not Jefferson, we know that, unless we feel like giving up 120 ppg. Can Love man the 5?
Any thoughts? I’m looking your way, Schlager; I like the cut of your jib.
Schlager is awesome.
this was a good trade! even though mayo won’t admit it…he wants to be in a big market. once his rookie contract ended…he’d have left minnesota. Believe in Love!
I think we might have lost Schlager forever. To comment again would mean going back on his word. And if I know Schlager, that’s not something he would do.*
*I don’t know Schlager.
Brandon
It sounds like the Wolves are indeed going to start Al at Center with K-Love at PF. I think your 120 ppg is a little high 110 ppg is more realistic. Can you picture Love guarding Garnett or Al guarding Yao?
Rand
Aren’t you suppose to be covering some chick sport or something today? Do your bosses know you are leaving posts on Randball?
I think we should trade Al jefferson and Randy Foye for Matt Pollard
Here’s something to chew on (note the height).
From a pre-draft combine:
Kevin Love
Height (w/o shoes): 6′ 7.75″
Weight: 255
Wingspan: 6′ 11.25″
Standing reach: 8′ 10″
Body fat: 12.9
Max vert: 35.0
Bench press: 18
Lane agility: 11.17
3/4 court sprint: 3.22
You are right critic. But is it because he wants a bigger market or a better franchise? When he spends his career in Memphis will you eat your words?
jama usually I have a little humor to my posts. I can not find any bit of humor left in me for the day. I am drained. I thought finally that the Wolves were heading in the right direction. I guess when you walk around looking for a doorway in the dark you will bump into a few walls. Well they finally had found the doorway and then boarded up the doorway and are now looking for the window. F-U McFail. Yesterday I stated that McFail confused me. You said why. This is Why.
Wow, this is thee most terrible thing that could happen to the fan base, I hope Taylor enjoys seeing some empty seats because this all but assured them of being in the lottery for the next 5 years. I usually am not a pessimist but this spells trouble for the wolves.
That’s what truly perplexes me…the lack of appeal and marketability of this team. With Foye, Al, and OJ, I thought, I’d watch that. Now…not at all. Mike Miller? Draining 3’s when you’re down by 20 isn’t all that impressive.
LOUD NOISES.
We’ve established that I’m in the minority already, but I’d pay to watch Love much sooner than Mayo. If they use the pieces right and can cobble together adequate low post defense, this will be an interesting and entertaining team.
Let’s trade R. McCants, J. Collins, and a couple 2nd round picks to Portland for S. Blake and J. Pryzbilla. Then our starting lineup would be:
S. Blake
M. Miller
K. Love/R. Gomes
A. Jefferson
J. Pryzbilla
with Foye, Brewer, and Gomes/Love being the bench rotation. Only one problem - why would Portland do that?
You want them to cobble? That should be interesting.
The real question, Did the 3 Randball regulars overpay for that pair of tickets?
For the record, I think Michael is right.
(/ducks)
Rand, Who is going to play center?
I’m with Rand - I think Love is going to be a much better draw for this market than Mayo.
I do wonder, however, how they’re supposed to cobble together that low-post defense. I hear Rasho is on the trading block again…
As a Minnesotan living in South Florida, I continue to be amazed from afar at continuing terrible moves by this franchise. At what point will fans say “enough is enough”??
Apparently I also agree with Stu. I take everything back.
Who is going to play center?
Luc Long–I mean, Earvin John–, I mean, Paul Gra–, I mean, Stojko Vran–, I mean, Felton Spen–, I mean, Rasho Nester–, I mean…
Exactly, who cares about cap space when NOBODY WANTS TO PLAY HERE! You really think you’re going to talk LeBron into moving from Cleveland to the T-WOLVES instead of New York or Brooklyn? Please. This team’s only chance was to develop home-grown talent through the draft, and they keep trading away better talent b/c they’re too “smart” for their own good. Allen first, then Roy, now (maybe) O.J. Mayo. Enjoy the Bryant “Big Country” Reeves era.
Stu
How is that Taco Bell treating you this morning? It sounds like this Jon agrees with you, are you making friends with the other John?
First Bryant Reeves reference made at 10:15 AM. Who had the under?
Way to go McHale. Are you Taylor’s stepson, because only a family member could get away with this ineptitutde! I am now officially a fan of any team that plays the wolves… Maybe you can get into the development league, just to have a chance at competing.
YES! We finally have that guy, who can throw the 92′ alley-oop inbounds pass, that we needed!
I’m with Rand on this. Does that say more about him or me?
Does anybody know Big Al’s opinion of having to play out of position at center?
roughkat
I think it means you suck at ping pong too.
Apparently, there are about seven people in the world who agree with Rand, and they all happen to be regular commenters.
The owner of the Sonics, Clay Bennett, is trying to do everything he can to move that team to Oklahoma City. The city of Seattle and Sonic fans have rallied together to try and stop him and even brought the matter to court. My advice to Bennett: Hire Kevin McHale as your GM. Then the city will help you pack your bags and wave goodbye without a tear as you watch the Space Needle disappear in your rearview mirror…
I wish we could have shipped Kevin McHale to Memphis as well, he isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Mayo is a small shooting guard let’s face it, and we have a few interesting experiments still on the roster in that category. Jefferson has too many midgets and losers around him. Love could be a modern day Christian Laettner, or worse. Mike Miller is a nice pickup. Glen Taylor is a moron.
That new Stratego looks awesome!!!
Apparently, there are about seven people in the world who agree with Rand, and they all happen to be regular commenters.
Sycophancy is the new black, Jon.
Jon
Does that mean I’m not welcome here anymore?
/Stopping away from computer crying
This trade now means that Sam Cassel and a 1st round pick was traded for Brian Cardinal. And Brian Cardinal’s knee pads.
Jama: given the Wolves’ past history, chances are you’re right and we’re wrong. They always do the wrong thing, even when it looks like the right thing at the time (see also: Corey Brewer, Marbury, Randy Foye, etc.).
RE: Cardinal. The funny thing is that at least three RandBallers were mocking him last night. How does he look in blue and black? Look at him now, look at him now.
Does that mean I’m not welcome here anymore?
Actually, it probably means that you’re MORE than welcome here.
PLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALEVPLEASE FIRE KEVIN MCHALE
Moose Knuckle
Did you just happen to fall asleep on the keyboard and that is what came out?
FIRE Kevin “make a donkey trade screw us over for 5 more years piece of crap” mchale
I mean come on now you give up a superstar for a sharpshooter and a player who plays the same position as your only star
Bea Arther, Ronald McDonald, Dave THomas from Wendy’s, the Hamburgler, even Grimace would be better GM’s
+1 to Jama on the Stratego!
This is the greatest string of comments this side of the last RandBall post to hit the front page.
Such vitriol directed your way today Rand. I don’t like giving up a potential superstar in Mayo, but then again, I liked trading Allen for Starbury, and look how that turned out. It’s all speculation until 3-4 years down the road, anyway. We’re all 20/20 hindsight GM’s anyway.
Wow, so many COW candidates in this post. My head is spinning.
Shock and anger have given way to tremendous disappointment. Here were some of my thoughts I posted last night:
1) You don’t give up a potential superstar for two role players. NBA championships are won by All-Stars. Miller has never and will never be an All-Star nor will Kevin Love. Mayo will be. The rich irony of all this post trade analysis is that most are acknowledging that Mayo could become a superstar. No one thinks Love has any chance of being anything more than a nice role player. When you’re a rebuilding team you build around potential superstars not role players.
