Posts tagged O.j.Mayo at FanHouse

Here's a look at the top ten players we saw at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

1. Jerryd Bayless: Who cares that him running point was like a Ben Stiller movie or that he managed so few assists his teammates almost decided to bring their own ball on the court to play catch? The kid was transcendent. Floaters, fadeaways, dunks, steals, you name it. If it's got flash, Bayless was unleashing it on someone this week.

2. Kevin Love: You know how some people's college game just doesn't transfer to the pro game? Yeah, Kevin Love won't be having that problem. Tough, resilient, with a range of moves and offensive versatility to go along with the sweetest, yes, outlet pass we've seen, Love was incredibly impressive.

3. Anthony Randolph: Youth and athleticism rules! The lanky Warrior started the week off with a bang and played solid throughout. His impressive handle really made him stand out, along with a tenacious effort on defense.

The Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society of Gentlemen is one of the true American traditions revolving around the NBA Draft. Just like Stephen A. himself, the Society gets in everyone's face and yells a lot. Only with a sock puppet.

In the video below, you will see nine minutes of heart gripping hilarity along the lines of Triumph the Comic Insult Dog. Highlights include (the entire freaking thing really) attacking Kenny Smith (2:25), "E tu, Bilas?" (3:00), the parading of the first round draft picks (3:25) in which Kevin Love drops a Cheesy-Doodle line (3:50) and Stephen A. "writes" a letter to ESPN (6:00). But seriously, watch the whole thing.



Thank you, kind sirs, for making my Friday less painful. Oh via AA, and of course, it's dedicated to Leitch, who's leaving or something today.

All the time we spent fretting over who the Timberwolves would take with the third overall pick (hey, you spend five hours live blogging the entire NBA draft and you're allowed to come up with headlines like that too, okay?) is all for naught because of a deal that broke shortly after the draft.

Minnesota and the Memphis Grizzlies have apparently made a monster swap -- a far bigger deal than that new Minny logo -- that revolves around their two first round picks. The Timberwolves will receive the draft rights of Kevin Love, Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins and Mike Miller. In exchange, the Grizz will receive O.J. Mayo, Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner.

Obviously, Mayo and Love are the two big components in this deal. Kevin McHale has made no secret of his Love-love leading up to the draft, but knew he had to take Mayo in the third slot, because of their draft position. However, the addition of Miller is pretty ridiculous, as is the dumping of Jaric's contract (although the loss of his ladyfriend Lima certainly hurts).

For the Grizzlies, they get Mayo, of course, and he could be a pretty nice shooting guard addition beside Mike Conley in the backcourt. The Grizzlies have also been trying to dump Cardinal's contract ever since they gave their last good tradable piece away moved Pau Gasol to the Lakers. Buckner, Collins and Walker are essentially throw-ins to make everything work.

The drama is finally over, as the Bulls make it official and select Derrick Rose with the number one pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. As the analysts have been more than happy to tell us, Rose is a very special basketball player (duh), and after the season Chris Paul just put up at the point guard spot, anyone with Rose's talent level at that position isn't going to be passed up by many teams. Or as it turns out, by any team.

The Miami Heat also went with the logical choice, selecting Michael Beasley with the number two pick. And really, there was no other option. Beasley was too much of a statistical monster in college to let him go past two, even if (as had been widely reported) Pat Riley had issues with him and really wanted O.J. Mayo. Besides, if that's still the way he wants to go, he can now trade Beasley for Mayo and something else, instead of jumping Mayo to number two.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

The Miami Heat was a team that finished the season in virtual chaos. Just about everyone with any level of talent finished the season on the sidelines due to injury, and their head coach skipped out on them mid-season to scout players for their pick in this year's draft. Well, Miami, here's the good news: you just have one pick to wait for Thursday night until you're on the clock.

Picks: #2, #52.

Needs: The Heat could use help in a lot of areas, but let's be honest: they're going to draft one of two players, and that's Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley. At least if they stick with the number two pick, that's what's likely. But there's also the possibility that O.J. Mayo might be selected, regardless of whether or not the Heat can work out a deal with the Timberwolves, who select third.

Best case scenario: That the Bulls select Beasley, and the Heat get Rose. That's the player they really want, and if somehow the Bulls went with Beasley, there would be a lot of smiles on the faces of Heat executives.

America (and the Interwebs) is great because you can bet on anything. And since you can bet on anything, it should be no shock that there are a slew of various proposition bets available for the NBA Draft. BoDog has been kind enough to appease the Jones in all of us.

