Mayo-Love comparison no contest

The first meeting between these two teams since they swung that dramatic midnight trade on draft night last summer that swapped the draft rights to O.J. Mayo for Kevin Love and Mike Miller in an eight-player deal.

THE TRADE

Early leader in the clubhouse: Memphis, by a mile. It's only two months in, but Mayo is the leading scorer among rookies with a 20.1-point average in 37.9 minutes while he has become, along with Rudy Gay, the focus of the Grizzlies offense. Along with Chicago's Derrick Rose, Mayo is the early favorite for NBA Rookie of the Year.

THE PRINCIPALS

O.J. MAYO

The former Southern California guard, whose game has been nationally renowned since he was in junior high school, has proven right draft analysts who said his game and mind were the most NBA-ready of any player in last summer's draft. Perhaps not a natural scorer, but a really effective one already: He started his NBA career by scoring in double digits in each of his first 25 games.

Stats: 20.1 points per game on 45.8 percent field-goal shooting, 4.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals in 37.4 minutes a game.

KEVIN LOVE

The former UCLA forward, who is undersized as an NBA power forward/center, has struggled to get off his shot, as scouts worried he would, but he has shown himself at times to be, at age 20, a tenacious rebounder. Love has scored a total of 21 points over his past eight games; Mayo has scored more than that in 11 of 30 games this season, including 29 in Saturday's double-overtime loss at San Antonio.

Stats: 7.5 points per game on 38.7 percent shooting, 7.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists. 0.6 blocks in 22.5 minutes a game.

MIKE MILLER

The tipping point in that draft-night trade, he has been the most mystifying piece in the deal. A dangerous outside shooter, he has been reluctant to shoot and instead has looked to make the right play, almost to a fault. Has missed most of December because of a sprained ankle he originally injured at Orlando four weeks ago and re-injured vs. Houston Dec. 20. He practiced Sunday; expect him to try to play tonight.

THE OTHER PIECES

Marko Jaric

He has nearly three seasons and $21 million left on his contract, but he has averaged just 7.6 minutes in eight games with Memphis.

GREG BUCKNER

Consummate pro is averaging 11 minutes in 21 games.

ANTOINE WALKER

The Grizzlies recently bought out the rest of this season remaining on his contract, ending more than a season when he was paid mostly not to play.

JASON COLLINS

He started nine games when Randy Wittman was Wolves coach ... but hasn't played a minute since Kevin McHale took over the job.

BRIAN CARDINAL

The Grizzlies desperately wanted to unload the two years remaining on his big contract and were willing to take Jaric's bigger deal back to do so. He has been used in spot duty to show young Wolves players how to be a professional.

QUOTABLE

O.J. MAYO

"It's a tough league. I try to be consistent. That was my main goal coming in. I wanted to be efficient. It's working out so far. ... I'm not playing for the Rookie of the Year award. I'm playing to get better each game until my last game."

KEVIN LOVE

"I'm a totally different player, with a different team. We're always going to be compared. ... [Mayo is] a great player, and he's going to put up those numbers. He's playing 38, 39 minutes a game. It's a friendly rivalry and always has been since junior high and high school, but I'm more worried about myself than O.J."

KEVIN MCHALE

"You try to look at everything in the long haul. It always takes perspective three, four, five years to look at everything. We were trying to put a team together, put pieces together and [the trade] gives us some cap room down the road as well. Right now, I'd say O.J. has had a tremendous start to the year. He's got that stroke, a beautiful stroke, and that's what allows O.J. to score points in this league."