The Rake Magazine

_{Jeff Roberson/AP}

Of the boatload of people who deserve kudos for the Twins' surprising season, which incredibly has them in the thick of a pennant race just six weeks before Labor Day, pitching coach Rick Anderson belongs near the top of the list. Having traded away their Cy Young Award-winner (Johan Santana) and top young prospect (Matt Garza) and watched their innings-eating middle-rotation guy (Carlos Silva) signed away in free agency, the Twins' starting rotation for 2008 amounted to a a well-past-his-prime veteran, Livan Hernandez, and a collection of unproven kids as the club took the field on Opening Day in early April.

Nearly four months later, Hernandez is in danger of being the first hurler in 29 years to surrender 300 hits in a season, yet the Twins have soldiered forward through the dogged improvement of four pitchers between the ages of 24 and 26, none of the highly regarded prospects deemed to have the stuff of an ace. But under Anderson's steady tutelage and encouragement, each has made a quantum leap forward.

As a pretty staunch baseball fan, I realized with some embarrassment that I couldn't really differentiate between the quartet--lefthander Glen Perkins, and righties Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn--and figured others might also benefit from a more detailed thumbnail sketch about their pitching make-up, specifically their strengths and characteristics and what challenges they most needed to surmount to continue their improvement. So, on Saturday before the middle game of the Twins' three-game series with Texas, I asked Anderson to do just that. Here's his take on the four cherubic horsemen.

Kevin Slowey

Command guy. He throws anywhere from 87 to 91. He works with control and command and he's got to live on the corners and keep the ball down. He's also got all four pitches, but his main strength is his command and location. His one thing is sometimes he'll get a little bit up and get a little frisky and get under the ball and try to overthrow a little bit. If he starts getting up around 91, 92, he's overthrowing and has got to back down a bit, keep his arm slot up and work the corners and keep the ball down and stay under control.

Glen Perkins

Stuff. He's probably got some of the best stuff of anyone on our team. The ball runs everywhere, moves everywhere, and he's got a good feel for what he is doing; he's confident and he attacks the hitters. He is not afraid to pitch inside, which is another good thing you like to see in a pitcher. His big thing--and I'm probably saying this about all the kids--is staying under control, not trying to do too much, let the ball work for you. But his ball goes everywhere and he's very deceptive and the biggest thing with him is he's fearless.

Scott Baker

You know Scotty came up and down about three or four times over the past few years and in the middle of last year he kind of felt it and figured it out, that you've got to throw downhill and locate your pitches, that it is all about command and moving the ball in and out and trying to throw hard. And that's what he's learned and he's got command and heck, every time out now he gives us a good effort. He's controlling his pitches, he uses all four like the rest of them, but his key is keeping the ball down and being deceptive; and he is deceptive.

Nick Blackburn

He's come out of nowhere. Last year we didn't even know who Blackburn was until he started doing well in Triple A. He's continued to progress. He come up last year in September and tried to throw it by everybody and got hammered around pretty good. That was his biggest challenge, coming up here and learning that it is not how hard you throw, it is locating your pitches. It is being under control, like I said about the rest, and letting your pitches work for you. It is changing speeds and it is all about keeping the hitters off balance for him and not just trying to throw it past the hitters. He's got a good fastball, but his whole thing is just changing speeds and keeping the hitters off balance.

As a bonus, I'll throw in the fifth member of the starter kiddie corps, Boof Bonser, who has been banished to the bullpen.

The biggest thing with Boof is getting things under control. He's got a good arm, he throws in the low-90s, a great curveball and he's got all four pitches because he also throws a slider and a change-up. It is just a matter of--when he started he was just overthrowing everything and getting the ball up and so we've put him out in the bullpen and just told him to focus on two pitches, fastball and curveball and master those two and then we can add the other things as we go. He's done a good job out of the bullpen and been a little more consistent.

