Growing up as a Timberwolves fan in Minnesota, I grew accustomed to watching the Twolves through away their lottery picks.
Here's a rundown of the franchise lottery history:
1989 - Pooh Richardson
1990 - Felton Spensor
1991 - Luc Longley
1992 - Christian Laettner
1993 - Isaiah "J.R" Rider
1994 - Donyell Marshall
1995 - Kevin Garnett
1996 - Ray Allen (traded to Milwaukee for Stephen Marbury on draft day)
1999 - Wally Szczcerbiak
2005 - Rashad McCants
2006 - Brandon Roy
2007 - Corey Brewer
So, ignoring the 1 great pick (KG), what else has the franchise done on draft day? We could have paired up KG with one of the greatest pure shooters of all time (Ray Allen), but instead, traded him for the ultimate headache (Marbury). Also, keep in mind the great Joe Smith debacle. Signing an illegal deal for the career journeyman, which stripped the Twolves of 5 draft picks...most likely 5 lottery choices.
With reports that the Miami Heat are high on OJ Mayo, and not that high on Michael Beasley, Kevin McHale should be working on a draft day deal to grab Mayo, send him to Miami for Beasley.
Instead, here's what I think he'll do:
1) Draft and keep Mayo - you don't want a guy like OJ Mayo in Minneapolis. He'll leave in 3 years.
2) Draft an unknown foreign player, and then keep him in his home country for a few years.
3) Grab a soft inside defender like Brooke Lopez - great guy, total goofball....but not tough inside. the wolves need an inside presence
4) overspending on a Kevin Love / Joe Alexander. Both are great players...both should be in a Minnesota uniform....but both are not worth the #3 pick.
Can Kevin McHale find a way to leverage his #3 pick into soemthing worthwhile....or, will we be watching the pingpong balls during the next playoffs?
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