2) McHale is forcing his best player (Jefferson) to play out of position.
3) Another irony of this trade is that their second round pick (Pekovic) is better suited to join Al in the front court than Love. To that point, how do Pekovic, Jefferson and Love play together? They can’t.
4) Neither Rashad McCants nor Randy Foye are good enough to warrant trading Mayo for fear of an over-crowded backcourt. I never understood this “too many combo guard” argument. Foye is the PG and Mayo is the SG. If McCants can’t/won’t be an effective 6th man than trade him. You create room for potential superstars like Mayo not streaky shooters who can’t play defense like McCants. Another irony of this ill-advised trade is that T-Wolves have created redundancy with their best player. Two 6′9″ PFs with limited athletic ability. How do you envision Love and Jefferson matching up against Aldridge and Oden for the next decade or Gasol and Bynum?
5) Mayo would have been exciting. When Mayo was drafted it was the first time geniune excitement was felt for this organization since KG left. This is franchise that needed Mayo’s star power. And based on what I’ve been reading on the blogs since this trade, the fans are angry. I wonder if there will be an exodus of season ticket holders.
6) A team in 2-3 years of Jefferson, Mayo, Foye, Brewer and Pekovic with possibly Gomes and McCants coming off the bench is a playoff team. With Love it feels like a commitment to mediocrity.
7) The only silver lining in this trade is the potential that it backfires so badly that Taylor will finally have to fire McHale.
The T-Wolves are still 2-3 years away from competing at a high level by which time Miller will be over the hill. So while his inclusion may improve the team a bit for this upcoming season, he won’t be a factor in a few years when it really matters.
9) How badly do Hoiberg and Taylor look after making those glowing comments about Mayo’s upside only to see McHale convince them of this trade? They’ve got a lot of explaining to do to their fans. It wouldn’t surprise me if the season ticket holders protest loudly.
10) T-Wolves could have gotten more for Walker’s expiring contract. Look what Lakers got for Kwame’s and how valuable Ratliff’s was in landing KG for Celtics. I’m glad we got rid of Marko, but Brian Cardinal’s contract is awful for the next two years.
11) The JR Rider comparisons have been unfair. Rider was a thug. OJ is a polite kid, who made some mistakes, but by all accounts is the hardest working kid in this draft.
12) Speaking of ill-fated T-Wolves picks, I look at Love and see a slightly more physical Laettner and that scares me.
13) Finally, it’s not that I’m anti-Love. I just don’t think he’s the right fit for the T-Wolves when Al should be playing PF. He also clearly doesn’t have the upside of Mayo and the T-Wolves aren’t looking for a solid role player to get them over the hump. They need superstars that are going to team up with Jefferson and crew to lead this team to NBA title.
Perhaps many of us will be wrong and Mayo will be a bust, but Love will never be a star and when you’re the T-Wolves you needed to swing for the fences.
Effffff you McFail
no I was typing with my moose knuckle
The recent moves by the vikings should teach old Glen a lesson or two about turning a team around. The fountain of youth doesn’t work in pro sports — you need players, not 19 year old kids experimenting with their new facial hair.
I’m coming late to the party but after some initial chagrin (due in large part to McHale selling Mario Chalmers for pennies on the dollar), I like the late-night move. I’m not saying Love is necessarily the better player but I like Mike Miller a lot and in Love the Wolves have a guy who will add versatility and a pleasant demeanor. I know charm doesn’t win championships but wouldn’t the Wolves’ fan base rather have a “big” who wants to be in Minnesota rather than a me-first, three-year rental shooting guard? Again, I hate the Chalmers move but I have no problem with dealing Mayo, Jaric, Jaric’s hot girlfriend and Walker for Love, Miller and 12 fouls.
I’m just saddened that I can no longer refer to O.J. Mayo around my buddies as “Miracle Whip” on a nightly basis.
When did P3 change his moniker to TWolvesFanInLA?
By the way this guy agrees with you Rand.
Quite the dissertation, TWolvesFanInLA!
“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).” Yeah, McHale did a great job greating rid of Walker, Jaric and Buckner in the deal. This guy is amazing at fixing his past mistakes with more mistakes. Walker came here in the Blount, Ricky Davis trade. Two great players. Blount and Davis were here from the Wally, Olowokandi trade to Boston. Olowokandi was an excellent free agent pickup and Wally was a superb draft pick over yucky Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller, or Shawn Marion (the next three picks). Jaric was in MN because of the amazing talent evaluator, Kevin McHale, knew Sam Cassell and a future first round draft pick was a small price to pay for greatness. To top it all off, Buckner was the result of a trade for Trenton Hassell, and the easily justifiable $26 million contract we gave him for his never ending potential.
TWolvesFanInLA = “Killer”???
This front office has confused me for years. The one thing we’ve needed for at least the past ten years is a strong, athletic center who is all about defense. Someone like a Kevin Willis. If we’d had Kevin Willis playing center with Garnett at PF, we’d probably have a championship.
Why do we draft a player to fill a spot that doesn’t need to be filled? Al and Gomes are our two best players. Why did we need Love? This would be easier to handle if we picked up Jordan with #31 and maybe a second big man…or a PG at least. I just don’t get it.
We have decent outside shooters in Jaric, McCants and Foye…we needed Miller why? And what does Cardinal bring that Doleac didn’t?
So I guess Craig Smith will be gone now with Love coming in. I think Love will be a good player, however I just didn’t see the need to bring him here.
I’d be getting quick and strong inside defenders because you can always find guards and SF who can shoot and handle the ball.
It’s kinda of funny; I went to school next to Carlson Craft and got an inside tour as a graphic designer. Lots of people at school ended up working there. The big thing that was always talked about at school and with the employees of Carlson Craft, was how cheap Taylor was. They had employees tripping over each other because they were packed in like cattle. They didn’t get paid worth a crap and were “disposable”. Not a company I cared to work for. Hard working people that had school debts are being paid crap to cover all the expensive and absurd trades Taylor has approved.
Someone else should buy the team. Get rid of McHale and Whittman. Let Fred run the team and bring back Casey as coach.
Losing Mayo isn’t going to be easy… especially if he wins rookie of the year like Brandon Roy did.
However getting rid of Marko Jaric in the deal, getting Love, and Miller in the deal… the Wolves save a ton of money for the 2011 season…
However, McFtard bombed in the 2nd round. We should have drafted DeAndre Jordan, and kept Chalmers. It would have been the best draft in the team’s history (even over KG though he is the best player this city will ever see in a wolves uniform)… Chalmers would have been our starting PG by the allstar game, and Jordan would have started at least 25 games as a rookie 2nd round pick… Instead we drafted Pekovic who won’t play here for 3 years, and something called Darnell Jackson. WTF?
even if Love is everything that mchale says he is…what power forwards in the western conference can he d-up? what guys can he beat in the post/off the dribble? you’re going to put the guy in the post and hope he gets the rebound so he can do his thing…send an outlet pass to a guard…that seems a little one dimensional…even if he knocks down outside shots…whose to say that big al will even find him, before he shoots it?
how do the wolves dump Mad dog? why is he still even in the nba? is he going to teach Klove those sweet dance moves? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpbXl5Sp-Wc
First, it is not a “blockbuster trade” … Garnett to Beanville, Shaq to Phoenix, Gasol to LA are blockbuster. They change the entire dynamics and to decide that Love makes every pro around him better is homer fan speculation. This was a draft choice swap of potential NBA players and middle of the pack pros. Yeah, big news draft day story but not a blockbuster.
