MinnesotaSportsScene.com

Timberwolves rookie forward Kevin Love has a lot of learning to do, and if coach Randy Wittman has his way, it will be defense that Love, and the rest of the team, learn first. In year two of the post-Garnett era, Wittman is again preaching defense to a team still looking to find an identity the way real estate lovers are looking for Outer Banks rentals.

Part of the identity issue was solved last season when Al Jefferson, the cornerstone of the trade that sent Garnett to Boston, asserted himself as the team’s top big man, posting better numbers than Garnett most of the season, despite being on a losing team while Garnett rode the Celtics to his first NBA Title.

Love will be part of the mix this year, but whether he plays starter minutes alongside Jefferson or comes in off the bench alongside Jason Collins remains to be seen.

When I first heard that the Timberwolves were smart enough to take O.J. Mayo with their third pick in the NBA Draft last Thursday, I was thrilled. When I heard the next morning they’d traded him overnight to Memphis for a player they could have had anyway, I was not so thrilled.

Correction: I was pissed as hell.

But I’ve had time to calm down now and look at the team the Wolves are left with as a result of the trade, and surprise, it’s not looking quite so bad at the moment. In fact, it’s looking pretty good.

For those who aren’t in the know because they were away on European cruises, here’s the skinny on the deal:

The Wolves sent O.J. Mayo to Memphis, along with Greg Buckner, Marko Jaric and Antoine Walker. In that group, the only real loss is Mayo. But then there’s what we get in return.

First, we get PF/C Kevin Love, who Memphis drafted, and who the Wolves liked quite a bit, despite drafting Mayo. In addition, we get Mike Miller, Jason Collins and Brian Cardinal. Miller is the catch of the deal, while Jason Collins is an upgrade at center and will be paired with Love at that position, taking the pressure off Al Jefferson and allowing him to switch back to PF.

Going into the draft, Minnesota was weak in the front court and had a fair amount of dead weight on their roster, most especially Jaric with three years and $21 million left on his deal, wasting cap space, as well as one year and $9 million for Walker, who didn’t want to be a Wolf anyway.

Now, take a look at our starting and second-string lineup for the Wolves:

PG Randy Foye, Sebastian Telfair
SG Mike Miller, Rashad McCants
SF Ryan Gomes, Corey Brewer
PF Al Jefferson, Craig Smith
C Kevin Love, Jason Collins

That’s an improvement. Is it enough to get out of the lottery and into the playoffs? It all depends on how the pieces fit, but the Wolves have about $6 million in cap space for free agency this year, which may be spent on retaining Gomes and Telfair; they also have potentially three first-round and two second-round picks in next year’s draft, depending on if they must send the LA Clippers the pick they owe them or not, from the disastrous Jaric trade. And they expect to have about $18 million free under the cap for free agency in the summer of 2009.

Not bad.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are doing their homework on all the players who they might potentially choose later this week with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft; they’ve run them through their paces on and off the court and held everything but competitions in swimsuits. And that may be coming yet.

Although the team has been the subject of many trade-down rumors and at least one trade-up rumor (to snag Beasley and give Miami a shot at Mayo), indications are the the Wolves may be looking seriously at keeping the third pick and, barring changes in the draft above them, taking Mayo to give the Wolves a back-court combo of O.J. Mayo and Randy Foye, with Rashad McCants and Sebastian Telfair backing them up.

While that could set up the Wolves’ backcourt for the next decade, the question is whether it is what the Wolves need to turn the corner; the Wolves have no lack of young talent now, thanks to the Garnett trade and this is one of the rare cases where a trade-down (perhaps two spots or so) might make sense, if it brings in a veteran small forward or center, and still gives the Wolves a chance to draft someone they like, such as Brook Lopez or Kevin Love.

We’ll know soon which route they choose. The draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 26.