--Kevin Love had left Madison Square Garden after the Grizzlies drafted him fifth overall June 26 and was at dinner with high school friends from Oregon when the trade was made. He turned off his phone so his agent wouldn't keep bothering him with calls.
His brother received a call that Love, who modeled his game after watching old videotapes of a Boston Celtics player named Kevin McHale, had been traded to Minnesota. "I was so happy," Love said when he was introduced as a Timberwolf at Target Center on June 27. "Kevin (McHale) maybe was my favorite player of all time. I'm happy to be in the city. It's almost like Portland, only colder. I'm happy to almost be back home here. I was telling my agent I hope I can end up in Minnesota because this is where I want to be."
--Wolves assistant general manager Fred Hoiberg was the man chosen to address fans gathered at Target Center after they roared when the team chose O.J. Mayo with the third overall pick.
He told the fans how Mayo had "blown away" the team's seven-man scouting tribunal not once, but twice during a workout for five NBA teams in Chicago on June 21. The first time was in the workout itself, when Hoiberg estimated Mayo made 47 of his first 50 shots. The second time was in an hour-long interview.
When reporters cornered Hoiberg in a crowded elevator as he headed back up to the team's draft room, one fellow asked if his just finished speech meant the Wolves were keeping Mayo for posterity.
"This means we're keeping him," Hoiberg said.
Five hours later, Mayo was gone. Hello, Kevin Love.
When Hoiberg came to work the next day, he was greeted with e-mail accusing him of lying to the fans.
"When we picked O.J. Mayo, we picked him to be on our team next year," Hoiberg said.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "The thing was dead. Dead in the water." -- Wolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale on trade discussions with Memphis that stalled until the Grizzles called after the end of the first round of the NBA draft.
