Lunchtime Therapy: Draft Day Extravaganza Part 2

Good afternoon, and welcome to your second Therapy session of the day. The morning had a couple of completed trades and many more rumors. Let's review!

The Luke Ridnour Merry-go-round and the Grit-n-Grind Extravaganza

Luke Ridnour, of Timberwolves lore, was a part of his second trade in two days as he journeys now to Charlotte in exchange for Matt Barnes, who heads to Memphis and is no longer destined for release and free agency, as (according to the ever-reputable Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports) the Grizzlies plan to keep him for the last year of his contract next year. Barnes, ever the tough guy act, now joins a team full of actual tough guys in Memphis with Tony Allen, Zach Randolph and Mike Conley. As I saw mentioned elsewhere on the internet more, was there a more Memphis guy out there that the Grizzlies could have acquired? Perfect fit.

But wait, there's more! Ridnour has been traded a THIRD time, this time from Charlotte to Oklahoma City to complete yesterday's rumor of the Hornets wanting (and now getting) Jeremy Lamb and reunite two members of UConn's 2011 championship team in Lamb and Kemba Walker. The only change in the trade is that instead of Barnes for Lamb, it's Ridnour and a 2016 second round pick for Lamb (again via Woj). Poor Ridnour. At the Hive recaps the trade here.

The Sacramento Affair

No new news yet on Demarcus Cousins, but if you haven't seen his very transparent exchange with a fan on twitter last night about his situation, check that out here. Interestingly, while Woj seemed confident that negotiations were occurring last night (and they probably are), USA Today's Sam Amick doesn't buy the deal happening, at least not yet. Woj reported that outside of the Cousins rumors, the Kings have their eye on Mario Hezonja at 6, which I would enjoy seeing, but they are also looking at moving back in the top ten.

From Russia with Kaun

I'm hoping Russian Bee is in the comments today and can give us more details, because I know nothing about center Sasha Kaun, whose rights are owned by the Cavaliers, but who is being sniffed around at by the Spurs and Nets, also via Woj.

A Pick in the 15-20 Range is Available

This is an item that I hope the Wolves will at least take a look at. Houston's looking to clear salary space to make a run at the two free agent power forward targets of the summer in Kevin Love and Lamarcus Aldridge, and (via ESPN's Marc Stein) have made Terrence Jones and the 18th overall pick available for trade. If the Wolves can put a deal together to look at jumping up to 18 with some combination of the two second round picks, Anthony Bennett, Chase Budinger, or maybe another player, I'd be interested, especially if it's this evening and "Apple Valley's own" (tm) Tyus Jones remains available. Stein says it might be expensive, though. KSTP's Darren Wolfson confirms that the teams are talking. If there's no move, Wolfson seems to have his money on Terry Rozier being the option at 31 rather than Delon Wright.

Grit-n-Trade More

The Grizzlies need shooting. Acquiring Barnes, as they did today, helps with that. Danilo Gallinari of the Nuggets would also be quite helpful, and Stein has the Grizzlies with eyes on Gallinari, although it sounds like they're not the only team. It seems like pretty much everyone on the Nuggets' roster is available right now.

Oh Yeah, And The Draft

Kevin O'Connor of Big SBN's last mock draft is here, and still has the Wolves drafting Karl-Anthony Towns first overall, which remains reassuring.

This is a no-brainer selection. Towns has the potential to be an NBA All-Star and he even has an outside chance of becoming a transcendent player. He's long, athletic and scores in a myriad of different ways on the offensive end. He has a great handle for a big man and will likely develop into a knockdown shooter. Yet he'll make his most immediate impact on defense, particularly as a shot blocker.

Towns also has the most leadership qualities out of these elite prospects, making him a perfect fit alongside a player like Andrew Wiggins. The Timberwolves will be set up for many successful years with their new core.

He also predicts a lot of trades, which I think feels like a pretty safe guess at this point. There have been frequent trade rumors now about the 2, 4, and 6 picks, and most of the teams both inside and outside of the top 10 could look to move either up or down, depending on how the selections go. Interestingly, outside of Towns at 1, the top few picks could fall several different ways, which could set off a huge chain of trades. Seth Rosenthal of Big SBN attempted to sum things up here. It didn't go well.

Also, here's another fun Towns interview thing from Complex.

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It's going to be a fun ride tonight. Buckle up. I'll leave you with a thought from Key that I wholeheartedly agree with.

@mdotbrown getting that #1 pick is suddenly turning into a storm shelter. Like, draft Towns and lock the door

— Key Sang (@Phantele_) June 25, 2015