Timberwolves Resign Craig Smith

This thoroughly minor signing justifiably barely caused a flutter league-wide in the NBA, but smart Wolves fans have a right to wonder why it happened. The Rhino is an undersized power forward on a ballclub that just drafted an undersized center and traded for a journeyman legit center to pair alongside their star power forward who frequently was forced to play out of position in the pivot last season. So, are we going to see Smith and Jefferson form a disastrous frontcourt again this season, or has the Rhino been signed to a 2-year deal to be 10-minute backup at the 4? The money is reportedly right, less than $4 million over two years, which inevitably leads to speculation that Smith is a placeholder as the Wolves continue preparing themselves to be a major player in the 2010 free agent market.

Forgetting for a moment that big time free agents almost never come to this frozen tundra, the more immediate concern is, what happened to Ryan Gomes being this team's top priority among its own free agents this summer? The trade for 6-8 Mike Miller and last year's drafting of 6-9 Corey Brewer coupled with the signing of the 6-7 Smith doesn't leave a lot of options for the 6-7 Gomes, who swings between the power and small forward positions. All Gomes did last season was do whatever was asked of him without complaint, while posting the second-best season, behind Jefferson, of anyone on the roster. He merits a $4-5 million payday and is exactly the kind of player who won't embarrass a team that signs him for 3-4 years.

The devil's advocacy position is that neither Smith nor Gomes fits into the Wolves' long range plans; that unlike Gomes, who will draw more interest, Smith is a cheap placeholder and that a team counting on a nucleus of Jefferson/Love/Foye/Brewer, and perhaps Miller and McCants, doesn't have need for shorty 4's or even swing 3-4's. I understand this, although it makes laughable Kevin McHale's frequent argument that people get too hung up on position at the expense of skill set and savvy. Ryan Gomes is a basketball player, the embodiment of that dictum; he makes others around him better in myriad little ways. Craig Smith is a specialist--an occasional nightmare matchup for teams in the low block--in a specialty that is neither particularly unique nor frequently required, meaning there is high supply and low demand.

The probable good news is that Gomes may be eligible for the Kevin Garnett supersized bonus package: You get shunned in Minnesota only to land in Boston, where your services are recognized, properly invoked and handsomely rewarded in terms of both wins and dollars. There may be someone else on the market the Celts perceive as a Posey replacement, but I don't know who. Gomes is not the defender Posey is, nor as money-certain in the clutch from long-range, but he's younger, would be slightly cheaper, and is a fan favorite in Boston from his two years there.

Brand Goes to Philly; Camby Lands With the Clips

Let's start with my minority opinion that Marcus Camby is a more valuable basketball player than Elton Brand. The market has obviously said otherwise--Brand signed a 5-year, $80 million deal with the Sixers, spurning a Clipper franchise that would have topped those numbers, while Camby is getting a mere $20 million over the next two years and was just given away for a second-round draft choice by the Nuggets. But that's because even NBA general managers apparently undervalue defense in this league. Marcus Camby was named the league's best defender two years ago. He is just a whisker behind Tyson Chandler as the best defensive center in basketball. And Nuggets gave him away because they didn't want to pay the luxury tax!!

How fucking stupid can the Denver management be? I get it that the Nuggets laid a giant egg last season and don't want to lose a ton of money on a team that isn't going anywhere. But to scapegoat Camby for this is asinine. What, you say Camby isn't scapegoated, he's just the one guy on the roster whose salary could be unloaded? Well then why is coach George Karl still around--wasn't he the guy who couldn't get this squad full of superstar contracts to play a lick of defense (aside from Camby, who led the NBA with 3.61 blocks per game to go with his 13 rebounds and 3.3 assists)? And why did Denver management explain they were dumping Camby to clear cap space to eventually sign free agents like chucklehead JR Smith, he of the $50 hops and 10-cent brain?