Outside of that, it was a reasonable trade. OJ would have been unhappy in Minnesota. He said the right things on camera but but playing for a losing team in a football/hockey town would have dragged him down - and he won’t be much happier in Memphis two years down the road. Love seems mature enough to deal and bland enough to enjoy MN.
At one time McHale seemed to want to add winners into the mix but that flavor is gone. He combined KG with Cassel and Sprewell … that was exciting because seasoned pros, one with an NBA ring and another with something to prove, helped a good team get better. I wish he was back in the thought pattern. His now entrenched GM style will always keep the Twolves in the middle of the pack as a team.
I am not surprised OJ was traded, just disappointed we were stuck in 3rd for the draft. It was a no win spot and getting out of that mire takes a rare GM - that we aint got.
The ultimate upside is that there will be some incredibly awesomely cheap ticket deals out there and we will get to see some great teams for cheap. And after the great team settles their starting 5 for the night mid 3rd quarter we will have the excitement of our starting team coming back to make it a close game.
Good post restorms.
Now that I’m hopped up on Prozac is see one ray of hope…. One wild card yet to be revealed.
And that’s is if Randy Foye can turn into a star this year. If he can be our late bloomin’ Chancy Billups. I think it’s possible.
If you’re out there Randy, know this…THIS IS YOUR TEAM. TAKE OVER RANDY. YOU ARE OUR ONLY HOPE.
TWolvesFanInLA, in response to #5 on your post about if there will be an exodus of season ticket holders, I believe you had to renew your season tickets like a month ago. So I think you couldn’t see this move today and suddenly drop your season tickets, but, if you saw something you liked, you could purchase season tickets.
Rand, your man-love for Love is oozing through my computer screen and choking me like a former MLB pitcher.
So, does this now qualify as McHale Project 110 — MP110? And do we declare MP109 a complete failure like the many that came before it?
Kevin Love may end up being a modern day Laettner in terms of production but he doesn’t seem to be a head case.
In late breaking news, the Minnesota Timberwolves have changed their mascot to the Minnesota Crickets. Their reasoning was, “It will go well with the only sound you will hear at the Target Center for the coming years”
I have a hard time lauding any GM (or U.S. President) for taking credit for cleaning up his own mistakes. McHale getting rid of Jaric’s bloated contract doesn’t mitigate the stupidity in having that contract on the books in the first place (and the damage it caused).
I agree with a lot of twolvesfaninla’s column above. Giving up the excitement Mayo would bring for the “fundamental” skills Love and Miller have may make for an exciting round of mid-80s NBA basketball. This is becoming a league that’s bringing a little more of that ABA/Connie Hawkins/David Thompson flash - and if we’re not going to win the darn thing at least let’s have fun watching it.
I’ll reserve total judgment until I see what the salary cap allows for free agency. If one of the best reasons for not keeping Mayo is to free up space, let’s see if the Wolves do anything smart with it.
So did we just trade O.J. Mayo for the Subway guy?
ramon
I thought I poured the sarcasm on thick. I guess I was wrong.
redstorms
love as a fundamentally sound player sounds like Tim Duncan…he’s got some rings and some mvp trophy’s…could happen here…or mchale is just an idiot. oh i got it now
I am not a basketball guy. Dont know much about the game. I wont pretend to. But looking at this trade from my perspective I think the Wolves did ok. It was obvious that OJ Mayo didn’t want to play here. Did you see his reaction after getting drafted? That was the most unenthuasistic reaction ever. He looked as though he had just been drafted by the army and was beeing sent to war. I guarantee he would of held out and probably never signed with the Wolves. He reminds me of another USC star a MN team had the chance to draft but didn’t want to play here…Mark Prior. Love on the other had seems like he really, truly could care less where he plays and is just grateful for the oppurtunity and is less of a baby than Mayo. If it wasn’t for McHales bad record of draft day trades I would say this is a good trade, but you cant give a guy the benefit of the doubt after he made two horrible draft day trades in the past…Roy for Foye and Allen for Marburry. It will be hard to evaluate Mayo vs. Love. Because even if Mayo shines in Memphis, who knows if he would have done as good here, as he didnt want to play here in the first place, so maybe he wouldn’t have given as good an effort.
Didn’t see you up there redstorms… “great minds” as they say…
all: good points on McHale cleaning up his own mistakes. I think we all realize he created the mess he’s now trying to dig out of. My thoughts on the deal are in no way a vindication of the awful moves he has previously made. That said, I’d rather he dig out rather than dig deeper. This move, to me, solves some contract issues while also adding nice pieces to the mix. Win-win. Or, as Michael Scott might say, Win-win-win.
Does anyone else think that the Blazers are going to absolutely kill us for the next 15 years? Kind of Sad.
Oden - Jefferson
Love - LaMarcus Aldridge
Brewer - Outlaw/Webster
McCants - Roy
Foye - Bayless
Not to mention Portland’s bench is stacked with talent, and something tells me with all that talent on the bench, they will be able to strengthen that starting SF spot. This team will not even have an opportunity to win a division title in the next 15 years.
Wow that’s weird, kind of trippy to. I only posted one comment, the longer one. What are the chances, two different people with uncommon first names posted right after each other, 1 minute apart?
Any former Detroit Lions fans here that could tell us when we can officially wear brown paper bags on our heads and stage “Fire McHale” walkouts at home games?
Why do I feel like we drafted the next Baron Davis then traded him for a fatter and slower version of Christian Laetner
This is the face McFail gave when doing this trade
this kent feels the same way…
The only notable mistake that McHale ever made was being part of the last management group to negotiate a multi-year contract prior to the NBA’s implementation of salary cap rules. Once this was done, the Wolves were locked in on Garnett’s $122 bazillion deal, and the rest of the league’s teams were subsequently protected from being similarly burdened (because cap restrictions prevented them from being overcommitted to one player), then the Wolves were forevere screwed until they dumped Garnett. So, stop criticizing McHale for the Garnett trade. If anything, we should be criticizing him for signing Garnett to the 6-year deal that kept him here for so long, AND THEN celebrating McHale for being able to get Jeffereson, et al, when getting rid of Garnett. As for the Love-Mayo trade, it is solid.
I’ll be very surprised if Fred Hoiberg doesn’t quietly move on within the next few months. I think McHale blindsided him with this trade.
The trade was a necessity. The Wolves had to unload Jaric and Walker, neither of whom should ever have been acquired.
With Love, McHale appears to have made a common mistake people make when hiring: he liked a guy because he reminded him of himself.
Mayo wasn’t the perfect guy, he had his share of question marks, but at least he had a position. With Love, he’s too small to defend the 4 (it seems), but there is no way he can guard a 3.
Maybe somebody with a lot of time on his hands (BCBeneke?) can list each team’s 4 and 5 in the West and say how Love and Jefferson will match up against them defensively.
I wish I could own stock in a human being, because all of a sudden, I get the strong feeling that O.J. Mayo is going to win the Rookie of the Year award
Did any of you really think O.J. Mayo was going to be a T-Wolf after his initial 4-year rookie contract?!?
This guy has the biggest ego of anybody East of Kobe. He will leave Memphis the first chance he has to go to a big market.
Love could be a career Wolf.
When did Jason Collins become white? You guys playing this up over race are ridiculous (and I do see the sarcasm), but get the facts straight. basketball, more than any other game, is a team game. I would rather have 10 years of love than 2-3 of Mayo.
