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The Wild Ride of the 2008 NBA Draft: The Mayo Trade
The Wild Ride of the 2008 NBA Draft: The Mayo Trade
The story of what it's like to report on a blockbuster tradebefore it happens
3:00 PM CT 6/27/08
To me the NBA Draft is like Christmas, I love the anticipation ofnot knowing what your team is going to get. We all knew the pressure theTimberwolves faced going into this draft and it appeared for once that theyfinally had made the right move by drafting OJ Mayo at #3 as he was the bestprospect available. In the back of every Timberwolves fan's mind, we all now wondered, will he stay in Minnesota? Well it sure looked that way for theentire draft as there was no trade rumors mentioned on ESPN involving Mayo.Usually if a trade is to be made involving two top 5 picks, it is at leastannounced by the end of the first round. But tonight was different; onceTimberwolves fans turned off their TV’s, little did they know that theTimberwolves were up to something that was about to turn everyone’s stomachupside down.
We at TimberwolvesPress learned about this trade right when thefirst round ended. Little did we know that we were about to help break open onethe biggest trades in draft day history.
Here is the journey of what it is like to break loose ablockbuster trade that will most likely be bad news to your hometown team’sfans.
6:47 PM CT
Finally the Timberwolves did what they were supposed to do bydrafting OJ Mayo. Although OJ didn’t fit a need for the Timberwolves, he wasthe big name they needed to keep fans happy. To be good to be true? Of course, we would soon learn the Timberwolves had something up theirsleeves like usual and that OJ Mayo would not be a Minnesota Timberwolf forlong.
10:00 PM CT
Everything changed at 10 o’clock. My partners and I received aphone call from an inside source claiming the Timberwolves and the Grizzliespretty much had agreed upon a trade before the draft that would have sent the3rd pick and Marko Jaric to Memphis in exchange for Mike Miller and the 5thpick. The deal was said to be done until Memphis decided on draft day that theywere no longer interested in taking on the contract of Marko Jaric. Mycolleagues and I were relieved that the trade hadn't gone through and we alljoked about how McHale would have screwed this draft up if he had made thattrade. I posted this news on a few threads and most people responded with a“whew.” I’ll be honest I was pretty happy it didn’t happen as well because Iwas still so excited about OJ Mayo and just the extras that he brings to abasketball team. Thinking of seeing Big Al, Foye, and Mayo in a lineup reallyhad me looking forward to next season.
10:02 PM CT
Two Minutes later our phone rings again but this time, my colleaguehas a bit more of a surprised look on his face.
“We just traded Mayo to Memphis!” he said.
“No we didn’t!” I quickly responded.
Two minutes ago we had just learned that this proposed deal hadbeen declared dead but now all of sudden it was supposedly done? We all sat inshock for about a minute, saying things like, “I knew this would happen,” or“McHale always has to screw up.” Finally after a minute of shock we knew we hadto report this.
Now we are a fairly new site but we only report information thatwe are 100% sure on. And I’ll tell you this; we were 100% about this trade. Wequickly posted the news that Mayo had been traded on a message board called,MNSportsFans.com at 10:05 PM CT. Within minutes the news was already lookedupon as garbage and as a joke. This would be also be a huge credibility shot toour site if we had this news wrong. We all sat knowing what this could mean forour site but at the same time we knew we had a very reliable source and thatthis was to good to not be reported.
Once the Timberwolves two 2nd round picks were over, we reallybegan to believe that this trade had happened. Surely if we had kept Mayo wewould have drafted a center that could help us out by next year. Instead weused the picks on Pekovic who wont be ready for 2-3 years and Chalmers who wequickly traded to Miami. Something just wasn’t right about these picks and theyjust didn’t make sense with what we needed. Right there we knew that this trademust have been filling those needs that we were going to address with our 2ndround picks.
We all sat in confusion for the next 30 minutes wondering what thehell was going on at Target Center. Nothing still had been reported about theMayo trade and we were beginning to get a bit nervous. Maybe it wasn’t going tohappen.
Then all of sudden, the TV announced that there was a trade…
The Minnesota Timberwolves trade the rights to…
Here it was the OJ Mayo trade….
Mario Chalmers to the Miami Heat…..
Right when the deputy commissioner said Minnesota Timberwolves, wethought this was the deal but instead it was Mario Chalmers heading to Miami.
Now we were getting worried about this trade so we decided to makeanother call to our source.