Had Camby been kept on the squad this year, his ten mil would have been half of what Allen Iverson will make, more than four million less than both Melo and K-Mart will draw, and about $320,000 more than Nene will "earn." If I was a Nugs fan, I would be screaming bloody murder. You lose Camby but you keep Karl and the rest of the malingerers who sleepwalked through the season at the defensive end of the court? You're seriously thinking that JR Smith is the key to your future? You have a $10 million trade exception for a year (about the only worthwhile thing received in the deal) but have the increasingly suspect Melo as your cornerstone, Iverson coming off the books at the end of the season, and the often-injured Nene and scrub Stephen Hunter as your centers alongside the often-injured K-Mart on the front line.

If Karl is still around by New Year's Day 2009, I'll be amazed.

But back to Camby versus Brand. I've long admired Brand's work ethic and the way his integrity saw the Clips through some very lean years, which makes his apparent bait-and-switch with his former ballclub all the more ironic after the team, at his urging, had gone out and signed Baron Davis. Folks who favor Brand over Camby can point to him being a rare 20/10 career man after nine seasons in the league, and five years younger than Camby to boot.

I think Camby, despite their huge age difference, will be more valuable than Brand in two years' time. Because of Camby's early history with injuries, he actually has fewer total NBA minutes than Brand--23,500 for EB; 21,301 for Camby. And Camby is getting better with age, setting career-highs in blocks, rebounds, and assists last season. Over the past three years he's never grabbed fewer than 11.7 rebounds per game nor blocked fewer than 3.3 shots per game. By contrast, if we eliminate last year for Brand, who ruptured his achilles tendon and sat out all but 8 games, over his three previous (healthy) seasons, he grabbed 10 rebounds per game once (and then exactly 10.0), never blocked more than 2.5 shots per game, and registered fewer steals and assists than Camby. The only place Brand has it all over Camby is on offense. Brand's 20.3 career average is nearly double Camby's 10.7, and his shooting percentage is 50.5 versus Camby's 46.7.

But what's harder to find, points in the paint or interior D? What's a harder position to fill, center or power forward? And who has the better shot at being injury-free the next few years, the 6-7, 254 bull coming off a significant achilles injury who specializes in low-block offense or the 6-11, 235 shot-swatter who gets his few points mostly on mid-range jumpers? Camby is a young 34; Brand an old 29. The Clippers made out like bandits on this exchange, paying $6 million less and with less long-term obligation, for a better player.

Yes, Camby is more redundant on a team that already has a legit center in Chris Kamen. Teams would be smart to try to run on a Clips team that sports a front line of Kamen/Camby/Thornton with the defensively challenged Baron Davis at the point and perhaps rookie Eric Gordon on the wing. But here's a trade proposal I think would be great for both clubs: Camby and Cuttino Mobley to the Miami Heat for Shawn Marion. The Matrix would be a perfect fit between Kamen and Thorton, provide Davis and Gordon (and Thorton) with a dyamite running mate, and be the jack of defenders he was in Phoenix. Granted, Marion's weird unhappiness with the perfect situation he was given in Phoenix, and at an inflated salary, is troubling in terms of him being a veteran leader in LA, and a contract agreement (or a sign and trade after an extension by Miami) would have to be worked out. But with Davis/Marion/Kamen as your nucleus and Eric Gordon and perhaps Deandre Jordan in your future, the Clips could make some noise in the tough Western Conference.

Meanwhile, Miami would have Camby to go with Wade and Beasley, a perfect complement. Those who think the Heat are (or should) be building slow and sure have a lot more confidence in Wade's ability to absorb punishment without future injury than I do. No, Miami should be in a win-soon mode, and putting a leviathan like Camby in the pivot and Wade and Beasley (and Mobley, don't forget) on the wings is a nice little recipe for success. Just a thought.

Posey Makes the Hornets Favorites in the West

The best way to describe James Posey to fans in New Orleans is that he's the anti-Bonzi Wells; a guy whose game is always better than his stats, and whose results are almost always better than the process you see before your eyes. Posey isn't pretty--well, unless he's making like the heir to Robert Horry on those big-time treys--but the kind of defense and rugged physicality he brings to the court isn't meant to be pretty. He fits in so smoothly with Tyson Chandler and David West that it is tempting to think about bringing Peja Stojakovic off the bench as a 6th man of the year candidate. The ideal signing, and, if not for "Camby for a second round draft pick," the coup of the off-season acquisitions.