Ouch, Rand. You sure opened up the proverbial can of worms this morning.
That being said, I too agree with you. I couldn’t have been more bummed going to sleep last night and happier when I logged on this morning. I might* actually go to a couple Wolves games this year!
*Maybe not.
I would rather have 10 years of love than 2-3 of Mayo.
So you would rather have 10 years of a slower fatter version of Christian Laetner then 4 years of Baron Davis. Fine you hold your ground. F-U McFail
OK Kids, time to get out of the Randball pool and skip back over to Access Vikings. Bye-bye now!
I’ve been a Love fan for the past year — and how can you argue with getting not only Love but Miller? Great deal!
I have been a fan of the Wolves since 91. I have seen some pretty bads years and thought we finally had a chance to get a cornerstone player in Mayo. So McFail decides he knows more than 90% of our sports analysts and trades for a Big guy that is no more than a complimentary player and a three point (a tad better than Wally) shooter. Well, I have called th TWolves and asked for my season ticket money back. I am ‘DUN’ done. McFail basically traded our #3 pick, and two second rounders for a number 5 pick and some utility players. RIP Wolves, good luck to you and the 5 fans you have left. If McFail resigns, I may be back. Until then, ship this team to Oklahoma City and lock up the Target Center.
Tandems that I think are better:
Brand/Kaman
Gasol/Bynum or Odom
Shaq/Amare
Ming/Scola
Chandler/West
Duncan/Oberto
Oden/LaMarcus Aldridge
Okur/Boozer
Howard/R.Lewis
Wallace/McDyess
J. O’Neal/Bosh
Lopez/N. Krstic
KG/ Perkins
The one thing that all these tandems have in common? They are all better defensively than our duo.
And for all the OJ Mayo lovers out there, I have 2 words for you. Stephon Marbury. That’s exactly what he would have done.
Mr. Rand - how does this deal help or not help with free agency or trades? I’ve read different takes - one that says the Collins expiring contract is attractive but the Cardinal deal rivals Jaric’s for stupidity.
I agree that something had to be done with the Jaric/Walker contracts. But if we’re still a year or two out from being able to sign or trade for a top-notch free agent, why not enjoy those few years with Mayo? Granted, he could pull a Marbury. Maybe we’ll have enough under the cap to pick up a shot blocker.
One thing I won’t accept is McHale gloating over this trade. If I read one word from him about how he got the guy he really wanted (as opposed to the guy the team and fans need) and than some, I may have to forget him.
I am now a Clipper fan thanks and U stink McFail
Love upside: 12pts / 8 reb / cannot play defense / no hope - ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE - of ever making an All-Star appearance
Mayo upside: 25pts / can defend the ball / can become regular perennial All-Star.
Who cares whether Mike Miller can hit 3s? This team needs WINs - right now.
The only good news is that they’ll have the best chance in the 2009 Lottery.
Jay Bilas on Kevin Love: “His body fat is at 13%. Which is fine, if you’re a sea-lion.”
this was a good trade for the franchise. love is going to be good and miller is really good.
mayo is going to be good but not great. he’s not quick enough to be great… also, he sort of duplicates foye, who could be pretty good…
still need a center. big european guy we got in second round doesnt look all that great to me. check youtube…
Players Who Are Better Than Kevin Love:
* Cherokee Parks
* Christian Laettner
* Bryant “Big Country” Reeves
* Mark Madsen
* Brian Cardinal
as i was following this draft,and then i heard that the twolves picked mayo, i was thinking, great were going in the right direction,,the present guards that we have are all but impressive and now we have somebody that can run the floor and make things happen. Funny, you look at present and past winners and they all have a guard that runs the team, celtics, Allen, lakers, bryant, suns, nash, and it goes on.. then i heard this morning what happened, and what Mcfail did, and the gems we picked up.I will now go with the little sisters of the poor, a much better team.. my twolves loyalty is gone…
Why do the Wolves keep drafting or trading for big stiffs? I mean c’mon. The franchise has made 1 (ONE) good draft pick in it’s entire existence. Kevin Garnett… that’s it. Look at the list of stiffs:
Gary Leonard
Felton Spencer
Luc Longley
Christian Laettner
Marlon Maxey
Sherron Mills
Paul Grant
Radoslav Nesterovic
Andrae Patterson
Igor Rakocevic
Loren Woods
Marcus Taylor
Rick Rickert
Ndudi Ebi
Blake Stepp
All I know is I love mayo.
Today: MN Readers Call McHale and T-Wolves Organization RACIST!! Proof is 3 white players and one “almost-white” (I paraphrase) player on NBA roster!!
Ummmm….Oh, yeah! Of course!! Now I see it!! Now I get the connection!!
Kevin McHale made this move.. we’ll see if *THIS* move works out.. so far he hasn’t proven that he’s as good a GM as he was a player.
Can the Twins front office personnel just run every team in town?
Sassbottom says:
June 27th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Players Who Are Better Than Kevin Love:
* Cherokee Parks
* Christian Laettner
* Bryant “Big Country” Reeves
* Mark Madsen
* Brian Cardinal
George Murison
Shawn Bradley
Manut Bol
Vlade Divac
Ebi
Sam Bowey
Loren Woods
I think that McFail should trade Big AL for Adam Morrison. Morrison reminds McFail of himself so he has to go get him
I just started getting excited about following the Wolves closer and bone head Mchale has to trade Mayo. I was waiting all night for the other shoe to drop because I knew Mchale could not help himself. Mayo, Chalmers, and any big body prospect the could play here next year and I would have been excited about the future. Know I can go back to following the Vikings and Wild instead. Mayo will sell more tickets for the Grizzlies than love will for the Wolves. Never liked Mchale when he played with the Celtics, and I wish he would go back and help them.
What is wrong with those who think we have a solid nucleus? Wake up. Everyone of our starters is a career backup next to Al. They all would struggle for playing time on legit franchises. It was the worst trade in wolves’ history. The whole organization is the laughing stock of the NBA. The best thing since Ticket falls on McHale’s lap and he still manages to mess it up. When will you people learn? ?
It was comical reading the Star Tribune website last night and seeing columns about how the “Wolves wanted Mayo all along” and articles detailing how Fred Hoiberg says “We’re keeping him” — all the while the team is working out this deal and making the newspaper look like fools in the process.
I have pac 10 season tickets and went to the pac 10 tourney..
Great deal by the wolves..
Love and Miller will both spread the floor with their shooting.
And Love can drop dimes. If Al and Collins can handle the center spot we will be looking ok…
It realy didnt make since to have mayo when you have foye/mccants/brewer in recent drafts..
People need to stop using the logic that this trade was bad for the Wolves “because Mayo was the consensus #3 pick.” Need I remind you that Sam Bowie was the “consensus #2″ over MJ? I could give literally dozens of other examples that span across all sports, but I think the aforementioned example does more than enough to poke holes in the supposed infallibility many of you seem to think that the brain wizards in the NBA possess.
Now, onto the merits of this trade. First, Love never has/never will be a 3 in this league. Stop putting him in hypothetical starting lineups as a SF. He has about as much chance of playing that position in the league as I do. He is a PF/C in the mold of a much smaller, less athletic Tim Duncan. Actually, in terms of his build, I would compare him more to Elton Brand than anyone else, though he has nowhere near the athleticism of Brand, and as others have mentioned, will never be anywhere near an NBA All-Star. As for Mayo, he has the potential to be D-Wade, Kobe, and Chris Paul all rolled into one, but I don’t know if he can keep his head on straight long enough to do it. I personally think he cares more about being a celebrity than being a successful player. How else do you explain him choosing USC over UCLA? He wanted to be the lead dog instead of the best player on a team with several stars. Reminds me a lot of Kobe in that regard, who, by the way, will never win another title since he shipped Shaq out of town. This year is easily the closest he will ever come.