What will Miami do with the #2 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft?
Draft Michael Beasely and Keep him -- 5/6
Trade Pick or Draft Michael Beasley and Trade him -- 5/6
Draft O.J. Mayo -- 2/1
Draft Any Other Player -- 5/1

Now, Beasley seems like the sensible player to take here, no? But Mayo at 2 to 1 odds (note they were a whopping 5.5:1 yesterday)? With Pat Riley in charge?

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

Ah. The Land of Lakes. Where anything can happen. The first rounder could be O.J. Mayo, it could be Michael Beasley, it could be Kevin Love, it could be Larry Bird or it could be traded straight up for Joe Smith a few first rounders. Seriously, Kevin McHale could do anything. But ... oddly, the Wolves might be set up to have a pretty freaking good draft this year if they play their cards right.

Picks: #3, #31, #34

Needs: Assuming they think either Randy Foye or Sebastian Telfair will work out (and they'll probably go through with the experiment anyway even if they don't) at point, they'll look for frontcourt depth (and defense) to compliment Al Jefferson. They also need a legit scorer to keep A's in the seats, though, and that's something they might address first.

Best case scenario: McHale stays away from the phone lines and ends up with either O.J. Mayo or Michael Beasley. Mayo gives them a safety net if Foye/Telfair fail and Beasley would be a pretty nasty tandem with Baby Al down low and allows them to look for frontcourt help (Roy Hibbert?) late in the first round when they package 31 and 34 to move back up.

Jeff Goodman posted the list of NBA Draft green room invitees today, and you best believe that there is gonna be some heartbreak going down on this list. After all, there are 16 players invited ... and only 14 lottery spots. Mu-ha-ha.

Actually, there's a decent chance that no one on this list will get Quinned (read: fall too far), mainly because NBA teams are much more likely to draft based on "best available" than positional need if someone starts to drop, but draft day can always be surprising. Anyway, here's the list of who will be hanging out back while the cameras catch every instance of shock, surprise and tearful regret.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

The Clippers' 2008 season was derailed before it even got started. Injuries to Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston, along with the mid-season defection of Sam Cassell (ring-chasing bastard) left the Clips with a lot of holes in their roster.

Picks: #7, #35.

Needs: Guards. Dan Dickau was running the point for most of last season, and it was painful to watch. Fortunately, the Clippers seem to know this, and have been working out guards like crazy the past couple of weeks.

Best case scenario: That the team trades up and gets someone like O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless. The Miami Heat are said to be open to trading their number two pick, and the Clippers "secretly" worked out Mayo last week.

More likely scenario: If they stay at seven, then Russell Westbrook or Eric Gordon should be on the board. Either would do fine and provide some immediate help, though I would prefer Westbrook as he seems slightly further along in his development.

Please don't take: Joe Alexander or Brook Lopez. The Clips probably won't do this, considering how depleted they are at guard. But both are thought to be legitimate NBA players, and, well, the Clippers have done stranger things over the years.

Trade possibilities: Working out O.J. Mayo last week makes you think the Clippers are considering trading up, and would have a sign-and-trade player in Corey Maggette to deal. Is that along with the Clippers' seventh pick enough to entice the Heat? Stay tuned.

With the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday night, FanHouse's Tom Ziller took a friend's advice and unilaterally decided what teams ought to do in the first round. Think of it as a shorter version of our ongoing Crystal Ballin' series.

1. Chicago -- Michael Beasley, Kansas State. Fan consensus would have the point guard from Memphis here, and it looks like John Paxson will swing that way, too. It looks like a whole lot of Chris Paul-induced "pure point" fervor to me. Beasley, though, is the rare unassailable post presence who also boasts great perimeter skills and extraordinary tenacity on the court. With a team so desperate for points on something other than jump shots, Beasley fits right in.

2. Miami -- Derrick Rose, Memphis. The Heat, on the other hand, has some firepower in the paint, between Dwyane Wade's irrepressible slashing and the alternating efforts of Shawn Marion and Udonis Haslem. But Wade needs help running the show. Rose would provide the right engine to push Miami's offensive abilities while offering some backcourt defensive support.

3. Minnesota -- Brook Lopez, Stanford. Like any other basketball aesthete, I have cracked some Brook Lopez jokes. But behind the Cheetah Girls t-shirts, he's a good prospect. The biggest thing he can offer Minnesota in some interior anchorage on defense. Al Jefferson got abused routinely in the paint last season, with nary a partner to help stunt the opponent. Lopez immediately fortifies the effort, maybe not creating a good defense by himself, but at least helping out. Oh, and he can score too.

27 more picks of questionable logic after the jump.