Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.Ah. The Land of Lakes. Where anything can happen. The first rounder could be O.J. Mayo, it could be Michael Beasley, it could be Kevin Love, it could be Larry Bird or it could be traded straight up for
Picks: #3, #31, #34
Needs: Assuming they think either Randy Foye or Sebastian Telfair will work out (and they'll probably go through with the experiment anyway even if they don't) at point, they'll look for frontcourt depth (and defense) to compliment Al Jefferson. They also need a legit scorer to keep A's in the seats, though, and that's something they might address first.
Best case scenario: McHale stays away from the phone lines and ends up with either O.J. Mayo or Michael Beasley. Mayo gives them a safety net if Foye/Telfair fail and Beasley would be a pretty nasty tandem with Baby Al down low and allows them to look for frontcourt help (Roy Hibbert?) late in the first round when they package 31 and 34 to move back up.
More likely scenario: The Heat, already with Dwyane Wade in the backcourt, take Beasley and the Wolves end up with Mayo. McHale uses the two early second round picks and moves up into the first to grab one of the defensive-able centers that drops and ... ohmysweetgod the Timberwolves suddenly had a good draft.
Please don't take: Someone other than Mayo or Beasley. I can envision some scenario where McHale -- without Mayo as his top pick -- reaches on either Love or Danilo Gallinari, or, as mentioned above, makes a trade. O.J. Mayo, of course, becomes a top 50 all time NBA talent, while whoever the Wolves end up taking becomes known as "solid".
Trade possibilities: Minnesota has talked a lot about trade but moving out of the third spot at this point seems silly. The possibility you see them involved in a deal is still high though, particularly if they land Mayo (Foye, Telfair and Jaric become potentially movable) and try to move up.





Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-25-2008 @ 1:09PM
bobz said...
i say we package the 3rd, 31st, and 34th and swap with miami ( only if the bulls take rose) the twolves absolutly need beasly. Mayo wouldnt be too bad, but the wolves are already guard heavy, and brook lopez is NOT WORTH A TOP 10, let alone a top 3 pick. worst case scenario, wolves trade down to the 5th or 6th pick at the lowest and stock pile atleast 2 more high 2nd rounders this yr, and package those along with the 2 they already have to move back up into the top 20
Reply