10:39 PM CT
“The trade is 85% done and the Timberwolves plan to trade Mayo,Walker, Jaric and Buckner to the Grizzlies for Love, Miller, Cardinal andCollins,” said ourMiller source. This news gave us a breath of fresh air as thetrade was still being worked on. We quickly posted this news on our site and afew message boards to let T’Wolves fans know what was going on. We were in avery awkward position right here as this was news that no Timberwolves fanwanted to hear at the moment but it had to be reported. I mean this is hugenews whether its for the good or the bad. Right when this call came in I knewwe had this trade because it now named specific players and they all madesense. We got rid of our horrible contracts in exchange for a player who McHaleloves in Kevin Love and we also would get a solid scorer in Mike Miller.
A few minutes later we heard news that Mike Cristaldi, the PR guyfor the Wolves had just told reporters that McHale was not ready for the mediayet as he was still working on something.
Bam, we nailed it!
It was now just a matter of time before this would be announced onESPN that the Timberwolves had just made the shock of the draft hours after ithad concluded.
11:42 PM CT
We tuned into Sportscenter waiting for the news and at 11:42 PM CTit finally came. Right after a commercial break, ESPN comes back on andreported OJ Mayo has just been traded to the Memphis Grizzlies along with MarkoJaric, Antoine Walker, and Greg Buckner in exchange for Kevin Love, MikeMiller, Jason Collins and Brian Cardinal.
We all sat in a state of shock and ecstasy as we had just got thistrade 100% correct hours before ESPN had even reported it. Surely everyone whohad chosen not to believe this trade was in store for some sweet reality.
Here we were just an average group of guys covering the draft andthen with a phone call our night turned into a night full of reporting one ofthe biggest trades in Timberwolves history. It is a night surely we will neverforget. We had Fred Hoiberg saying we weren’t going to trade Mayo and the StarTribune reporting Mayo was staying as a T’Wolf.
It’s not easy when you have two very reliable sources goingagainst what you are reporting. But our goal is to provide everyone with thecorrect information and in this case our hard work paid off.
And that my friend's is what its like to break a blockbuster tradehours before it is even reported.
TimberwolvesPress.Com thanks all of it’s colleagues on draft nightfor their hard work!
Beasley: I don't want to play in Minnesota
Timberwolves Season Recap
Juwan Howard-Released
Theo Ratliff-Released
John Edwards-Released
Gerald Green-Traded
Ricky Davis-Traded
Mark Blount-Traded
(Sorry for the delay folks, we are going to make this recap short and sweet because I think we are all tired of hearing about the 2007-08 Minnesota Timberwolves.)Final Record: 22-60
What a ride the 2007-08 season brought for Minnesota Timberwolves fans...a disappointing ride that is. We played our first season without Kevin Garnett and had the worst record by any Timberwolves team in over a decade. The 07-08 season was dedicated to rebuilding yet for the first part of the season, the Timberwolves showed no signs of playing the "younger guys," like the front office promised in the offseason.
The threesome of Greg Buckner, Antoine Walker and Marko Jaric looked to be the future of the Minnesota Timberwolves as they were playing heavy minutes in first 30-40 games. Here we thought we would be watching all the young talent we acquired in trades and in the draft but instead we got to watch a bunch of washed up vets.
Everyone got caught up in the "why isn't Gerald Green playing dilemma," but we all learned later that coaching staff was actually right on this one as he was sitting on the bench because he had the basketball IQ of a high schooler.
Loss after loss piled up and we sat dreaming about how much better we would be with Randy Foye and Theo Ratliff back in the lineup as both of them missed the first half of the season due to injuries.
For a while it looked like our T'Wolves might go down as the worst team in NBA history after a 5-34 start. Turn on Sportscenter and there was a special section on after each Timberwolves' game that kept America up to date on how we were playing compared to the 1972-73 76ers who hold the record of only winning 9 games in season.
Things didn't get much better in the second half of the season, but after starting 5-34, finishing the season 17-26 was a lot easier to digest. It's hard to take any positives away from this season but we did beat the Suns twice, lost to the league best Celtics twice by a combined total of three points(Yes sadly losing two games are highlights of this season), and Al Jefferson played at an all-star level averaging 21 points and 11 rebounds a game. The 2007-08 Timberwolves were plagued by so many things it hurts my brain just thinking of them. Where do we even start, blowing 4th quarter leads, Corey Brewer's jump shot, poor team defense, and most irritating of all, inconsistent play. There would be nights where we would play teams like the Spurs, Mavs, Celtics, and Nuggets very well for 24-36 minutes but then we would all of sudden fall into "la la land" and basically hand our opponent the game.
