Center Tuesday

If Monday brought a glut of wingmen to Target Center, Tuesday will be known as the Day the Centers Came:

Then on Tuesday, the Wolves will look at a slew of big men including Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan, JaVale McGee, Alexis Ajinca and Kosta Koufos.

The "including" part of that paragraph is interesting.  Will the group include a 2nd appearance from Brook Lopez?  If I were Brook, I would avoid this workout at all costs, as the only way he will end up being selected with the 3rd pick is to avoid allowing the Wolves to view him in direct competition with any of the other centers the Wolves may be considering. 

Anywho, by my count there are 13 centers worthy of a look in this draft (all the more reason to look at taking a 3 with the top pick).  Here's how they break down

And their official measurements:

A few things:

1. For all the talk about how Deandre Jordan is a Dwight Howard-esque monster, Devon Hardin is the stronger and more athletic player. 
   
2. If the Wolves select Deandre Jordan with the 3rd pick (or any pick in the top 10), they are insane.  He is average in every sense of the word, and (as has been mentioned several times before) he's nothing more than a 7-foot Gerald Green.  It's all about the "potential" people think they see after he dunks the ball a couple of times. Devon Hardin is exactly the same potential-filled athlete 2 years down the line and available much later in the draft. 
   
3. David Padgett, David Padgett, David Padgett, David Padgett.  Another familiar theme here at Hoopus has been the Pimping of Padgett for a 2nd round pick.  He would be a great 15-25 minutes off-the-bench center that could compliment Big Al with his superior passing and shooting abilities. Padgett has the highest eFG of any center on the list as well as carrying the best A/TO rate.  He also gets to the line a fair amount.  His rebounding is suspect, but he wouldn't be expected to start.
   
4. Trent Plaisted is blessed with freakish athleticism and alligator arms. 
   
5. How is it that these big fellas can't put up a 185 lbs bar 10 times?
   

I break down the centers into 2 groups: those worth taking in the 1st, and those in the 2nd.  Here's how the cookie crumbles:

1st:

1. Kevin Love
2. Kosta Koufos
3. Brook Lopez
4. Devon Hardin
5. Deandre Jordan
6. Roy Hibbert
7. Mareese Speights
8. Robin Lopez

2nd:

1. Jason Thompson
2. David Padgett
3. Trent Plaisted
4. AJ Ogilvy
5. Javele McGee

Of all these players, the only one I would feel 1/2 way decent with the Wolves taking at 3 is Love.  Every other player isn't worth the trouble in the top-10, especially with so many centers on the board.  Here's hoping the Wolves bring in a fair chunk of this list for workouts. 

Until later.

PS: At 4:00 CST we'll also have the final list of who is in/out of this year's draft.  Underclassmen and international players have to declare in or out by that time.  We'll post a list as soon as it becomes available.

UPDATE: In/Out list is available here. The big news is that Ty Lawson is out (bad for Wolves) and Danilo Gallinari is in  good for Wolves).  Also, Chase Budinger is out (also bad for Wolves).  North Carolina made out like bandits today.  Roy Williams should be a happy man that he gets his marginal pro talent back for yet another year of college superiority.  Anywho, the loss of Budinger and Lawson mean that the Wolves' top 2nd round pick effectively took two steps backwards.