#12 – Timberwolves Dominate 2008 NBA Draft
History will look back on the 2008 NBA Draft as a very crop of draftees, from Derrick Rose as the first-overall selection to Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love landing in the top-five, to Serge Ibaka way down at #24 and Nicolas Batum at #25 in the first round, to DeAndre Jordan in the second round, it’s a potent grouping of players.
The Wolves selected USC’s O.J. Mayo third-overall, but before the night was through they had swapped him as the principal piece in a trade for fifth-overall pick Kevin Love out of UCLA. Each team included multiple additional players with the next-most significant piece being sharpshooter MIke Miller who headed north to Minneapolis.
After their rookie seasons, Love has been significantly better than Mayo for the balance of their respective careers to this point. This trade was a huge win for the Wolves and brought them the second-best player in franchise history.
But the night wasn’t done, as the Wolves grabbed the best “Euro-stash” player in the field in hulking Montenegrin center Nikola Pekovic with the 31st-overall selection. The first pick of the second round had become known as a second first-overall pick because of the value of paying a solid European prospect nothing against the salary cap while they continue to develop.
Love and Pekovic formed the Bruise Brothers and could have led the Wolves to the playoffs if not for a persisting injury bug that plagued coach Rick Adelman’s teams from 2011 through 2013.
Next: #11 - Kevin Love's Double-Double Streak