If I were to compare the Timberwolves team as a whole this season I would compare it to the individual season of Corey Brewer. You see a few positives here and there but it was mostly hard to watch. Brewer would grab an impressive 18 rebounds in one game(the team beating the Suns), but then he would miss a wide open dunk and then get the rebound and still miss(starting the season 5-34 when nothing would go right).
Player Report Cards This Season
Al Jefferson- A Big Al did his thing as the focal point of the offense, he rebounded and scored night in and night out. Now he needs to learn how to pass the basketball.
Rashad McCants- B+ Shaddy was very impressive scoring the basketball but was far too inconsistent this year. One game he would put up 30 points the next night he would only be in the single digits.
Randy Foye- B- It's hard to grade Foye because of the knee injury but he did look a lot better at the end of the season. I'm going to grade him tough because he was traded for Brandon Roy who keeps getting better and better every year.
Ryan Gomes- B+ Gomes really impressed me this season as he was the second most reliable player on this team next to Al Jefferson. Gomes brought his A game every night, I just wish he even more aggressive scoring the basketball.
Craig Smith- B We saw pretty much the same stuff that we saw out of Craig last year but there is nothing wrong with that, Smith did his usual come off the bench and provide energy and low post scoring.
Sebastian Telfair B - Telfair like most of the team was very inconsistent but he did have his best season as pro here in Minny. He did show flashes of potential that is hard to ignore. His injury at the end of the season really hurt his development as a player on this team.
Kirk Synder- A Synder came in here with no expectations but delivered as soon as he stepped in the door. Kirk really improved his stock for this offseason as he is a free agent and will likely get a nice offer from a winning team.
Marko Jaric- C Oh Marko Jaric..at least you didn't wear your jersey backwards this season. Jaric started the season very strong but his production really dropped off towards the end of the year. Hey at least he has a hot girlfriend.
Antoine Walker- D Walker provided some nice scoring at times but was too much of a distraction off the court for this young team.
Corey Brewer- D The first round pick out of Florida surely didn't play like he was worthy of being the 7th pick as his offensive game caused nightmares amongst Timberwolves fans. Brewer seemed lost at times out on the court, if only we could just play him on defense and not offense.
Greg Buckner- B- For the first few games I thought Buck might me a candidate for 6th man of the year as he really was productive off the bench but then his minutes dwindled down to none. Nice role player to have off the bench though.
Michael Doleac- C Doleac had a very limited role on this year's team which was expected, he did provide size when needed in the starting lineup.
Chris Richard- D+ I liked what I saw from Richard but there was too many games where he would literally put up 0's in the box score in 10+ minutes of action.
Mark Madsen- A What do you honestly expect from Mad Dog? He did his usual cheering from the sideline and community service work, isn't that the best he can do?
Overall Team Grade- (C-)
MVP: Al Jefferson- Al was the only consistent thing in a very inconsistent season. Al put up his double-double every night and established himself as one of the up and coming stars in this league.Surprise: Ryan Gomes- Although his stats look a lot like last years stats with Boston, Gomes showed a lot of potential this season putting up some very impressive scoring nights.
Biggest Disappointment: Gerald Green- Green was supposed to be a key part in the Garnett trade but spent most of his Timberwolves tenure sitting on the bench and blowing out candles. Now he isn't even in the NBA.
Incomplete: Corey Brewer- Brewer showed flashes of a solid play in some games with his defense and rebounding ability but his offensive game is so horrible there is no better way to put it.
Most Improved: Rashad McCants- McCants really impressed me this season with his ability to score the basketball as he averaged a career best 14.9 points a game, now the question is can he become more consistent?
Best Game: Losing to the Celtics in Boston, 86-87- Yes our best game of the season was a game that we lost but the young Timberwolves showed a lot in this game by playing right with the league best Boston Celtics. This young team didn't back down for one second in this game as they played fearless. Even Gerald Green played good in this game which was a nice surprise.Unfortunately inexperience let this one slip away as the Timberwolves lost the lead in the final seconds in the 4th quarter.
Worst Game:Losing to the Hornets 76-110- The Timberwolves scored a season high 131 points the night before to beat the Pacers and then came out the next night and got straight up got embarrassed by the Hornets, a team that they had beat before. I had never seen a team look so bad in a back-to-back than the T'Wolves did in this game.