Verdict? Honestly, I don’t think it matters whether we got Love or Mayo. Neither one will be a difference maker in this league. We need far more than one player, anyway. The only player that would make the starting lineup on any 2008 playoff team would be Jefferson, so we essentially need a 1,2,3, and 5 before we can think about being competitive again. Sure, there were a lot of years where KG was the only good player we had, but he was a transcendant talent who could will a team to 45 or 50 wins virtually single-handedly. Big Al is not.
Bottom line of it all - it doesn’t matter who is on the floor until we have a real coach, real GM, and probably, real ownership group.
Jimmy,
Great posts. I agree with your sentiments exactly. McHale has to go. Taylor has to go. They all have to go and they can take this lame a** team team with them. Good luck selling tickets this year Wolves. Hope you lose tons of cash. Don’t come running to the public when you want your new arena either!
Does anyone think it’s a coincidence that the Minneapolis Star Tribune thinks this is a great move while the St. Paul Pioneer Press is printing what 80 percent of fans are saying in that this is a terrible move. Homers. Nice attempt at making McHale look competent. Should be fun watching this team give up a hundred spot every night…
Boycott the Wolves and Taylor corporation. I’m tired of the ineptitude. The only thing Taylor cares about more than his buddy McFail is his evil empire. Let’s boycott Taylor Corp until he removes McFail as GM. Cancel the corporate contracts, stop buying his products as consumers. Here’s a list of his businesses:
123Print.com - Business cards and custom printing
Carlson Craft - Wedding invitations, folders, catalogs
Cosco - Manufacturer of specialty products for businesses, which is currently the largest rubber stamp manufacturer
DrawingBoard - Imprinted and promotional products
Label Works - Manufacturer of custom printed pressure sensitive labels
Masterpiece Studios - Manufacturer, marketer and distributor of boxed holiday cards, boxed social stationery, imprintable invitations, scrap booking & paper crafts, and preprinted decorated paper for laser and inkjet printers
Regency - Manufacturer of custom printed social, commercial and greetings products and e-commerce solutions
Schmidt - Print solutions to magazine, newspaper and catalog publishers
Corporate Graphics - Print management, Direct Mail and Corporate ID products for the Fortune 500
CCA Occasions - UK Based company specializing in Personalized wedding and Christmas stationery
TrainingTime - B2B shopping portal for workplace training and development solutions
G. Neil - Manufacturer, marketer and distributor of human resources materials
Mayo= “The best thing since Ticket”?
That’s hysterical. I wish we were neighbors, if only so that I could idly ridicule you in the years to come (when OJ’s lack of professional grade work ethic and intensity are exposed under the harsh light of the NBA).
“The best thing since Ticket”
HA!
I wasn’t sure if this was a good pick. After seeing the hysteria exhibbited by the rabble, I’m pretty sure the team’ll be okay. In Minnesota, the sporting rabble is almost always wrong. It’s part of our charm…
overthewolves,
Wow! You really did some homework for that. I was going to suggest people just not buy tickets to any game, but that will already happen, so I guess going that extra mile to boycott all of Taylor’s businesses is the next step.
Now, if only Taylor owned all of the McD’s restaurants so I would quit eating there all the time…..
mayo was maybe the 10th best prospect in the draft…that all….everything else is the miami hype machine…
Ive watched em in person 3 seperate times…. love is the one that passes the eye ball test…
his outlet passing and ability to spread the floor should make a noticeable difference for the pups…
I have never seen a worse GM or decision maker than Kevin Mc-Fail. His genious moves remind me of a young kid that just has to trade his baseball cards for the sake of trading. You know the kid that has lots of cards and ends up trading a Michael Jordan rookie card for a Mark Madson or Luc Longley card because as Tommy Boy would say: hmmm he seems like a nice guy!
When i was growing up in Los Angeles we never really much cared for the Clippers but they tried hard so we accepted the failures. I am sorry to say that I now have way more respect for the Clippers. F-U McHale Fail
I wonder how tickets sales will be for the Grizzlies games next year? I hope OJ goes for 30-8-8 against us! At least we’ll have Love to grab the ball out of the net and chuck it down court after Mayo hits 15 shots.
Kevin Love is a fatter slower version of Cristian Laetner.
Kevin Love is a fatter slower version of Paul Grant
Kevin Love is a fatter slower version of Rasho Nesterovic
Kevin Love is a fatter slower version of Luc Longley
Don’t worry guys next year we are picking Tyler Hansborough. He is a dorkier slower more unorthodox version of Mad Dog
Let’s all chant: Fire McFail!! Fire McFail!! Fire McFail!!
Seriously. Ndudi Ebi, Foye over Roy, trading Mario Chalmers (#34 pick for 2 low and probably worthless 2nd round picks), trading the potential of excellence (Mayo) for 2 above average players, Igor Rakocevic, the Joe Smith Fiasco, trying to sign Latrell Sprewell to a monster contract extension, Ricky Davis, Will Avery, letting Chauncey Billups get away. Those are some terrible decisions. What has he done besides get KG? Seriously.
Tyler Hansborough reminds McFail of himself so we can’t bypass this pick
We will have a lottery pick next year too, so chances are Hansborough will be wearing a retro T-bombs uni.
overthewolves,
The only good thing McHale did yesterday was to “undo” his bunk a** deal with Jaric (But it came at the expense of losing Mayo).
We can have Love, Mad Dog and Hansborough in there using that triple team for defense wooooooo.
Fire all T-pups brass! Next years pick from the draft. Check it out
I think that this team should move to Oklahoma City. who even cares about the TPups and their inept brass? Isn’t this all about the Wild anyways…the State of Hockey? Good Riddance Wolves….leave town now because after this draft, nobody cares, I think Seattle is calling and wants a CBA team…perfect fit. McFail is a nobrain jerk.
I heard that we are getting Matt Pollard next
Not to mention throwing in 80-something yr old looking Brian Cardinal.
Either city…we really do not care anymore. There will be a total of 50 fans at the games this next season. Oh and here is a great Fire McFail site.
Scot Pollard I meant to say
Either city…we really do not care anymore. There will be a total of 50 fans at the games this next season. Oh and here is a great Fire McFail site.
jimmy bee,
Intense picture. That would look great on the side of a downtown Minneapolis building!
Our lineup should be
Chamlers
Foye/McCants
Brewer/Gomes
Jefferson
Deandre Jordan/whoever else from last year
Now its
Foye
McCants
Miller/Brewer
Jefferson/Gomes
Love
I like option A better as a Rebuilding team
there is hope left in free agency that trade is not as bad as it looks. add a baron davis and this team is a legit playoff team…not that its going to win once it gets there. we now have money
I meant to put MAYO at PG with Chamlers backup
3 guys that the Tinkerwolves brass are looking at adding.
Scot Pollard
Tyler Hansbrough
Adam Morrison
Getting all 3 would be a blessing.
Though therea are certain players McHale seems to fall in Love with (Maybe a little pun intended), what is really at the heart of the matter is that McHale does not seem to have all that much respect for drafting period. Some is understandable since players usually take a few years to develop and many of them do bust.
