At least six first round picks are on the move, and now there’s word that Minnesota and Memphis have agreed to a deal that will send Kevin Love and Mike Miller to Minnesota for O.J. Mayo and Marko Jaric. There are four other players involved, but no one of consequence.
This looks like a crafty move by the historically non-crafty Kevin McHale. He really liked Love, but felt that he had to draft Mayo at #3 so that he could acquire another piece or two along with Love. In the deal, he not only got the power forward he wanted all along, but he also garnered the sharpshooting and affordable Miller, who should help space the court for Al Jefferson. Suddenly, the young Timberwolves can start a lineup that consists of Randy Foye, Rashad McCants, Miller, Love and Jefferson, and that’s not a bad start. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies can now boast a young (and cheap) perimeter core of Mayo, Mike Conley and Rudy Gay.
Most pundits are tasked to write a “winners & losers” column after the draft is complete, but the truth is there’s no reason to label any franchise one or the other when the truth about this draft won’t be revealed for at least another two to three years.
Looking at the first round, I am still bummed that the Bucks weren’t able to follow up their stellar (assuming his ankles hold up) acquisition of Richard Jefferson by coming out of the draft with Love, but Joe Alexander looks like a nice player, and there’s talk of him being able to play some power forward. Looking at his official measurements, his standing reach (8’10”) is the same as Love’s and just an inch shorter than Michael Beasley’s, and both of those players are considered to be power forwards. Alexander weighs just 220 lbs, but if he put on another 15 lbs of muscle, I think he’d be able to compete down low. Throw in his 38.5″ vertical and his 24 bench press reps (second best at the combine), and maybe a Jefferson/Alexander/Andrew Bogut frontline is a possibility. (For those of you writing Alexander off as a workout warrior, I submit the 23.0 points and 7.5 rebounds he averaged over the last 11 games of the season, which includes his 22/11 effort against Duke and his 18/10 against Xavier in the second and third rounds of the NCAA tournament.)
After all the talk of the Heat wanting out of the Beasley sweepstakes, they did the right thing and drafted him. It will be interesting to see how a Dwyane Wade/Shawn Marion/Beasley trio works. The Heat will have until the trade deadline to make a decision about Marion, assuming they don’t decide to trade him earlier.
Charlotte’s pick of D.J. Augustin was pretty surprising, especially considering Brook Lopez was still on the board. I bet Ray Felton isn’t feeling too great about this offseason. First, the team brings in Larry Brown, who is notoriously hard on his point guards. Then the Bobcats burn a lottery pick on a point guard when they really needed more help up front.
The Portland/Indiana trade is interesting. I was curious about why the Pacers would draft Jerryd Bayless when the had already acquired T.J. Ford, but it became clear when they moved him to Portland for Brandon Rush and Jarrett Jack. The Blazers get a point guard to play alongside Brandon Roy in a suddenly-stacked backcourt and the Pacers get Rush, who is a good defender and a great shooter. The Blazers are going to be scary for the next 5-8 years if they can keep this core together.
One other intriguing first round storyline was the drop of Darrell Arthur. The combination of the ongoing questions about his desire and the weird rumors about a kidney ailment really depressed his stock. But the Blazers finally drafted him (via the Hornets) and they got very good value with the pick.
Some big names slipped into the second round. Mario Chalmers was considered a first round pick by many, but he lasted until #34, where he was drafted by Minnesota and promptly traded to Miami. He’s a good shooter, so he should thrive off of the open looks he’ll get playing alongside Wade and Beasley. DeAndre Jordan was once considered a lottery pick, but really saw his stock tank in the last couple of weeks. The Clippers should be excited about getting him at #35 because very little is lost and there is so much to gain. (Chad Ford said that scouts would have Jordan as a top 5 pick in the 2009 draft if he were to spend another year in college.) In a head scratcher, the Bucks passed on Chris Douglas-Roberts and Bill Walker to draft Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. He’s a good defender and rebounder, but has shown almost no offensive game. The Nets ended up with Douglas-Roberts, who could turn into the Josh Howard-type steal of the draft. And the Celtics made a crafty move to trade for Walker.
What a difference 48 hours makes. Just two days ago, it looked as if Davis would play out the final year of his contract with Golden State. Now, his decision to opt out plus his decision to sign with the Clippers may have a ripple effect throughout the league. What if Gilbert Arenas decides to take the Warriors’ offer? Will Elton Brand agree to a slight pay cut to remain in L.A. or will his camp push for a trade with Miami despite the Davis signing? Where is Corey Maggette going to land?