Cant Wait to See Next Year: Randy Foye- A knee injury slowed Randy Foye this saeson but in the last 10-15 games of the year, Foye put up some really nice games that made not want to give up on him quite yet. Lets see what he can do now that he has been in the league for 2 seasons and hopefully he will have a healthy offseason.
For a more comical/visual season recap click here
NBA Playoffs Hawks vs. Celtics....Are you serious?
Shocker in ATL
Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images
I am completely stunned right now after watching the Atlanta Hawks take it to the Boston Celtics, 97-92. In what seemed to be a 4 game sweep by the Celtics has all of a sudden has turned into one of the most exciting series' so far. Who would have thought this 1 vs. 8 matchup would be more exciting to watch then the Nuggets and Lakers matchup which turned out to be a blowout.
The young Hawks with no one on their side have now stunned the Celtics two games in a row and have guaranteed themselves another game at home in Atlanta. For the second straight year we have seen the top team in the league struggle in their first round matchup. However, I still don't think the Hawks have a chance to pull this one off even though they are playing with extreme confidence right now.
Like the Warriors last year, the Hawks are playing with nothing to lose. They are giving the Celtics everything have right now and the Celtics are simply not taking the Hawks as serious as they should. There is no excuse to not have won this series in 4 games as now the Celtics will miss out on one of the most important things in the playoffs, rest, by having to play at least a 6 game series.
Like the Warriors last year, the playoffs has given birth to another bandwagon team in the Atlanta Hawks. Why not root for the underdog when they are this fun to watch? Give the Hawks some credit though, they do have Mike Bibby who is full of playoff experience and Joe Johnson who has some as well. Mix those vets with some young athletes that can flat out cause problems like Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Josh Childress and you have a team just waiting to make some noise. Rookie Al Horford has held his ground down low and Zaza has done his job of throwing the Celtics off their game after the altercation tonight.
Its nice to see a city like Atlanta finally have a team that is finally winning games as they have had to endure many years of horrible basketball. Phillips Arena was going crazy all night and you can't blame them, their 37 win Hawks were taking it to the league best Celtics.
This is the start of something special in Atlanta, unfortunately they just aren't deep enough to win a playoff series. I expect the Celtics to end this one in six games with a 10-15 point win at home and then a win in Atlanta in a pretty close game.
2008 NBA Draft Rankings
The Good: Extremely athletic, True point guard, Natural Leader, Can score and dish better than any other point guard in the draft.
The Bad: Too easy to guard at times, Makes too many decisions in the air which tends to get him in trouble, Sometimes doesn't score as much as he should.
2. Michael Beasley F 6-9 235 Kansas State
The Good: Freakish athleticism, Strong and long, Excellent low post scorer, Rebounding machine.
The Bad: Relies too much on moves to his left, Doesn't have an exact position, Poor passer.
3. Brook Lopez C 7-0 260 Stanford
The Good: Great size, Outstanding scorer for a center, Soft touch, Great basketball instincts.
The Bad: Athleticism is still a concern, Can disappear in games, Does he have that drive to make him a dominant center.
4. O.J. Mayo G 6-4 195 USC
The Good: Superstar potential, Active defender, Excellent ball-handler, Natural scorer.
The Bad: His jump shot needs to become more consistent, Questions about his attitude, Is he a point guard or a shooting guard?
5. Jerryd Bayless PG 6-3 190 Arizona
The Good: Blazing speed, A Gilbert Arenas type point guard in terms of scoring ability, Great knowledge and passion for the game.
The Bad: More of a scoring point guard than a passer which can cause problems, Sometimes tries to do too much, Can he run an NBA offense?
6. Anthony Randolph F 6-11 215 LSU
The Good: The potential is sky high for this kid, Long and athletic big man who can play 3 or 4, Very smooth player who looks very natural out on the court.
The Bad: Very young for his grade, Hit or miss type prospect, Offensive game needs to become more complete, Not NBA ready at the moment.
7. Danilo Gallinari SF 6-9 210 Italy
The Good: Outstanding court sense, Deadly shooter, Plays like a point guard at 6-9, Well rounded offensive game.
The Bad: Relies too much on 3 pointers, Defense needs improvement, Still unproven against tougher competition.
8. Eric Gordon SG 6-4 205 Indiana
The Good: Outstanding shooter, Very quick with the basketball, Uses his body very well in terms of positioning.
The Bad: Can play out of control at times, Forces to many passes, A bit undersized.
