The consensus top two in Thursday night's NBA Draft are Memphis guard Derrick Rose and Kansas State forward Michael Beasley. Nobody will argue that.
The mystery of the draft starts at the number three pick, currently owned by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Recent rumors have suggested the Miami Heat, current owners of the number two pick, may surprise people and take USC guard O.J. Mayo. That would allow one of the top two—speculation would suggest Beasley—to fall into the Timberwolves' lap at three.
This is however assuming the Wolves stay at the third pick. They apparently like UCLA forward Kevin Love, who could be had later in the top ten if someone behind the Wolves wanted to trade up to number three.
If the Timberwolves stay at third overall, O.J. Mayo would be a no-brainer if he's still available. As would Beasley if he were to fall to them.
Some mock drafts have speculated that the Wolves would even consider taking Stanford center Brook Lopez. The possibilities seem almost endless, and they do include trading the pick in order to move down and possibly get an established NBA player along with the pick.
The team has enough needs that trading down and getting another player could be an appealing scenario for Wolves' front office point man Kevin McHale and his constituents.
It bears mentioning that history is not kind to the Timberwolves when they have owned the number three pick in the past.
The year was 1992, and the top two picks were Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning. Who did the Wolves get third? Christian Laettner.
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