Timberwolves are paring the field to three

The NBA invited 15 top prospects to its Orlando predraft camp to be measured, tested and to meet the media.

"Couldn't we have done this in California?" Stanford's Brook Lopez said, smiling, as he surveyed a resort-hotel ballroom.

At a table to his right was USC's O.J. Mayo. Due into the room immediately after him were UCLA's Kevin Love and Arizona's Jerryd Bayless, who will work out today at Target Center.

By the time the Timberwolves consult their reports and crunch numbers one final time before Thursday's draft, they will have considered all four Pacific-10 Conference players for the team's third overall pick.

Add UCLA guard Russell Westbrook and five Pac-10 players -- freshmen and sophomores all -- could be among the first 10 players selected.

In which order? Now, that's the question du jour.

The Wolves will shape the rest of the draft with that third pick, after Chicago and Miami are expected to take Memphis guard Derrick Rose and Kansas State forward Michael Beasley, in either order.

Will they select arguably the most talented player left in Mayo, whose career Wolves boss Kevin McHale jokes can be tracked back to third grade on YouTube? Will they deem the pedigree and old-school skills of Love -- son of former NBA player Stan Love -- the perfect front-court offensive complement to star Al Jefferson? Or will they opt for need over everything and choose Lopez, a 7-foot center?

We asked four Pac-10 experts for their opinions and preferences, and ended up with three picks for the Wolves. Here are their opinions about the Wolves' potential picks.

The Case for O.J. Mayo

Made by Arizona State sophomore guard Derek Glasser, who watched Mayo score 20, 37 and 23 points and shoot 52 percent from three-point range in three games last season.

"I think he's the most NBA-ready player of all those guys. I never got to play against Derrick Rose, but I played against Michael Beasley in high school, and O.J. commands just as much attention.

"He's so smooth and so strong. Just a very explosive scorer, a shooter, threes off the dribble. He just scores. When we played them, he had 18 points by himself before we ever had five ourselves.

"Bayless is a better spot-up three-point shooter; O.J.'s shooting 5, 6, 7 feet behind the line. He already has NBA three-point range in his game.

"But what makes him really different: He's got a lot of midrange game. That's kind of a lost art now. Richard Hamilton is getting paid millions because he can shoot an elbow jumper. O.J., his ability to catch and shoot off screens, it's like Richard Hamilton's.

"I thought he'd come into college, shoot 30 shots every night and try to win every game all by himself. But his game isn't like that. And the guy plays defense.

"He's a solid 6-4, 6-4½ in his orthotics. I guess what you call him is a combo guard. He can play the point, but he's more comfortable off the ball, coming off screens. But when the game was in the crunch, O.J. was bringing the ball up.

"Rose and Beasley are really good, but I think you can get a franchise player with the third pick in this draft."

A second opinion: "O.J. has been a pro for so long, since he was a seventh- or eighth-grader averaging 25 a game down in Kentucky. When he came out here to California to play in high school, there was all this excitement in the gym. My son took a video of it. He's more mentally and emotionally ready than anyone for this move up." -- Pac-10 TV commentator Marques Johnson.

The Case for Kevin Love

Made by Johnson, the former NBA star and UCLA player who promises his love for Love isn't a Bruins thing.

"I'm probably in the minority about whether you take Kevin Love at three -- nobody's talking about taking Kevin Love at three -- but I know what his heart is, what his desire is, and I cannot see him not being a major success in the NBA.

"I fought it initially. You saw him on youtube, you heard about him as a high school player. I kept telling myself he wasn't that good.

"He went home for a game at Oregon, where fans were abusing his family and saying terrible things because he didn't go to college there, and had 26 points and 18 rebounds. When I see a guy do that as a freshman, as an 18-year-old in that kind of setting, I know he's special.

"His whole thing is passing. He's better out on the floor, where he can throw lobs and feed the post. They've got Al Jefferson there, don't they? If Kevin could have passed it to himself, he would have averaged 30 points a game last year.

"He's a great close-quarters passer, great outlet passer. People throw out Wes Unseld and Bill Walton when they talk about him. It's really tough to pigeonhole him into one particular comparison, but he'll catch it and fire it out to the guards for a no-dribble layup. I've seen him do it 20 times.

"A guy like Corey Brewer -- whose game is speed and catching and dunking with not a lot of halfcourt game in him -- all of a sudden his game is better. His passing ability is going to turn Corey Brewer into a whole other player.

"Kevin Love or O.J. Mayo? That's a tough, tough call, because I like Mayo that much. Kevin Love has just been able to dominate on every single level. I know the NBA game is a totally different thing, but it is and it isn't. When you have that much talent, you can hang anywhere.

"His athleticism is deceptive. It would be hard for me to buy into that he's not athletic enough. If anyone tries to tell you he's a glorified Mark Madsen, he's much, much more than that."

A second opinion: "I'm still up in the air on Love. He's like a 6-7 4-man [power forward]. He's got a pretty good shot, and he's definitely physical. Strength-wise, one of the strongest guys in college. There are undersized 4-men in the NBA -- [Utah's Carlos] Boozer and [the L.A. Clippers' Elton] Brand -- who show that it doesn't always matter." -- Glasser.

The case for Brook Lopez

Made by University of Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, who watched the 7-footer deliver a 31-point, 13-rebound game against his team in January.

"No doubt, I'd take Brook Lopez. Just his talent and his size. It's hard to find a big man with that type of skill set. I don't know if there's a better big man in the country.

"Mike Beasley? I don't know if he's a big man; he's a versatile forward.

"Brook impacted the game against us maybe as much as any player we have played since we've been here. We played behind. We fronted him. We doubled him. He scores in so many ways, he seems unstoppable.

"Those Lopez twins [brother Robin is also projected as a first-round pick], I won't lose any sleep that they're leaving school. His brother has better defensive presence, but Brook has such an offensive touch.

"He's just so difficult to defend. If you could take those two brothers and put them together. ... Oh, my goodness, you'd have one of the greatest of all time.

"Obviously, players are bigger and stronger, better at that next level. But he's also going to be playing with better players there. He's going to be playing next to [Al Jefferson], isn't he? He's not going to get double- and triple-teamed like he did every night in college. Even in the pros, it's going to awfully tough to play a guy that talented one-on-one."

A second opinion: "He's not really an elite-level athlete, but I think he's athletic enough. The combination of his size and his touch, he's a capable finisher around the basket. He's not as unathletic as some people might have seen from his test scores [last in lane-agility drills and three-quarter court sprint] in Orlando." -- Oregon senior guard Bryce Taylor