9. Nicolas Batum SF 6-8 212 France
The Good: Excellent wingspan, Superstar potential, Plays very smooth and has a natural feel for the game, Wide selection of moves.
The Bad: Needs to add a lot of strength, Still very raw and young, Can he handle the NBA schedule?
10. Kevin Love PF/C 6-9 260 UCLA
The Good: Amazing basketball IQ, Natural born winner, NBA ready post moves.
The Bad: Not as athletic as he needs to be, Can he score consistently on bigger and more athletic opponents?
11. Russell Westbrook PG 6-3 190 UCLA
The Good: Explosive point guard, Great finisher, Can take anyone off the dribble, Hard worker who has shown a lot of improvement in his game.
The Bad: Can he run an NBA offense? Must get stronger, Could use another year of college to develop as a point guard.
12. DeAndre Jordan C 7-0 240 Texas A&M
13. Javale Mcgee C 7-0 237 Nevada
14. Donte Green SF 6-8 215 Syracuse
15. Darrell Arthur PF 6-10 215 Kansas
16. Marreese Speights PF 6-10 250 Florida
17. D.J. Augustin PG 5-11 180 Texas
18. Roy Hibbert C 7-2 265 Georgetown
19. Brandon Rush SG 6-7 200 Kansas
20. Robin Lopez C 7-0 255 Stanford
21. Kosta Koufos C 7-1 245 Ohio State
22. Chris Douglas-Roberts SG 6-7 200 Memphis
23. Mario Chalmers SG 6-2 181 Kansas
24. Chase Budinger SG 6-7 205 Arizona
25. Darren Collison PG 6-1 170 UCLA
26. Davon Jefferson SF 6-8 210 USC
27. D.J. White PF 6-8 242 Indiana
28. Joey Dorsey F/C 6-9 260 Memphis
29. Earl Clark SF 6-8 220 Louisville
30. Joe Alexander F 6-8 200 West Virginia
31. Ty Lawson PG 5-11 175 UNC
32. Jason Thompson C 6-11 250 Rider
33. Courtney Lee G/F 6-5 200 Western Kentucky
34. Alexis Ajinca C 7-1 225 Hyeres-Toulon, International
35. Richard Roby SG 6-6 206 Colorado
NBA Playoff Preview
1st Round Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers vs 8. Denver Nuggets
Pick: Lakers in 6 games
Key player to watch: Pau Gasol- How dominant will Gasol be in the playoffs?
2. New Orleans Hornets vs 7. Dallas Mavericks
Pick: Hornets in 6 games
Key player to watch: Jason Kidd- Will Kidd live up to this season's trade and give the Mavs a ring?
3. San Antonio Spurs vs 6. Phoenix Suns
Pick: Suns in 7 games
Key player to watch: Shaq- Can Shaq be his dominant self and help Nash and company get over the hump?
4. Utah Jazz vs 5. Houston Rockets
Pick: Rockets in 7 games
2nd Round Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers vs 5. Houston RocketsPick: Lakers in 6 games
2. New Orleans Hornets vs 6. Phoenix SunsPicks: Suns in 6 games
Western Conference Finals
1. Los Angeles Lakers vs 6. Phoenix SunsPick: Suns in 6 games
1st Round Eastern Conference
1. Boston Celtics vs 8. Atlanta Hawks
Pick: Celtcs in 4 games
Key player too watch: Josh Smith- This young star will have to make a lot of plays for the Hawks to be competitive.
2. Detroit Pistons vs 7. Philadelphia 76ers
Pick: Pistons in 5 games
Key player too watch: Andre Iguodala- This series will prove if Iguodala is a franchise type player or if he is best suited to be a #2 man in this league.
3. Orlando Magic vs 6. Toronto Raptors
Pick: Magic in 6 games
Key player too watch: Jose Calderon/T.J. Ford- These two point guards need to step up big to give the Raptors reliable scoring options throughout the series.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers vs 5. Washington Wizards
Pick: Wizards in 7 games
Key player too watch: Anyone not named Lebron James on the Cavs- Someone has to step up this postseason if this team is to have any chance of advancing.
2nd Round Eastern Conference
1. Boston Celtics vs 5. Washington WizardsPick: Celtics in 5 games
2. Detroit Pistons vs 3. Orlando MagicPick: Pistons in 6 games
Eastern Conference Finals
1. Boston Celtics vs 2. Detroit PistonsPick: Celtics in 7 games
NBA Finals
1. Boston Celtics vs 6. Phoenix SunsPick: Celtics in 6 games
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