There are plenty of intriguing storylines in this year’s NBA Draft, as usual, but the one that I find most intriguing is the trade that isn’t going to happen between the Lakers (a top tier, veteran team) and Timberwolves (a super young team that had the worst record in the league this year). The proposed deal that’s been reported has the Lakers sending 4-time All-Star forward Pau Gasol to the Timberwolves for 1-time All-Star forward Kevin Love and the #2 overall pick. Gasol, arguably the best Spanish player of all time, will turn 31 in a few weeks whereas Love will turn 23 in September. When people first caught wind of the proposed deal they (NBA analysts, fans) thought that the Lakers would be getting the better end of the deal.
Love, who played his college ball (for one year) in LA at UCLA, is a rising star who led the league in rebounding, can shoot it from distance, and is a great (outlet) passer. NBA analysts and fans have been clamoring for him to get out of Minnesota because they feel like his talents are wasted there.
Gasol has been receiving some heat for disappearing (not quite as bad as LeBron in the 4th quarter) in the playoffs. The career 18 and 9 performer only scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds per game in the postseason this year. Gasol also (fairly) took the fall for the Lakers losing in the 2008 NBA Finals for being too soft against the Celtics.
Then with the #2 overall pick people suspect that the Lakers would take Arizona forward Derrick Williams, who is big enough to play on the block (6’9), but probably more suited for the wing.
When I first heard about this proposed deal I thought that the Lakers shouldn’t do it. If they did, though, I thought they should take Kentucky point guard Brandon Knight with the #2 pick because with apologies to Derek Fisher and Steve Blake the Lakers don’t have a point guard and it’s becoming a point guard league. Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak is in a tough spot because the deal makes a lot of sense for the organization’s long term future because they’d be infusing the team with some high caliber young talent, but would it be enough to win the title right away? I say no and that’s a big problem because Kobe Bryant is in win now mode. He only has 2-3 superstar years left (and you know he wants 1-2 more rings to tie or pass MJ) and that’s probably how long it would take to develop Derrick Williams or Brandon Knight enough to make a serious run at the title. In my opinion, the Lakers can’t win the title without Pau Gasol. Yes, he was soft in 2008. Yes, he didn’t show up for the playoffs this year. That said, I think he’s wildly underrated. The Lakers won the NBA Finals in 2009 and 2010 mainly because of Pau. He carried the offensive load when Kobe didn’t have it going. I like Kevin Love a lot, but he’s 1/10 the offensive player that Pau is.
The Timberwolves have basically said that there’s no way that they are going to make this deal because they want to keep Kevin Love. I understand that they want to keep the rising star that’s become the face of their franchise, but there’s a reason that they have been actively shopping the #2 overall pick. The Timberwolves are incredibly young. The average age of their roster this season was 24 and they had only one player who was 30 (Luke Ridnour).
The biggest offseason news for the Timberwolves was that the prize of their 2009 Draft (they drafted 3 point guards in the first round) Ricky Rubio, a 20 year old Spanish point guard, is finally coming over to America to play in the NBA. They are basically giving him the keys to the franchise.
Now let me ask you this. What makes more sense if you wanted to get a 20-year-old Spaniard acclimated to the NBA as quickly as possible?
To use the #2 overall pick to draft the 20-year old Derrick Williams and have your roster look like this.
PG- Ricky Rubio (20)
SG- Wesley Johnson (23)
SF- Michael Beasley (22)
PF- Kevin Love (23)
C- Darko Milicic (26)
Bench- Derrick Williams (20)
Bench- Anthony Randolph (21)
Bench- Martell Webster (26)
Bench- Jonny Flynn (22)
Or
To trade Love and the #2 pick to bring in a veteran All-Star (who has championship experience), Spaniard in Pau Gasol that Rubio has played with on the Spanish national team?
I guess my point is this. If I’m Minnesota I make that trade in a heartbeat, especially so that Rubio feels comfortable. Adding Derrick Williams just makes them a team of young kids that are going to get sick and tired of losing. Gasol gives them credibility and makes them a lotttt more competive as their primary scorer.
Now I do have to quickly mention the Knicks draft outlook. The general thought is that they need a point guard (because no one thinks Toney Douglas is the guy) to back up Chauncey Billups or some depth in the front court because they have limited size. They currently sit at #17 and of the players that people expect to still be on the board the following is my wish list.
1.) Kenneth Faried, Morehead State- He’s only 6’8, but he’s an absolute savage on the boards, which is something the Knicks desperately need.
2.) Markieff Morris, Kentucky- He has size (6’9, 241) and he can score. I’m not sure how much he’d contribute right away, but I think size is the Knicks biggest need.
3.) Jeremy Tyler- This is the kid that left high school early to play in Italy. He’s obviously a huge upside pick and the Knicks don’t exactly have the time (or patience) to develop him, but 6’11 with potential is intriguing.
4.) Josh Selby, Kansas- He’s a score first guard that could thrive in D’Antoni’s system, but he’s immature and who knows how much longer D’Antoni has.
5.) Marshon Brooks, Providence- One of the best scorers in the draft. The Knicks play 0 defense, so why not just draft the player with the most upside offensively.
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