McHale: Love is here to stay (cont.)

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Where others question Love's athletic ability and natural position in the NBA, McHale sees a multitalented hybrid who gets by as much from his neck up as other players, including Mayo, do from their necks down.

"Sometimes in our league we only see a bunch of athletes jumping and doing stuff,'' the Minnesota exec said. "Kevin Love actually boxes out and moves. He got 11 rebounds a game in the Pac-10 by knowing how to play. Defensively, he moves his feet in small areas very well. He and Al, the one thing, neither one of them are classic 7-footers. But years ago, Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes won a championship, and Wes Unseld was 6-7 and Elvin Hayes was 6-8, maybe 6-9. If you know how to play, it makes up for a lot, and both those guys really know how to play.''

Sounds swell. But you can't blame the locals, when McHale starts scheming, for getting nervous.

They remember so many of the trades that failed, the picks that petered out. They cringe about the Jaric for Sam Cassell move in 2005 for which the Wolves still owe the Clippers a future first-round pick. They remember vividly the "first'' Boston trade, in January 2006, that brought notorious malingerers Ricky Davis and Mark Blount aboard, coronated Marcus Banks as the team's point guard of the new millennium and essentially cost Dwane Casey his job as coach.

The Roy-Foye switcheroo came a few months after that -- some folks wonder if McHale didn't just mix up the rhyming names. To shed Davis and Blount last fall, they took on Walker's burdensome contract, more trash to be taken out Thursday. And, of course, there was McHale's piece de resistance: the seven-for-one blockbuster that delivered Garnett not only to McHale's old club and the parquet floor in Boston but also right onto the cover of Sports Illustrated, standing next to Bill Russell, beaming like a kid on Christmas morning who just found the Larry O'Brien trophy in his stocking. Minnesota, meanwhile, slid from 30 victories to 22 with buddy Danny Ainge's discards.

Little wonder then that people fret about McHale getting too clever by half. Or too ambitious and desperate by whole. Also, it doesn't instill confidence when a team uses a prime draft spot to clean up past mistakes, like Walker (really, Davis and Blount hangover) and the $21 million left on Jaric's contract.

In McHale's view, the fears are unfounded. He has a vision of how he wants his team to play, a vision that never fully meshed with Garnett's strengths or Flip Saunders' style and thus took more than a decade to seriously pursue. McHale wants heady guys moving, thinking and playing as one, with no SportsCenter plays of the day necessary. With all the Celtics' nostalgia unleashed this month by their Finals appearance and 17th championship, it's quite likely that McHale is chasing a proven old model. Think of Love as a poor man's Bird, a passing, shooting and slightly unorthodox fit with a fierce competitive streak. Think of Jefferson as McHale, a low-post terror. Foye, if he's lucky, gets to be Dennis Johnson, a clutch combo guard. And Miller is Ainge with more height and better range. That leaves, who, Collins as Robert Parish? Or maybe, in time, Thursday's No. 31 pick, Serbian big man Nikola Pekovic.

Hey, McHale can dream. And in the meantime, he can shoulder the risks, which include Pekovic's NBA vs. Euroleague career arc and the Wolves' decision at No. 34 to draft but not keep Kansas guard Mario Chalmers for themselves. (Chalmers was shipped to Miami for two future second-round picks and, sure to please owner Glen Taylor, some cash.) There is the risk that Mayo will become a star rather than the next Harold Miner. And the risk that Love won't inspire much from Wolves fans.

"I know what has been put out there about Love's lack of athleticism,'' Stack said. "We did a very extensive study of what he did at the combines and compared it to Al Horford [the 2007 pick at No. 3 and Atlanta's near-Rookie of the Year power forward]. He, across the board, measured almost identical to what Al Horford brought to the table. And he brings a jump shot and an ability to stretch the defense way better than Al Horford.

"From that standpoint, people have said, 'Well this kid's not an athlete.' I beg to differ. This kid jumped 35 inches. He has a big wingspan, he reaches nine feet in the air. And he's dedicated to coming in here. His profile, when we compared these people, was off the charts. We had to trade a very good player in O.J. Mayo, obviously. But it really set us up on so many levels that this was a deal we couldn't pass up.''

McHale was asked specifically about sticking his neck out again, which -- let's be honest -- always is easier when there's no hatchet man standing by. Under Taylor, McHale has enjoyed job security that is inexplicable to many, perverse to some.

"You've got to do what you feel is right,'' he said close to 2 a.m. Friday. "Brandon Roy has played better than Randy Foye their first two years -- I don't think anyone is going to judge anybody's career after two years. If there's something you feel you [should] do, you've got to do it. I've never been one to worry about it.

"I felt like this was a deal that was best for our team. I couldn't be happier with it.''

Steve Aschburner covered the Minnesota Timberwolves and the NBA for 13 seasons for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He has served as president or vice president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association since 2005. His new book, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Minnesota Twins, can be ordered here.