_{Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE/Getty Images}

The best way to sucker me into watching something like the Wolves-Mavs Summer League tilt in Vegas last night is to give me another deadline upon which to procrastinate. That was the situation, and thus here are my thumbnail takes on a meaningless game that may still have a tea leaf or two worth parsing over.

Biggest disappointment: The shot selection and accuracy of Corey Brewer.

They've got another ten pounds listed on his weight in the program over last year. And reports are that Brewer has stuck around and done everything the team has asked of him, which presumably means lots and lots of shooting practice. But in tonight's Summer League opener, with Brewer obviously slotted in as the go-to scorer in an effort to further prime the pump on his offense, the guy seems to have retained and perhaps even exacerbated his rookie flaws.

Under the best of circumstances, the spin move in heavy traffic is problematical, usually reliant on either luck or formidable strength and a charitable whistle. Brewer uses it too much because he has a faulty brake in transition. At least twice, and I'm pretty sure a third time, his path on dribble penetration was impeded and he spun into other defenders, with predictable results--turnover, airball, travel or charge. The defenders on these Summer League rosters are not exactly NBA caliber, and yet Brewer persisted in snuffing his own shot by playing in traffic.

He hit his first two shots of the game, and his first shot of the second half. Other than that, he was 2-15 FG. Some of them were wide open looks that shooters make; some of them were ridiculously forced shots of the sort flailing players chuck up to wheedle a trip to the free throw line, only on a couple of occasions was Brewer flailing because he wasn't strong or tall enough to create separation with a step-back move and felt compelled to try and heave it over his foe. At least one was a airball finger-roll that happened infrequently, but were still vividly memorable, last season.

To sum up, then: Brewer's shot selection was horrid, the result of taking a regular-season fifth option and making him your primary scorer. His accuracy on "good" shot attempts was still suspect. His body control remains gawky and strained; his strength sub-par, his mechanics all over the place.

The silver linings are that the Wolves were playing their first game together of 2008-09, whereas Dallas had already played twice previously. This is a huge edge in experience at this time of the year and with this level of skill set among the players. Also, there are no decent ball distributors to help Brewer get a good shot. He remains better running the floor than pulling up and shooting. His early success indicates to me that his mechanics are different in practice and warming up than they are when he's going full-tilt boogie on the floor; either that or he begins thinking too much when he clanks a couple.

In other words, it is very early and this is hardly the most significant barometer and sample size to judge a sophmore Brewer. But a lottery pick in his second year going 5-18 FG in a Summer League game? Bad sign.

Biggest satisfaction: Kevin Love's effort on defense.

You've probably read by now that Love picked up four fouls in the first seven minutes. But most of that was simply the shock of his first NBA splash in the pool, which creates a different intensity, even at this minor level, than practicing against your own teammates. But then he settled down and committed only two more in the next 23+ minutes. Rotations don't seem second-nature to him yet, and his hops are ordinary. But the willpower is glowing, causing him to rotate hard and decisively in the paint, especially in the second half when the Wolves beefed up their D. He also has the grit to camp out in the low block for offensive rebounds, but it remains to be seen if that is just the mediocre level of competition or whether he has the knack for getting position.

Love doesn't have the NBA three-point stroke, as his first two attempts were front iron. But reports of his outlet passing are true and are truly second nature. When Love grabs a rebound, his first inclination is to spin and deliver an over-the-head two-handed pass, something he can double-pump on if the outlet lanes are defended. His numbers last night--18 points, 13 rebounds--were workmanlike more than spectacular, which is probably preferable in a 19-year-old kid. Caution: there was no genuine big man on either team to put the fear into anybody, but Love was being guarded by a lithe pogo stick in James Singletary, who had a pretty decent season for the Clips the year after the last and had about as much NBA experience as anyone on the floor.

