FanHouse Brian Cardinal

All the time we spent fretting over who the Timberwolves would take with the third overall pick (hey, you spend five hours live blogging the entire NBA draft and you're allowed to come up with headlines like that too, okay?) is all for naught because of a deal that broke shortly after the draft.

Minnesota and the Memphis Grizzlies have apparently made a monster swap -- a far bigger deal than that new Minny logo -- that revolves around their two first round picks. The Timberwolves will receive the draft rights of Kevin Love, Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins and Mike Miller. In exchange, the Grizz will receive O.J. Mayo, Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner.

Obviously, Mayo and Love are the two big components in this deal. Kevin McHale has made no secret of his Love-love leading up to the draft, but knew he had to take Mayo in the third slot, because of their draft position. However, the addition of Miller is pretty ridiculous, as is the dumping of Jaric's contract (although the loss of his ladyfriend Lima certainly hurts).

For the Grizzlies, they get Mayo, of course, and he could be a pretty nice shooting guard addition beside Mike Conley in the backcourt. The Grizzlies have also been trying to dump Cardinal's contract ever since they gave their last good tradable piece away moved Pau Gasol to the Lakers. Buckner, Collins and Walker are essentially throw-ins to make everything work.

The Bulls were in Memphis last night getting spanked by the Grizzlies, which means the Chicago media predictably churned out an update regarding the Bulls' never-ending trade talks for Pau Gasol (and I'm serious about "neverending -- check out this post from exactly a year ago). Last year, the Bulls refused to part with Luol Deng or Ben Gordon. Who's are this year's untouchables? Brian Hanley tells us in today's Chicago Sun-Times:

Talks involving Gasol (19.3 points, 8.8 rebounds per game) going to the Bulls quieted in December but could be revived if the Bulls find themselves in a playoff race. Memphis reportedly wants to include Brian Cardinal, who's owed $13 million over the next two seasons, in any deal for Gasol. In return, the Grizzlies likely would want Andres Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

The Bulls have balked at including Nocioni, whom Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace pursued as a restricted free agent last summer.

This deal isn't happening because Paxson wants to hold onto Andres freakin' Nocioni? I'm not sure John Paxson understands that actually giving up a player is not only customary but usually required when making a trade. For a deal involving an All-Star big man to fall apart because the other team actually wants to take back an overpaid reserve ($38 million over five years) is just plain ridiculous.

(Random sidenote: just in case you missed it, here's the awesomely hilarious explanation for how Cardinal got that ridiculously stupid contract in the first place.)

How big are Jerry West's balls? Mark Montieth of the Indianapolis Star presents evidence:

An exceptionally well-connected league insider once told me the story of how Brian Cardinal got his mid-level. Seems Memphis owner Michael Heisley, frustrated by general manager Jerry West's lack of activity, walked into West's office one day and asked why he hadn't signed anyone yet. So an exasperated West picked up his phone, called Cardinal's agent and offered the mid-level on the spot. Then he turned to Heisley and said something along the lines of "There, you happy now?"

And you wonder why Memphis is having a hard time getting behind its NBA team.