OJ Mayo to Grizzlies, Kevin Love to the T-Wolves....

[Who]

Minnesota have to dump Ryan Gomes like their life depended on it.

Minny to need to fix together one of the league's finest perimeter defenses to get away with a Love-Al partnership in the paint. Bad defenders need not apply.

[LB3533]

Minny will regret trading away OJ Mayo.

[spelz]

Minny will regret trading away OJ Mayo.

Kinf of like they already regret trading away Roy for Foye. 

[Bahku]

Sometimes I really worry about McHale and his decision making ... maybe he's getting sick of his job. 

[WBrownTrophy]

This might have already been said...but had Ford likes this move by McHale:

"For the first time in more than a decade, Minnesota's Kevin McHale is earning an A from me. He did a really nice job getting value for Mayo at No. 3 and putting together a young team that could win 35 to 40 games next year."

[WBrownTrophy]

I hope the Wolves do good next year...if only for Big Al's sake.

[Chief]

This is a good move for Memphis. They needed a player like Mayo to boost their attendance.

[cmoney]

This is a good move for Memphis. They needed a player like Mayo to boost their attendance.

players don't boost attendance, winning does. 

Only in very rare cases, like elite super-duper stars such as LeBron, will a player fill seats everywhere he goes.

[cmoney]

Minny will regret trading away OJ Mayo.

lol.  No they won't. 

[Chief]

This is a good move for Memphis. They needed a player like Mayo to boost their attendance.

players don't boost attendance, winning does. 

Only in very rare cases, like elite super-duper stars such as LeBron, will a player fill seats everywhere he goes.

Have you ever been to a Memphis home game? I have been to several and I guarantee you this guy will help boost their attendance (which has been worst in the NBA), next year.

http://www.insidehoops.com/attendance.shtml

[Chief]

Grizzlies already pushing the new guys.

http://www.nba.com/grizzlies/fan_zone/stop_page-draft-080626.html

[JBcat]

I don't think Mike Miller is really part of the Wolves rebuilding process as he is 5 or 6 years older then the rest of the core players on that team however he has only 2 years remaining on his contract and could be a very valuable piece to move for a team trying to get over the top in a future trade and in return get more rebuilding parts.  That's what I like about the trade what Minny's side.  When your rebuilding I think you should try to get as many talented young pieces as possible and worry later how it fits and that's where Miller comes into play being a very valuable trading piece playing at the top of his game now.  Who knows down the line say you trade Mike Miller for a legit C who can defend and you have a nice 3 man rotation up front.  As far as who will be better in the pros between Mayo and Love I'm not quite sure.  Some such as John Hollinger feel Love will make a better pro and others feel like Mayo will.   Only time will tell. 

[Who]

Okay so I've been thinking about the trade for awhile now.

I think it is a bad mistake from Minnesota despite getting the superior talent. I like Kevin Love and I rate him as the third best player in the draft and significantly superior than the next guy down. Mike Miller was nice too. The fit though .... the fit is just awful.

I was really excited about Big Al getting some shooters and some perimeter defenders next season. What he needs defensively more than anything isn't a center but perimeter defenders that could keep the ball in front of them. OJ Mayo and Mario Chalmers (hate that trade) were both very good defenders and should be good defenders in the NBA. Both are knock down shooters. Randy Foye gives them a third guard who has some talent that could play off of those two guys and give the T'Wolves some interesting guard play. Last season the Wolves were able to beat teams in the paint because of Big Al's dominance but opposition teams just jammed the paint and forced perimeter jump shots to stop that, the Wolves had no shooters and couldn't handle that throwing away numerous games that they had a legit shot of winning. OJ and and Chalmers were both excellent perimeter shooters. That's their two biggest problems eradicated.

Now you come out with Kevin Love. This forces Big Al to be an undersized center and the official anchor of the defense because Love won't be that. I don't mind Big Al playing center, for most of his final season here I though that might be his best position defensively despite being undersized, but he needs to be next to an athletic shot blocking defensive anchor like an Emeka Okafor. Kevin Love isn't that guy and won't be that guy. I think Kevin will be a solid defender in the pros but he won't be what Al needs. This is going to be a huge amount of pressure on their perimeter defense and affect every single decision they make down the roads limiting their pool of prospects severely.

Mike Miller joins the perimeter crew who's another weak defender so their perimeter defense will still be amongst the worst in the league, on the positive side he's a top shooter so at least that will help.

[cmoney]

This is a good move for Memphis. They needed a player like Mayo to boost their attendance.

players don't boost attendance, winning does. 

Only in very rare cases, like elite super-duper stars such as LeBron, will a player fill seats everywhere he goes.

Have you ever been to a Memphis home game? I have been to several and I guarantee you this guy will help boost their attendance (which has been worst in the NBA), next year.

http://www.insidehoops.com/attendance.shtml

sorry I don't buy "guarantees" from fans when we've seen this thing a bunch.  They'll be some minor boosts early in the season due to the "promise" or "hope" or whatever.  But if they stink (and they will), the fans will stop showing up.  Attendance analysis has been done a million times over, for all sports, and it all points to:  winning fills seats.

The Celtics are lucky in that even when they stink, we do a solid job filling seats, but we still saw a huge, huge boost after the trade.  When we won 33 games with Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson (a true star AND an up-and-comer), Celtics ranked pretty low in attendance (18th total, 20th by percentage of max).  Is OJ going to fill seats better than Paul?  Sure at first, due to the hype, but he has to become LeBron/Kobe/AI for it to keep filling them if the team loses.  They need wins, and unless Wallace makes a few great moves (doubtful), they aren't going to get any. 

I'm willing to bet that as the team stands now, they're still a bottom 5 team in the league in terms of attendance.

[Brendan]

Okay so I've been thinking about the trade for awhile now.

I think it is a bad mistake from Minnesota despite getting the superior talent. I like Kevin Love and I rate him as the third best player in the draft and significantly superior than the next guy down. Mike Miller was nice too. The fit though .... the fit is just awful.

...

Who - the problem with this analysis, is that Minny isn't close enough to start finalizing the team. Perimiter defenders who can catch and shoot, are actually easier to come by then one realizes, if you are a good team. Guys that can create their own shot are the harder part. At any rate, for Minny its all about maximum talent, best strategic position for now, and as you point out they improved their talent, and as the cap numbers bear out, they improved their overall position.

I'm probably on an island think OJ Mayo is just another a guard prospect and nothing special, but even if he's very good, I don't think he'll be better than Love. I like the idea of them letting things pan out, see what they have in Foye and Brewer and then make adjustments. Not that I trust McHale to make them.