The downside: Love has at-best mediocre foot speed and needs to recognize and position himself to defend dribble drives more diligently. But the fundamentals seem sound (after one day versus inferior competition in mid-July).

Miscellaneous observations:

Pooh Jeter and Brian Ahearn are not the answer as back-up point guards. For that matter, not a single Wolves players registered an assist coming off the bench. Jeter was really the only "true" point on the roster. and he's undersized. Drew Neitzel was strictly a heat-check gunner, a poor man's Ricky Frahm.

The roster is mostly bereft of athletes and foot speed (maybe that "crazy athleticism" Carney supposedly brings to the party will reveal itself tonight after he sat out the opener). Nobody could effectively turn the corner against the Mavs' quicker lineups (starters and reserves), and none of the perimeter players besides Brewer could snap passes well enough to automatically avoid steals. The Wolves committed bushels of turnovers caused by a disparity in quickness.

Chris Richard likewise didn't set the world on fire in his team-high 31:37 of burn against competition he should be besting. The kid from Rochester via Oklahoma, Longar Longar, played merely 4 minutes+ by contrast and occasionally seemed lost, but did stick around long enough for a pretty blocked shot and seems unafraid to add a physical dimension. Raw, but perhaps worthy of D League seasoning?

Carney and former Gopher Vincent Greer were DNP; ditto Gerald Green. But aside from Brewer and Love, I don't see anybody on this roster getting within the top 12.

If you want to watch the Vegas games live on your computer, it is free with registration at NBA.com

Calvin Booth (center) - StewMac/flickr.com

In a deal that is almost certain to become official when the NBA trade moratorium is lifted tomorrow, the Wolves will take on center Calvin Booth and swingman Rodney Carney from the Philadelphia 76ers, plus receive a first-round pick that is likely the one the Sixers got from Utah in the Kyle Korver trade. As of now, no one is reporting what Minnesota is likely to yield in return--and it really doesn't matter. This is a salary cap deal, and--unless the compensation turns out to be Rashad McCants or something--a shrewd one for Minnesota. [Update: Various sources are reporting that the compensation will simply be one of our bushel of second-round picks and the trade exception that was part of the Blount/Davis deal, a trade that apparently keeps on giving.]

The Sixers are trying to clear up as much cap space in the immediate future to go after this year's crop of free agents (reportedly targeting power forwards Elton Brand or Josh Smith) with everything they have. Carney and Booth make about $2.8 million combined. I've been told by a good authority within the Wolves organization that Philadelphia is likely paying Glen Taylor all but $500,000 of that. Since both players can come off the books the year after this one (Carney has a team option; Booth's deal will expire), the Wolves bought Utah's first round pick next year for a half million bucks (and whatever the teams agree on for Minnesota's end of the bargain).

Will Booth still be around when the season starts, or is this another Beno Udrih deal, a pass-through? (And without going too far off on a tangent, wouldn't Udrih look good in a Wolves uni right now?) Booth is probably toast. Carney, from what I can remember, is most dangerous to Kirk Snyder's chances of being resigned (which were already dealt a blow when the Wolves acquired Mike Miller on draft night).

Anyway, the usual cavaets apply here: Nothing official has been announced, and this could all be speculation run amok, although when specific players and picks and motivations are all posted at nba.com, you get the impression it is pretty legit. Finally, we don't know what the compensation will be and when it will have to be delivered. [Update: If it is indeed the $2.8 trade exemption, then there is nothing left to deliver.] Perhaps some capologists or other insiders can enlighten us on those accounts.

Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images

Let's start this with the big fat cavaet that I rarely watch, and am certainly not very well versed about, college basketball. And since two of the key principals in the eight-player swap that the Timberwolves and Grizzlies pulled off in the middle of the night Thursday/Friday are high-caliber college players, I am working with hearsay and inferences rather than my own eyes about how good or appropriate Kevin Love and OJ Mayo will be while plying their now-lucrative trade for their new NBA teams. Maybe when I get a gander at Love and Mayo in action, I'll have a totally different take. For that matter, maybe my college ignorance is why I seem to be among the minority (and in agreement with ESPN's Chad Ford, which may be worse) in thinking it is a good trade for Minnesota. So be it. You can only go with what you think you know. I'm not trying to hedge, I'm just honestly laying out the context.

First of all, the question isn't whether the Timberwolves helped themselves last night--compare the pre-draft and post-draft rosters and try to tell me they didn't significantly upgrade--but whether they helped themselves as much as they could. My answer is no, they didn't, but that's because they idiotically punted the 34th pick for no discernible reason other than to be pennywise, and we all know the second half of that course of action.

Let's cut to the chase. Here are the reasons I really like the Memphis deal.

1) Mike Miller, who is one of the more underrated players in this league.

Well, maybe not underrated so much as unknown despite his gaudy accomplishments. If you put out the trivia question: "Which NBA player has been named both Rookie of the Year (in 2000-01) and 6th Man of the Year (2005-06) during his career?" how many guesses would it take before folks came up with Miller? Having turned 28 in February, the guy is in his prime, yet sports the kind of game that isn't likely to fall off a cliff once he moves past 30. Last season was arguably the best of his career. He sank over half his shots (50.2%), which is made more impressive by the fact that over 40% of them were treys (359 three pointers, out of 824 total FGA), of which he converted 43.2%. Those are career-best numbers but not a huge aberration, as Miller is a career 40.3% shooter from behind the arc after nine NBA seasons. He also led the Grizz in rebounds last year, averaging 6.7 per game, and doled out 3.4 assists. He's 6-8--a legitimate 3 and a matchup problem for opponents at the 2. He is a floor-spacer par excellence, making it very difficult for teams to double down on Al Jefferson in the low block without getting singed from outside.

2) Having a plan and sticking to it.

The most glaring need for the Wolves coming into the draft was gaining size, and picking up personnel that would banish the absurd smallball that had Jefferson at center and Ryan Gomes at power forward many times during the season. Taking OJ Mayo with the third overall pick meant that for the fourth straight year the Wolves were drafting a backcourt swingman (McCants/Foye/Brewer/Mayo). When the team thought Mayo was indeed their pick, I heard Fred Hoiberg tell the Draft Party audience that they could always address the need for a big in free agency. Ah, but when you look at the free agent list, it's slim pickin's indeed--the best of the lot are probably Kurt Thomas and Dasagna Diop, both less-than-perfect fits (to put it mildly) who will command inflated salaries on the free market. So, that meant paying through the nose or putting up with another year of Mark Madsen and Chris Richard when you didn't want to play smallball.

Now you've got Jason Collins, who has fallen off a bit but is still a better complement to Jefferson in the pivot than anyone else previously on the roster. He's a legit seven-footer who doesn't need touches on offense and knows his meal ticket is rugged defense. You've got Collins for one year and then his $6.2 million comes off the books and you might have to look for another backup center before you can bring over the hot second round pick Nikola Pekovic, who most agree can be a player in the pivot once his rich deal with a team in Greece expires in two years.

But more importantly, if you're Kevin McHale, you have eliminated excuses, introduced more direct accountability, and gone out and acquired the person you unequivocally state is "the best big man in the draft." Kevin Love is just a shade under 6-10, has a wide body, is reputed to be a tenacious rebounder, and was named the Player of the Year in the PAC-10 as a freshman, a league that also contained OJ Mayo, Brook Lopez and Russell Westbrook. Many think he is too small to succeed in the NBA paint: McHale is not one of them. The Wolves front office get feisty in pointing out that his combine numbers for size and athleticism compare with Atlanta center Al Horford. They think Jefferson and Love are a legit 4/5, or 5/4, depending on the matchups. I don't know if they're right, but I do strongly suspect that Jefferson/Love will play bigger than Jefferson/Gomes, with the 7-footer Collins available to change the mix. More to the point, you don't have a paucity of big men that enable you to trot out a 3-guard offense as the other side of frontcourt smallball and pretend that's what you really wanted to do. If you're McHale, you drafted Randy Foye stating that he can be a combo guard with a primary emphasis on the point, and OJ Mayo is not around to gum up and otherwise complicate that evaluation. The Wolves needed size and they got a better backup than they had last year and the person they believe is the best big man to come out of college this year. If they're wrong, it will be very easy to notice.

