By: Dustin Chapman

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• Selected Kevin Love 5th overall and traded his rights along with Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins to Minnesota for Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, Greg Buckner, and the rights to O.J. Mayo (3rd overall).

• Selected Donte Greene 28th overall and traded his rights to Houston for the rights to Darrell Arthur (27th overall) and a future second round draft pick.

Just when you thought the draft was over, the almighty duo of Chris Wallace and Kevin McHale teamed up to shock the world with an eight-player deal including two top five draft picks.

Memphis won both deals, hands down. First off, nabbing a guy like O.J. Mayo is remarkable. He’s got all the tools to be a big time star in the NBA, and he’s got the work ethic to follow up with. Putting him alongside Rudy Gay and Mike Conley on the perimeter can be something special in the future. Mayo was undoubtedly the best player in the deal, and a no-brainer for Memphis to pull the trigger on.

In addition, how about a little Darrell Arthur with that Mayo? Arthur rapidly went from being in lottery consideration to the back-end of the first round, and the most discouraging part about it is that it likely has more to do with false health information more than anything. Arthur, in my eyes, is a lottery talent, and a tremendous steal in this draft. Put a lottery talent with terrific athleticism and a chip on his shoulder into an up-tempo system, you’ve got yourself a gem.

In my estimation, the Memphis Grizzlies had an absolutely unbelievable draft. They got themselves a legitimate star on both ends of the floor in O.J. Mayo, who is ready to play right away, and a lottery-caliber big man in Darrell Arthur. Mr. Wallace, I think you just made up for the Pau Gasol donation.

Grade: A

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