In the case of Mayo/Love, McHale thought more of Love then Mayo even though Fred Hoiberg more then likely wanted Mayo.
I do give credence to the thought that the TWolves probably would not have used him correctly so it is probably best for all concerned that the trade was made.
Kevin Loves dad
What’s to say they’ll use Love correctly? They didn’t use Jefferson correctly last year…
Can anyone explain to me why McFail is on a mission to completely destroy the Wolves. He is determined and has harmfull intentions. I mean enough is enough.
I have no friigin Idea Jimmy Bee. How can a successful business man like Taylor be so inept and not understanding how harmful McFail is. I talked to the Twolves ticket office today, and yes, the fans are jumping off like rates on a sinking ship.
The Wolves are a has-been and never ever were team. Go Purple. At least we have an owner who cares and is not in it to just save a buck…get the hint Taylor?
Easily one of the best trades ever by the Wolves. This is exactly what I had hoped for. I was sooo disappointed when they picked Mayo. Love has character…Mayo IS a character. Miller makes up for losing Wally.
I won’t waste my time watching or my money purchasing a ticket to go see a crappy team with a crappy owner and crappy management. Hopefully Taylor will start to realize when he loses millions over the next few years.
Canoozer get a life and try to be more sympathetic.
Canoozer = Taylor’s son
Canoozer…I have to disagree with you. Why not swing for the fences with Mayo? he was a potential cornerstone of our sture with Al Jeff, not just a complimentary player which is all Love is. There is no comparison between the potential of Mayo and Love. This will go down as another bust just like the Foy/Roy deal was. Heck, let’s just bring back Paul Grant, Will Avery, and Ndi Ebi. That is how good of talent McFail can evaluate. Tell me the last trade night deal that has ever worked for the Wolves…Not trade overall….but trade night…the answer…None!!!
Can we trade McFail and a player to be named later for ….hmmm…let’s see…what would be worth it….aaah the heck with it…can we just trade him straight out for a beer? I would be happy with that.
I find this whiteness stuff very funny.
It’s true what has been said, valid……
But on the flipside, we have the Vikings QBs.
Tarvarris Jackson
Daunte Culpepper
Spergyn Wynn
Randal Cunningham
Warren Moon
Why hasn’t the team signed Byron Leftwich yet?
Keep trying that experiment there at QB and see if you can reincarnate Doug Williams from 1987.
Never mind…that is such an insult to my favorite beverage. A beer is worth much more. Can we just ship McFail to Boston so he can have a tea party with D Rivers? Heck, some how in my pissed of attitude, I am thinking Isiah Thomas looks even good.
Everybody praising McHale for clearing cap space next year is forgetting something. He’s the one whose shown ZERO ability in judging talent and thrown tons of money at mediocre players before. Why would that change now? Why should we trust that he’s all of sudden figured out how to run the team, ESPECIALLY when he’s only working part time?
here’s what I don’t understand… we had to let go of garnett, our best player in the wolves, and he was one of the highest paid player too. so that should solve the salary cap. but they traded mayo for love BECAUSE of the salary cap?? what is the wolves spending on???
however, they also say mayo is just like J.R. Rider and we don’t need another embarrassments. too bad we can trade for beasley. I believe he has much better stats than love and mayo combined
Wait, how is this a bad trade for the Wolves? Granted, I don’t live there anymore so I don’t have KFAN and the like to shape my opinion for me, but how is dumping the two worst contracts on the team + picking up a great outside shooter (which was one of the Wolves many deficiencies last year) + getting Al some help down low on the glass a bad thing?
Granted, they still have a ton of holes, but they solved more problems with the trade than they would have if they kept Mayo. They’re still weak in inside D, but Mayo wouldn’t have fixed that either, nor would he have fixed their coaching or need for a true PG.
As for the people who think Love is Bryant Reeves status, do you watch college ball or just look at headshots?
As for Chalmers, I think they should have kept him, but some of you are going too far. He’s a career backup/Eddie House type at best and wouldn’t be an immediate improvement over any current member of the Wolves backcourt. He’s going to live off that one shot longer than anyone since Bryce Drew. People who think he can step in and right away start at point probably didn’t even know who he was before that shot.
Courtney Love and Steve Miller for Mayonaise is a good deal.
It’s Friday, so in that vein I think Will Farrell said it best in Semi-Pro: “Bud Light… suck one.”
How can all of you be so vehement when we won’t have any real evidence for a couple of years? This could be a great trade, or it might suck, and anyone that claims to know the answer today is blowing smoke.
Part time? McFail isn’t there even when his body physically is. Geez, I hope he isn’t getting paid for this job…if that is the case….I need to go work for Taylor Corp. Heck, what a gig. Make dumbass decisions, never show up for work, and get paid thousands. Sign me up!!
Corky, tel me one good trade that has worked for us? If you can come up with one good ‘draft night’ trade, I will agree with you, but I don’t think you can!! So that is how we can make these claims. As fans we have lived through all the bullcrap for 20 years!!!
As for the people who think Love is Bryant Reeves status, do you watch college ball or just look at headshots?\
I said Love is a fatter slower version of Christian Laetner
And I said he is a fatter and slower version of Longley, Grant, and Rasho.
Cronn I like your thinkin. LOL..Courtey Love and Steve Miller. Yep, a bud light sounds like the cure to forget about the damn Wolves.
I can’t give you a draft trade, because there isn’t one, but if we’re going to assume that we will never have a good trade in the future because of past performance (even if it’s true), we might as well find something else to watch.
With the Wolves trading the Dwyane Wade clone for the Jack Sikma & Kelly Tripucka clone, it brings this up:
Wolves Target Players for 08-09
-Kirk Hinrich (McHale says the Wolves need more knockdown shooters, and he reminds McHale of Danny Ainge the player)
-Brent Barry (McHale says Brent reminds him of Thunder Dan Majerle, former NBA All Star)
-Michael Dunleavy (McHale says Dunleavy is a taller version of his dad, a former NBAer who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated guarding Michael Jordan in Jordan’s first ever SI cover with the Bulls)
-Andrei Kirilenko (Reminds McHale of a paler version of the pale TeyShawn Prince)
McHale is not trying to help the T-Wolves. We should have gotten much more for the Garnett trade but he is more worried about the Celtics success. McHale is trying to find Kevin Love (as himself) and Mike Miller (as Larry Bird). Now we just need a little Danny Ainge on the team!
Trade sucks…McHale needs to go.
Too funny Rizzo. Please tell me that would just be one bad dream.
Danny Ainge replacement = Spudd Webb….Ok he is in his 40’s but to McFail, he still has ups. Ooops, I hope mcfail does not read this, he may just use my idea.
Anytime there is a Kelly Tripucka and Jack Sikma comparison to anyone, it’s not a good thing.
As for the people who think Love is Bryant Reeves status, do you watch college ball or just look at headshots?\
“I said Love is a fatter slower version of Christian Laetner”
Outside of being tall and white, how do you get Laetner from Kevin Love. Love’s far more of a banger than Laetner was (even in college) with a better outside shot and far superior passing skills.
Amazingly enough, the only accurate description anyone has made of Love is the one who didn’t compare him to another white player (whoever it was that called him a less athletic Elton Brand hit it on the head.) Just because he’s white doesn’t mean he HAS to be compared to other white players.
I’m personally over the trade… I do in fact think it makes the T-Wolves a better TEAM (not player) down the road.
