Wolves, Grizz agree on Mayo-Love deal

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Minnesota's history on Draft Day trades

1995: Drafted Ray Allen #5 and traded him to Milwaukee for Stephon Marbury #4.
2006: Drafted Brandon Roy #6 and traded him to Portland for Randy Foye #7.
2008: Drafted O.J. Mayo #3 and traded him to Memphis for Kevin Love drafted #5

If past history is any indication then Memphis will get the better end of this deal.

good lord that is awful.

 

[Russ Smith]

Couple of notes here. Mayo is on record as saying he was guaranteed by the Twolves on draft night they were not trading him. He's apparently still furious at them for trading him he wanted no part of Memphis he was one of several NBA players who told Memphis not to draft him. Ironically he not only wound up there, he signed, bought a house, and moved his whole family there(his brother Toddy plays HS ball in memphis this year). So the claim that they never had any intention of keeping Mayo is wrong if you believe Mayo, he says they promised him they werent' trading him.

Love ironically came out and said before the draft he had no problem playing in Memphis if they picked him, they did, and then traded him. Miller has been a disappointment and that magnifies the issues Love has had. Love is proving he can rebound in the NBA, the problem is his release point is too low on his shot so he gets shots blocked over and over(which was the case in college too). In college he'd get blocked, grab the board and score, tougher to do that in the NBA. He'll eventually be pretty good but not as good as Mayo will, it's up to miller to even the trade out.

After Minnesota recently played the Grizz, Love had a really good game and someone asked McHale if he thought he was motivated to play because of the trade. McHale went off and said if he was, then he's in the wrong line of work if you need something like that to motivate you that's a problem. Love had been in the doghouse for a bit after a flurry of double digit rebound games he apparently complained about playing time and not getting more plays run for him(nobody seems to have it on record so it was apparently internal). McHale benched him and did say something like maybe he'll learn from this and just play hard and not complain.

Not a huge shock. Love's dad is a real pain in the neck and Kevin did complain about not getting the ball more at UCLA several times. He's been the focal point of the offense his whole career, Minnesota runs no plays for him he just screens and they expect him to get points off rebounds or the occasional pick and pop. He's a bit immature and needs to learn he has to earn it in the NBA.

There has been some talk on UCLA boards that Love has told friends on the team he wishes he stayed one more year because he really hates it in Minnesota. If true he needs to learn to keep his mouth shut, work hard, and prove he deserves more minutes than Craig Smith and Ryan Gomes, until he does, he won't play more than he does now.