Today, the Wolves’ staff will be in Chicago to work
out Southern California guard O.J. Mayo, who is considered by many to
be the third-best prospect in a draft in which Minnesota owns the No. 3
selection.
out Southern California guard O.J. Mayo, who is considered by many to
be the third-best prospect in a draft in which Minnesota owns the No. 3
selection.
Wolves general manager Jim Stack, before boarding a
plane to Chicago, said Mayo is scheduled to work out for an hour or so
for five to seven teams.
plane to Chicago, said Mayo is scheduled to work out for an hour or so
for five to seven teams.
"Then we’ll have a chance to sit down with him and
kind of put the microscope on him a little bit and ask him some
questions," Stack said. "Get some background information and just ask
him about some of the stuff that we’ve kind of done with our background
checks, just to confirm. There are some areas we want to kind of
investigate a little bit."
kind of put the microscope on him a little bit and ask him some
questions," Stack said. "Get some background information and just ask
him about some of the stuff that we’ve kind of done with our background
checks, just to confirm. There are some areas we want to kind of
investigate a little bit."
Despite all that, Kevin McHale has been known to think outside the box (for better or worse), and Mayo should not be viewed as a lock until he hears his name called on draft day. Kevin Love might actually garner some attention too, as he’s rumored to indeed be the apple of McHale’s eye. Minnesota might feel like it’s a bit of a reach to take Love here, and there is already some talk about them moving down two or three slots to let someone jump ahead of them and acquire Mayo while they draft Love and pickup another asset in exchange. It wasn’t too long ago that Brook Lopez was considered the consensus pick here, as it does make sense to acquire a starting caliber center that will allow the team to move Al Jefferson to the power forward position.
In the second-round, armed with two very early selections, Minnesota will likely target the top big man that falls to this range, and may opt for a European player in addition to stash overseas. It’s rumored that they may package these picks in an attempt to move up to the end of the first round.
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