We will have more viable options in the future with this trade. I do see SOME upside to this trade.
Unfortunately I cannot agree with McFail on the trade of Mario Chalmers, nor the selection of timbuktoo over DeAndre.
Mario is clutch. He will carry a team on his shoulder and will get players in position to make plays and also isn’t afraid to take the shot.
DeAndre… Here’s a guy that you can bring along. Is he a year away? Maybe, but then again we are lucky to have the developmental league.
Kevin Love will turn out to be a solid NBA player. I have no reservations about that… Later rounds is where are inept GM Kevin McFail as i read is doing a lousy job.
Please, get rid of him. Put Hoiberg in there to lead the way. I’m thinking Hoiberg missed the hippy express that McFail took and is willing to put a winning team together.
Moe - Love is a great basketball player but I just think McHale is a fool to think he knows what he is doing…I think we might look back at this trade much like we do the Roy for Foye trade.
I don’t care if he is purple. The potential of Love and Mayo cannot even be compared in the same breath. That is like comparing Roy and Foye. Now who was on the All Star team in 2008? Oh yeah, the guy we drafted and traded. This was a three man draft for lottery conerstone players. Anyone else that thinks Love is a good deal should just look at the Wolves draft history. Enough said. Love will be a serviceable player, but much riskier than Mayo. Oh, hey Twolves front office…how are the season ticket sales going today?
Mike S and McFail for dips&*t- See, this is where I think a lot of the negativity surrounding this is coming from. The “because McHale made it it’s a bad pick” mentality. Now I know (though I don’t live in Minny, I am a Wolves fan) as much as anyone how many mistakes he’s made and that the initial impulse is to think it’s bad simply because McHale is in charge.
“Look at the Wolves draft history.” Yes, McHale makes a lot of dumb moves, but I don’t believe this is one of them. Just because he drafted Ndubi Ebi doesn’t mean Kevin Love is bad.
But everyone I’ve talked to who isn’t a Wolves fan (aka everyone I’ve talked to today that isn’t in this thread) thinks it was a great move by the Wolves. Mayo for Love straight up would be questionable, but when you factor in the dumping of Jaric’s awful contract and Walker’s general awfulness (outside of Marbury I can’t think of a player I want less around a young team than Walker) for Mike Miller, Collins (a serviceable big man on D in the last year of a manageable contract) and only taking on one bad contract in Cardinal . . . I fail to see how it’s so bad.
Be honest with yourselves. If you saw this same trade go down between Memphis and, say, the Sonics (pretending they took Mayo while the Wolves took someone else entirely) would you really think it’s that bad?
horrible trade. we also passed on deandre jordan, gave up a 34 pick for what will probably be a 50 pick, and will have to pay collins and cardinal 11 million a year between them. walker and jaric were much much better than these guys. a travesty.
Has anyone actually seen the mugs of the players we got in return. Ugly dog competition. Below is an espn story link and when you see a name in the article pertaining to what we will receive just click on the name and look for inbreeding.
Oh, and to quick add on to some earlier comments. I do agree that Mayo has more star power and would sell more tickets THIS year. But if they’re still a 20-30 win team with a big name, they still won’t draw anyone to the games. Salivating over a guy because he’s a bigger name can backfire (ask the Philly fans who booed McNabb on draft day because they wanted Ricky Williams.)
What in the world are the Timberwolves thinking?!?!?!
Choosing between two players:
Coming out of high school the same year, one is the ESPN #1 ranked national prospect, the Parade magazine Player of the Year, and earns MVP honors at the Reebok Invitational for high school players.
Both players enroll in schools in the PAC-10 conference and the same player is named Conference Freshman of the Year AND Conference Player of the Year, appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated due to his impressive Freshman campaign, and is also named AP 1st team All-American (the other doesn’t even make the 2nd or 3rd team).
Oh, and he is also a more prolific scorer than his rival.
What do the Timberwolves do?????
They trade for him!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can Love slam dunk the ball because I am watching clips and the whole time all he does is lay ups.
jimmy bee- yeah he can dunk. He’s done it in games at UCLA. He’s got a 35 inch vertical or something like that.
Moe all I was seeing on a 3 minute clip of him was this little stand by the rim and hit the back board from an angle then go in. Kind of a layup bank shot without running.
How many successful 6′10″ white forwards are currently playing in the NBA?
I am so tired of this franchise…please relocate to Oklahoma.
I have looked at a ton of clips of both Mayo and Love. Love of course has the height, but his defense is terrible. Mayo can steal, and he would have been a pure shooter which we deperately need. Sorry, but Love will be medicre at best, and Mayo will be an all star. I am forever leaving the Wolves after 20 years of this crap. So with that…I am trying to remember my favorite OJ Mayo moment in MN.
A COW nomination to anyone who can honestly claim they read every post in this thread.
why draft a power foward i thought we wanted a big y not keep mayo,draft deandra jordan to play center starting 5 foye,mayo,brewer,jefferson and jordan with mccants,gomes,telfair,smith off the bench 2012 champs
y trade chalmers f u mcfail
GO VIKINGS
ILL STILL WATCH THE WOLVES TILL ABOUT 3/4 OF THE YEAR WHEN WE HAVE 50 LOSSES AND 18 WINS TWO 6′9 GUYS IN THE POST HOW DUMB R WE MCFAIL
LEAVE HIM ALONE HE DID GET RID OFF MARCO,BUCKNER TWO OF OR GREAT SINGINGS, HIRE FRED BEFORE HE LEAVES.
I still got mad love for the Timberwolves because I’m a real MN basketball fan. It hurts to see the franchise doing bad. I’d like to think Kevin McHale could one day make us an elite team again but I just don’t see that happening. Mr. Taylor needs to open his eyes and hand over some of McHale’s responsibilities to somebody else, or just get rid of the guy all together, but again I just don’t see that happening. Whoever they bring to the court (okay maybe not Brian Cardinal) I will support because I am a T-wolves fan. But I’m sick of hearing ANY COMPARISON involving McHale and ANY player or ANY of the old Celtics players. McHale: Nobody cares if you think somebody reminds them of you, or of Larry Bird, or of Danny Ainge QUIT LIVING IN THE PAST
I think the lineup we’ll have to suffer through will be:
Telfair
Foye
Miller
Love
Jefferson
When it could have been:
Roy
Mayo
*player X
Gomes
Jefferson
(*player X is a player from the local rec. league I play in).
Is there anyone who wouldn’t prefer the second lineup? A ROY, another probable Roy, a Top-10 Power Forward, a solid & under-rated player in Gomes, and Larry from my local Y - who can play the Guard and Small Forward Position.
McHale is unbelievable. I can only imagine what ignorant bliss like that feels like. Glen Taylor must know the feeling. And, McHale doesn’t even have an actual contract, right? Isn’t it just some sort of a handshake (Joe Smith under-the-table type of) deal? Which would make firing him or letting him go even easier?
I’d even prefer:
Mayo
*Larry
*Player Y
*Player Z
Jefferson
(*Players Y and Z are two other players from my rec. league)
At least the games would be watchable.
What die-hard Timberwolves fan, that follows college basketball (and is familiar with the playrs involved) could possibly like this trade (including, you, Randball)?
Well, at least I won $25.00 from my brother. With a 100% chance to draft either Rose, Beasley, or Mayo - he insisted there was no possible way that we could screw this draft up. No possible way. Lo and behold, McHale did it again.
