NBA draft--mini roundtable

Look who's back, back again. Yeah, that's right--Fuzz and Dogg make their summer appearance on TK. Q had to sit out this one, but we brought in the crafty lefty out of the pen, NBA guru Marx to fill in for his spot. Tomorrow's NBA draft is such a biggie for the local franchise that we had to call for a summer roundtable. Like usual, cigars, whiskey, and hookers were all present. Here is what transpired from the brothel...I mean...the roundtable...

Dogg: Now, I read that Wade might be available come draft night. This draft might be off the charts for trades. Suns are looking to move Diaw and Barbosa as well. I say we take Mayo or trade with Bucks/Bobcats for Yi or Morrison. Grizzlies might trade us Mike Miller or Kyle Lowry for our #3 and then we would draft #5 in their spot and take Joe Alexander or Kevin Love.

Fuzz: I don't mind that Grizzlies trade, especially if it's Mike Miller. Mike Miller can flat out shoot and that is something the Wolves are missing. I've been slowly convinced on Kevin Love. He's like one of those fantasy football players you talk yourself into after months of speculation. Like when I drafted Willis McGahee 4th overall two years ago and he ended up sucking ass. Love's slowly growing on me and I'm leaning toward him. He does everything pretty well and he wants to be great. I think that's a key factor with judging these guys. Most of these guys get the money and they mail it in. For all accounts I've read, Love is different than that. He has a lot of motivation to be good in the league. Plus, he'd help out our wings a lot with his passing ability (Paging Mr. Corey Brewer). Is a Kevin Love/Mike Miller package better than O.J. Mayo?

Dogg: I just don’t know if the Wolves are ready to be that good even if we get Mike Miller but they would take an expiring contract or two from us in the exchange as well so maybe it is worth it. Miller probably only has a few good years left in him but I do think Kevin Love will be dang good in the league. He seems like somebody that wouldn’t mind staying in MN either where Mayo might be 3 years and done. I’m starting to think Love is the pick for us after trading down and getting a player from that team.

Fuzz: We pretty much worked out everyone in the top 10, so we must think that a trade is a legit possibility. They looked at Bayless and Gordon this week. I don't think they go either of those guys, but who knows? It's McHale. He might shock us all again. Watch, we take that foreign guy with the stinky armpits no one knows anything about...

Danilo Gallinari

Dogg: Yeah, I can see him take that Dano guy but I sure hope not. I say we take Mayo or trade down to get Love. Gordon and Bayless are just scorers so I sure hope we don’t take either of those guys.

Marx: I’ve got five things to say:

1. I don't think there was ever talk of us receiving Mike Miller. We should never take him right now as he is a one dimensional player with a big salary who would not make that much difference to us. The Wolves still owe alot of money to Juwan Howard and T-Hud. We are also going to buy out Antoine Walker this summer so we will not be looking to increase our payroll. The rumors involving the Grizz have Miller, Kyle Lowry, and the #5 pick going to Miami for the #2 pick and Mark Blount. The Heat are reportedly trying to hold out for Mike Conley instead of Lowry, which makes sense on their part.

2. I don't want to drop down in the draft if all we receive from the Bucks is Yi. He might be a solid player, but he has no star potential and he also plays the 4, which is where we want to play Al Jeff. I would, however, strongly consider it if they offered us Andrew Bogut and the #7 pick for the # 3 pick.

3. An interesting rumor I heard that is totally not true but is intriguing is Randy Foye and Marco Jaric for Kirk Heinrich and his big salary. I would take a backcourt of Hinrich and OJ Mayo for the next 10 years. It would also allow the Bulls to re-sign Ben Gordon and Luol Deng to play alongside of Derrick Rose.


4. Right now, if the #2 pick is available I would do whatever I could to get into that spot. I think that the #3 pick this year, the return of the 1st round pick the Heat owe us, and possible Rashad McCants would potentially be enough.

5. Lastly, I have no problem standing still and taking Mayo with our pick. We can plug into our lineup at 2 guard next year and start Foye, Mayo, Brewer, Al Jeff, and a mystery player. That would get us moving in the right direction.

Dogg: Paul Allen from KFAN talked about Mike Miller this morning but the Grizzlies were hesitant of getting rid of him to us for the #3 pick. They were willing to give us Kyle Lowry who I believe is and will be better than Mike Conley in the league. I don’t think much of Conley at all. He has no jump shot and doesn’t do the little things as good as a guy like Rajon Rondo who also doesn’t have a jump shot but plays tremendous defense and can finish near the rim with the best of them. I would take a Rondo over Conley in a second.

They won’t give us Bogut. Yi is probably the best we can do from the Bucks. Q mentioned Villanueva but I don’t know if I would want him either…..Foye and Jaric for Hinrich? If that was offered and we didn’t take it, kill me now. That would be a killer trade….I also believe we trade our two 2nd round draft picks to hop into the first round because there are several teams who don’t want to pay that luxury tax with a player in the 1st round. I wish we could select Love early and then Augustin in the teens but DJ is rising quickly.

Marx: The only conceivable way that we would get Augustine is if we made trade with the Bucks and then picked him at #7.

Fuzz: Brewer has to get better this year or will be looking for another wing player. He can't shoot 35% like he did last year. I wish you could mess McCants' offensive skills with Brewer's defensive abilities. That would be a good player. They both need to improve on their weaknesses to have a good career in this league. That's why I wouldn't mind the Mayo pick. Seems like a guy that has it all.


Dogg: Augustin is rising up the charts so we would have to trade down with somebody in the top 10 for sure. Bilas has him as the 6th best player in the draft but he also has Brook Lopez 3rd. I can still see us taking him even though we haven’t said much about him. That will be McHale’s big play, not talk about the guy he likes and then draft him like it was some huge secret. Take Mayo then trade your 2nd round picks to get in the 14-20 area and take Hibbert is what I like.

Fuzz: All I know is that this draft is going to be off the charts for the Timberpuppies. Three picks and a ton of trade potential. Last year it seemed like Brewer was a lock for us, but this year it’s hard to pin them down. They aren’t given us much. I’m really excited but scared at the same time. Somehow, we’re going to fuck this up…