3) Boil down the legacy and it's a 2-for-1 swap

Thank god for salary cap junkies who keep us all honest, and for closet GM types always figuring the roster angles. They will have a field day with this 8-player (count 'em, eight!) deal and all its salary implications and ability to maneuver or not. Well, having watched this Wolves squad for the past four non-playoff seasons, I am well aware of what Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner bring to the table. Jaric has been reviled for what he got--a ridiculous contract that will pay him more than $7 million a year through 2010-11--and what he was not--he was not a good complement for Kevin Garnett, not good in the clutch, not capable of making anyone forget he cost not only Sam Cassell but a precious first round pick that has led to tanking by the franchise in order to keep it. Marko can be a spasmodically effective player in a "do all the little things mode." That's not the definition of a $7 million man, however. Walker would have been bought out last year if he hadn't greedily wanted more than he was worth to go away. And Buckner spent more time in street clothes than a uniform.

Minnesota is not exempt in this deal from taking on the Grizzlies' mistakes. Foremost among them is Brian Cardinal, who will make $6.5 million a year through 2009-10 and is less effective than Jaric. And Collins we've already discussed--overpaid at more than $6 million. So there you have it. The players who are truly coveted in this exchange, the ones whose talent really matters and will thus determine the legacy of the deal, amounts to OJ Mayo for Memphis and Mike Miller and Kevin Love for the Wolves. And that's what will have to be determined: Is OJ Mayo ultimately worth more or less than Love and Miller?

Those are the three reasons why I currently endorse the trade. But do I perceive there to be any downsides to the deal? Yeah, some potentially serious downsides. This is by no means a slam-dunk bonanza. Here are my primary concerns.

1) No defense and lots of turnovers

The Wolves brass seem convinced that Love and Jefferson on the front line is perfectly sufficient--no, even better, part of the new vogue--for the long term future of the franchise. But almost all the raving I've heard about Love is about his passing, his midrange and long range shooting, his savvy box-outs--not a lot about his defense. On top of that, there are some questions about his physicality in the paint. Now I know Jefferson's game, and his offense is light years ahead of his defense. So going with a pair of legit power forwards who don't excel at D sounds like a recipe for disaster in the paint against large lineups. True, large lineups don't happen even a majority of the time anymore, but, funny, the really good teams seem to be able to defend them, mostly by having one themselves. Not to put too fine a point on it: Minnesota's interior defense could be in trouble if Jefferson and Love are your frontcourt. Maybe it will be better than Jefferson-Gomes, simply because Love is larger, but let's not forget that Gomes is pretty big (250 pounds) and smart too.

What's more, you no longer have Mayo in the backcourt and by most accounts, Mayo can be very good with perimeter defense. Stopping penetration was one of the team's biggest bugaboos last year, and Mike Miller doesn't seem like the answer. In fact a quintet of Jefferson-Love-Gomes-Miller-Foye, as marvelous as it might be on offense, sounds like a disaster on D. The Wolves would win and lose a lot of game by scores like 115-111, and that's not the way to build a winning culture in the NBA.

