Wheez The Juice

The Timberwolves got exactly what they deserved and "won" the number three pick in the 2008 NBA draft. This would be a lot more exciting if the year was 2003 (Bron Bron, Melo & D-Wade), but it isn't so the Wolves will just have to make due and pick the best available player. A lot of people are surely disappointed, but I tend to agree with the Star Tribune's Jim Souhan's take on the matter.

It doesn't require a lot of research to expose the errors of conventional wisdom. The best player taken in the 2006 draft was, to date, Brandon Roy. He went sixth, to the Wolves -- who then traded him to Portland.

The two best players taken in the 2005 draft were Deron Williams and Chris Paul. They went 3 and 4, behind Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams. In 2004, Orlando took Dwight Howard first. Andre Iguodala or Al Jefferson are as good as anyone else in that draft, and they went ninth and 15th.

In 2003, Cleveland selected LeBron James first. Dwyane Wade might be the second-best pick in that draft, and he went fifth. David West went 18th. Josh Howard went 29th, three picks after ... oh, never mind.

From 1995 through 2006, the best player in the draft was taken with the first pick only four times -- Tim Duncan in 1997, Elton Brand in 1999, James in 2003 and Dwight Howard in 2004.

Just because the Timberwolves didn't get lucky and land one of the top two spots in the draft, they still have the opportunity to select a potential franchise player. The only negative is that Kevin McHale (I once saw him at Target) will be making this selection. Anyways, here's my run down on some of the players that will be available to the Timberwolves.

Brook Lopez: Ugghhhhhhh!!! This seems to be the popular pick among NBA draft experts. My main question is why. I know that the Timberwolves' two biggest weaknesses are center and point guard, but the last thing we need is a center who will clog up the lane and get in Al Jefferson's way. The Wolves need a center that will block shots and grab rebounds. Conveniently, Brook Lopez does neither of these things very well. They would be better off with his brother.* The fact that I dislike this guy so much, probably assures that he will be the selection.

*If the Wolves draft Brook Lopez at 3, they better do whatever they can to get his brother here too. There's no sense of having just one. Lets go the whole nine yards and milk the annoying Minnesota Twins angle for all that it's worth.

Jerryd Bayless: He's 6'3" and is listed at point guard, so that's a start. The only problem is that he is a scorer first and needs to work on his point guard skills. Great! We already have that player in Randy Foye. There's no need to draft this guy. Next.

Danilio Gallinari: He's a 6'10" point-forward from Italy. No thank you.. The Wolves need a star, not some three point shooting piece of eurotrash. This brings me to...

O.J. Mayo: This is the guy the Timberwolves should draft. He is a 6'5" scoring guard who can pass. He already acts like a star (and gets paid like one) plus he is the only guy on this list that seems dynamic enough to carry a team.

If the Wolves don't draft Mayo, I hope they can trade down and draft one of the lower ranked point guards (Russell Westbrook, D.J. Augustin, Ty Lawson) while picking up more pieces that will actually make me want to watch this team again.

Trivia Question: Who can name the player that Souhan refers to as "oh never mind"?