Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel for Former 'Next LeBron' O.J. Mayo?
During the summer of 2007, youโd have needed the Hubble Space Telescope to spot a hotter rising star than O.J. Mayo, the impossible basketball specimen out of Huntington, West Virginia, who was touted as the next LeBron James.
Seven years later, Mayoโs star is on the cusp of collapsing upon itself:
Given his productivity over the course of his one season with the Milwaukee Bucksโwhich included career lows in points, rebounds, assists and field-goal percentageโsuch news should come as no surprise.
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Instead, let's reserve that word for just how far this one-time phenom has fallen.
The Heir Apparent
In the spring of 2007, Mayo verbally committed to the University of Southern Californiaโthis after a stellar senior year in which the 6โ5โ slasher had become one of the top high school recruits in the country.
Oh, and he scored a 29 on his ACT, per the The Dallas Morning News.
In fact, the only thing stopping him from making the leap straight from prep to pro was a new provision in the NBAโs collective bargaining agreement that stipulated all players must be a year or more out of high school to enter the draft.
Not to be curtailed, Mayo went on to author a stellar freshman season, averaging 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 44 percent shooting, including a eye-popping 41 percent from three-point range.
After one year in college, he promptly declared for the draft. Not long after, however, came charges that the lottery-pick-to-be had accepted upwards of $30,000 in improper benefits from one Rodney Guillory, as first reported by ESPN. And while Mayo denied the allegations, USC was eventually forced to vacate its 21 wins for the 2007-08 season,ย per ESPN.com.
A little over a month later, Mayo was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the No. 3 overall pick before being quickly dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies in a draft-day trade that brought Kevin Love to Minnesota.
By the end of the 2008-09 season, Mayo looked every bit the part of a hoops prodigy, tallying 18.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists on 44 percent shooting and landing on the NBAโs All-Rookie First Team. Considering his 25 percent usage rate, that level of productivity only seemed more impressive.
He may not have known it then, but his career trajectory was about to take an unexpected turnโand not for the better.
Sinking Stock
The next three seasons would see his production all but flat lineโthe result, at least in part, of Memphisโ shift toward an offense built around the frontcourt prowess of promising youngster Marc Gasol and veteran double-double machine Zach Randolph.
But there was another, more immediate threat to Mayoโs role: Tony Allen.
In Allen, head coach Lionel Hollins had found the perfect complement to the basketball ethos that would become โGrit and Grindโโa hard-nosed hellion whose defensive endowmentsย were matched only by his utter lack of offensive flair.
Slowly but steadily, Mayoโs role assumed that of an A1 bench scorer. Slowly but steadily, the promise of all those highlight-reel performances in packed high school gymsโwhat must have felt to him like centuries agoโfaded away.
The Grizzlies declined to extend a qualifying offer to Mayo following the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, which was almost unheard of, given the then 24-year-oldโs once sky-high stock.
On July 19 Mayo signed with the Dallas Mavericks. With Dirk Nowitzki sidelined by injury, Mayo stormed out of the 2012-13 gate with what looked like the birth pangs of a renaissance season in the making. However, his play soon leveled off, and by the end of the season, he was once again back on the market.
He would sign a three-year, $24 million offer sheet with the Milwaukee Bucks on July 13, in a transaction that had many in the NBA blogosphereโincluding SB Nationโs Mike Pradaโwondering what, exactly, owner Herb Kohl and company were thinking:
"And if you strip away the shooting, Mayo didn't really improve that much last year. He still posted a PER below the league average, and while his assists were up, so were his turnovers. He also still isn't a particularly good defender, both on the ball and on the weak side. The Mavericks, a team in a similar position to Milwaukee with their cap space and standing in their conference, showed no reported interest in bringing him back even as a Plan B to Dwight Howard. Two teams have now let Mayo go without shedding a tear that he left, and while Mayo has some value, that says something about his upside.
"
Mayo would play just 52 games the entire 2013-14 season, starting a scant 23 of them. His field-goal and three-point percentages both tied his career-worst marks. On a team that finished with a league-low 15 wins, Mayo was usurped on the shooting guard depth chart by Ramon Sessions, a player whoโs spent the vast majority of his career as a point guard.
| Season | Points | FG% | 3P% | PER |
| 2008-09 (rookie year) | 18.5 | .438 | .384 | 14.2 |
| 2013-14 | 11.7 | .407 | .370 | 11.2 |
Which brings us to today and reports that Mayo is once again not long for his current employer. In the face of so much squandered talent, itโs wise to wonder: Just what, if anything, does he have left to offer?
Any Juice Left?
With a full two years and $16 million left on his deal, Mayo likely wonโt fetch quite the number of suitors the Bucks are hoping for.
Still, a handful of teams may find it worth rolling the dice on Mayoโs contract, if only for the faintest hopes of a payout. Here are three potential deals the Bucks should pursue:
Trade 1
Chicago Bulls get: O.J. Mayo, Zaza Pachulia
Bucks get: Carlos Boozer
Assuming the Bulls strike out on Carmelo Anthony, their first order of business will be finding someone to help chip in with wing scoring. Mayoโfor all his defensive weaknessesโcan provide that in spades.
Pachulia, meanwhile, would allow the Bulls to give Taj Gibson even heavier rotation minutes. Pachulia and Mayo's contracts are notย ideal, but both stand to be eminently tradable leading up to their expiration in the summer of 2016. The Bucks could even throw in a draft pick to sweeten the deal on this front.
For Milwaukee, the trade serves a dual purpose, making it worse in the short term while cleaving open more cap space next summer, when the youth-laden Bucks might see fit to start moving their way up the Eastern Conference pecking order.
Trade 2
Oklahoma City Thunder get: O.J. Mayo
Bucks get: Kendrick Perkins
Clean-cut and simple. The Thunder could use a bit of extra scoring punch along the perimeter, particularly with Thabo Sefoloshaโnever the offensive threat to begin withโpossibly departing this summer. Mayo is now the Swiss Guard on defense, but in a winning system he could prove to be quite the potent third or fourth option.
The Bucks, on the other hand, wouldโas with the previous tradeโbe getting quite the expiring contract in return.
Trade 3
New Orleans Pelicans get: O.J. Mayo, $2 million
Bucks get: Eric Gordon
New Orleansโ backcourt logjam is, by now, well-documented. This trade not only allows New Orleans to get out from under Gordonโs onerous deal but brings back a player who is lately accustomed to coming off the bench, which should help with the teamโs rotational politics.
Milwaukee, meanwhile, gets an upgrade at shooting guard who, if healthy, could be a legitimate long-term solution. If not, the Bucks could be left hoping Gordon declines his $15 million player optionโunlikely, considering this might well be his biggest payday.
Those who are worried about the extra baggage coming down the pike with Mayo's arrival should read no further than comments made by former Bucks coach Larry Drew in response to questions concerning the shooting guard's lack of playing time, via Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
"O.J. is a real pro. The one thing I tell him is just 'You've got to stay ready.' He missed a stretch of games due to illness. He got out of rhythm; he lost conditioning. We've been trying to work with him as far as getting it back. But right now that three-man rotation has been so good and Iย really don't want to disrupt that. I've had a sitdown talk with O.J. and just said, 'Look, you've got to stay ready for me.' He gave me the nod that he would. He was very, very good about it.
"
For professional athletes, seven years can be a lifetime. And while Mayo doesnโt make for near the bust of many an NBA counterpart, his slow, steady decline remains just as crucial a cautionary tale.
Still, in the right systemโsurrounded by the right stars and given the right roleโMayo's is one story that stands to have, if not a happy ending, then at least a satisfactory one.
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