The silver lining in this, perhaps, anyway, is that the NBA showed us this year that defense is more than ever (in this time of zones are okay and hand-checking isn't) about time synergy more than individual prowess. The Celtics only had two good/great individual defenders in its starting lineup--KG and Rondo--yet played masterfully together, rotating and fluctuating as if everyone was on a string. By contrast, the Nuggets had two defensive studs among its five starters--Marcus Camby and Anthony Carter--and played wretched, dreadful, pathetic team defense. The lesson is emphasis and motivation. Do I think current coach Randy Wittman can emphasize and motivate a subpar defensive team to be appreciably better than their individual collective talents? No, not really, which is why this is a concern.

The other concern with the new Wolves roster is turnovers. For all of Miller's strengths, he turns the ball over more 2.6 times per game, which is plentiful. As a rookie, even a precocious one, Love is going to make mistakes that lead to turnovers. Most importantly, Randy Foye is going to have to be your floor general and steady ballhandler. In addition to being a porous defender last season, Foye was hardly Mr. Steady with the handle. In fact I'd say Bassy Telfair is a large beneficiary of this trade, even as Corey Brewer seems penalized by it.

2) That Mayo is a Superstar about to happen

On draft night a few years back, everyone was wondering whether Detroit should have taken Carmelo Anthony instead of Darko. Turns out the real choice was Dwyane Wade after LeBron. It happens every year: Some people thought Marcus Williams deserved to go over Chris Paul and Deron Williams and some thought it idiotic. And there was Foye/Roy. Now we've got two guys who are consensus stars in Rose and Beasley, and divided opinion on OJ Mayo. Some see him as star who belongs in the conversation with Rose and Beasley, much as Wade did with LeBron and Melo. If those people are right, then this will obviously be a horrible trade for Minnesota. There are some things that could make it much less horrible--the emergence of Randy Foye into a star himself, making Mayo's stardom redundant to the position; or the overachievement of Kevin Love from very solid pro to Chris Bosh-like invaluability. As I said before, the legacy boils down to Love/Miller for Mayo. And if Mayo is the dominant star who leads his team beyond expectation, bad deal for Minnesota.

I'll tell you what I'm not concerned about. I'm not concerned about Mike Miller retarding the development of Corey Brewer and inflating the Wolves to mediocrity so it can't seize any more stud draft picks. If Brewer develops, he'll earn minutes--the Wolves desperately a quality defender in their rotation--and the idea that Miller is going to come and go before he can be really important to the franchise underestimates his shelf life value.

Last but not least, I want to reiterate how dumb it was for Minnesota to fritter away its second second-rounder at #34. I like the blockbuster Memphis trade (with the college cavaet unfortunately attached) and the first second rounder, who seems to be a mixture of draft luck and solid scouting. But this seems like it was a pretty deep draft--at least that's what the Wolves braintrust itself was telling everyone to get its flock excited about the second rounders. And this did seem to be a draft where there was more-than-usual disagreement about who did and didn't have first-round potential, meaning that some players regarded by smart, diligent scouts as first-rounders were still there at #34. For the Wolves to let Miami simply take it from them for two future second-rounders and cash feels like a lack of resolve to improve as rapidly as possible and bear relatively small cost for trying.

More than that, it was stupid public relations. As one of the commenters to his site, Andy G, mentioned last night, there is going to be at least one or two players picked at or beyond #34 that will pan out in this league, opening the Wolves up to the same kind of scorn they received for Josh Howard.

Worst of all, it may be the pick they handed over to Miami that is the specific example. The Heat chose Mario Chalmers, who the rep of being a steadying influence, a selfless point guard who enabled his more talented teammates at Kansas and then hit the big shot when it mattered to send the championship game into overtime. In other words, Chalmers is calm, seasoned and without a lot of ego. Now he is going to a team that has a pretty dire situation at the point, meaning that Chalmers might be able to work his way into getting quality minutes with a starting unit that includes Wade, Beasley and Shawn Marion. There's potential for 8-10 assists per game right there, and if Chalmers gets them as a rookie, he's going to have a very high profile. For all I know, this will be a laughable scenario when we look back on it a year from now. But if so, the Wolves will have dodged a bullet--and one fired from a gun they handed over to their critics.