In all honesty, is there any way that T-Wolves fans can come together in an effort to get McHale fired? How is it that Wolves fans aren’t boycotting every game? Is there a petition to fire McHale floating around somewhere out there?
Fool us once - shame on you, McHale. Fool us 127 times (and counting), McHale — shame on us.
How frustrating.
Kevin Love will be the cornerstone of your franchise for 10 years. Your lucky to have him.
“ouch says:
June 27th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Love upside: 12pts / 8 reb / cannot play defense / no hope - ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE - of ever making an All-Star appearance
Mayo upside: 25pts / can defend the ball / can become regular perennial All-Star.
Who cares whether Mike Miller can hit 3s? This team needs WINs - right now.
The only good news is that they’ll have the best chance in the 2009 Lottery.”
Exactly. The only bad news is that you can’t even look forward to our drafts any more. Roy (the R.O.Y. two years ago) falls into our lap, and we flush that down the toilet. O.J. Mayo, (1 of the 2 favorites to win Rookie of the year, in my opinion) and we flush that one down the toilet. So, there’s no longer even any upside to failing the season, since we’re only going to follow that up by failing the subsequent draft.
“Richard says:
June 27th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Kevin Love will be the cornerstone of your franchise for 10 years. Your lucky to have him.”
Have you been watching basketball for the past 5 years, or noticed how the game has changed in that time? The cornerstone of all these winning franchises is their talent at the guard positions. Haven’t you seen the monumental shift - where the emphasis isn’t on big men any more - but rather, the talent and effectiveness at the guard positions.
We’ll be lucky to dump Love’s contract in 5-6 years.
So really liked Love a while back, then when we took Mayo, I thought we might have someone fun to watch even if the team isn’t that great. Now we have Love, and I feel like I should be happy, yet I don’t know what I think about the trade. I do think it’s a better fit. If you believe in our guards it was the right move, but if Foye ends up being average or below this trade could hurt.
“What die-hard Timberwolves fan, that follows college basketball (and is familiar with the playrs involved) could possibly like this trade (including, you, Randball)?”
Remind how OJ Mayo=”wins right now.” He’s basically Randy Foye with more upside. He doesn’t significantly upgrade their outside shooting (not like Miller does,) their interior D (which they still need help on,) or taking rebounding pressure off Al (which Love does.) He also hasn’t yet proven that he’s a true point guard or that he’d be able to run an NBA offense.
They both have strengths and they both have flaws. However, the trade fixed more holes than simply keeping Mayo would have.
I also love how Mayo’s scoring will increase significantly in the NBA than in college, while Love’s numbers will significantly drop.
I’m convinced people who live in Minnesota can’t appreciate when something good happens to their team. When you have the chance to get Mike Miller, unload your bad contracts AND get a player of Love’s caliber (NOTE: his melanin deficiency does not make him incapable of playing, as anyone who actually watched college ball last year can tell you,) why do you not do it? Because Mayo sells more tickets?
It’s funny, fans of other teams have been saying to me all day “damn, you guys came out nice on that trade,” while Wolves fans are crying chicken little. Though if I had to live in a state with Reusse, I’d be a little mad, too. But this is borderline Knicks/Jets fandom.
I think the trade is good. We get some center help and Big Al can play PF. Miller can light it up. That will ease pressure on Al right off the bat. As for the racists here, check out this article
Last year the Wolves were an after thought on the Minnesota sports landscape and they will be even less of one this year.
Based on past history a betting man wuld wager that this move by McHale will also be a bad one.
I understand why you supported this deal Rand. You need that Wolves access for your job. Here’s to hoping you had enough mouthwash on hand after puckering up on the Mcbooty.
I am soooo thankful that Taylor never purchased the Vikes, bullet dodged there
OK that is weird, two Rogers at the same minute with radically differing opinons, and I did real all these posts so the weird Kent moment echos here
a lot of hate on here! Im not sure why everyone hates this move?? OJ for Love and Miller is a great move to me and we dumped Walker and Jaric’s contracts, so they have a lot of cap space to pursue a free agent, i dont know why everyone loves mayo SO much, i think he was the “sexy” pick, but he has an ego and would leave minny anyway, and probably wouldnt buy into our system, plus miller is the perimeter shooter we needed, he played in the olympics right? its a good trade and they ARE NOT DONE YET dealing, minny will be active in free agency
lol
Well, that is the fun of sports I guess. We will not know who is right for few years, and by that time we will have all forgotten about this debate 
if you watched the press conference today, they told the media they will be out in free agency looking for more pieces, ohh and in a couple years, that beast from europe will be over, and he is the best big man in europe so i think that was a great pick, love is a solid fundamental ball player, so i hope everyone gives this guy a chance to prove himself this year as well as the rest of the team, plus foye and others with better players around them makes them better also, so we should wait and see what happens
Once again McHale thinks he knows, when his track record is a proven failure.
If the T-wolves had followed the “pick the obviously better guy” all night we could have had:
OJ MAYO
CDR
& MARIO CHALMERS
In a year, they would all play crucial minutes and we have dumbed marko, rashad, sebastian, et al.
WHEN YOU ARE A BAD TEAM, THAT MEANS, BY DEFINITION, MOST OF YOUR PLAYERS ARE BELOW AVERAGE, SO YOU CAN’T TRADE MORE TALENTED PLAYERS TO GET PEOPLE TO FIT IN WITH SUB-PAR CURRENT PLAYERS. IT’S NOT HARD!!!!
“Moe: …I’m convinced people who live in Minnesota can’t appreciate when something good happens to their team.”
Unless you live in Minnesota and love the T-Wolves, I guess you can’t appreciate what a horrible GM Kevin McHale is. McHale could trade gold for silver, and still wouldn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.
*or silver for gold, rather (which he hasn’t exactly shown a knack for).
Am I the only one who watched college hoops this season? Why the tears for OJ Mayo? He sure did tear it up leading USC to an 11-seed in the Big Dance. Get off the ledge people. Heaven forbid a local team draft a player who understands that team sports require team work. Seems to me that drafting those kinds of players has worked out pretty well for some teams in professional sports (e.g., New England Patriots).
I am emailing from Memphis, and a big Grizzlies fan. The city of Memphis is on fire about the Mayo for Love trade and the ticket office phones are ringing off the hook. OJ will be a star - while Love will be a decent player, although the Wolves trying to run will not be an option. We could not believe our good fortune as this trade went down. I do want to point out, however, that you received a quality player (and person) in Mike Miller. Mike will ultimately bring more value than Love. The only thing that would have ruined this trade for Memphis was if McHale had been sent here with OJ! Good luck everyone…
Line-Up next year without the Mayo-Love trade, Chalmers trade, and Jordan instead of Pekovic:
1- Foye- if he stepped up Foye-Mayo backcourt would have been a solid playmaking start
2- Mayo- the next Dwayne Wade. He just spent a year under a defensive minded coach (Floyd)
3- Gomes- not the greatest but at least he plays D.
4- Jefferson- would have absolutely flourished in his natural position
5- Jordan- young, unpolished but guess what McHale and the coaching staff can do more with a kid whose in the same state let alone the same country (Pekovic).
With Brewer, McCants, and Chalmers off the bench.
This would have been a pretty solid rebuilding line-up. Then adding two first rounders next year (Miami will be out of the top 10). This team would be off to a great start instead of having the worst defense in the league. The wolves not the grizzlies will be the laughing stock of the NBA.
I’m pretty sure if McCants and Miller go cold on a given night, then 80% of the NBDL would be able to beat the Puppies by a hefty margin.
