Minnesota to trade Randy Foye & Mike Miller to Washington for 5th pick+more...

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Foye, Miller head to Wiz


The Washington Wizards are close to a deal that would send the No. 5 pick in Thursday's draft, Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas and Darius Songaila to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, a league source told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher on Tuesday.

A source close to Minnesota told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that the Timberwolves aren't done. The Wolves now own Nos. 5, 6, 18 and 28 in the first round. A source said that the Timberwolves won't package Nos. 5 and 6 for No. 2, but they could offer the fifth and 18th picks for the second.

The key for Minnesota, according to the source, is that it wants to have two lottery selections, whether that's Nos. 2 and 6 or 5 and 6. The source said Minnesota is expecting to have a "very busy Wednesday."

ESPN.com NBA insider Chad Ford says the Timberwolves gave up a lot trading Randy Foye and Mike Miller. Chad loves what the Wizards did there and thinks they got two very good players that you could not get in the draft this year.

The trade hasn't been consummated yet because of a clerical point that Etan Thomas needs to handle, a source told Katz. Thomas has to come to the Wizards' offices Wednesday to sign an agreement that he won't opt out of his deal on July 1 and become a free agent. By agreeing to the trade, Thomas would receive $1.2 million. Thomas is expected to sign the note, but it is a procedural matter that must be done before a conference call with all parties can be held.

Meanwhile, Minnesota owner Glen Taylor, who is the chairman of the board of governors, was expected to meet with general manager David Kahn Tuesday night to go over the trade but wasn't expected to balk at the move.

The source told Katz that the Wizards expect this trade to become official Wednesday. Washington had made overtures regarding moving the No. 5 pick ever since the Wizards landed it on the draft lottery on May 19. Washington listened to offers from New York, Dallas, Phoenix and Portland but settled on a deal with Minnesota, looking for veteran perimeter help while getting rid of expiring contracts.

Chad Ford projects the destinations of the top players in Thursday's NBA draft. Story
Once the trade becomes official on Wednesday, the NBA draft board will show the Timberwolves on the clock with the fifth pick on Thursday night, not the Wizards. When trades are completed after the midday deadline on draft day, the draft board doesn't change, and teams must pick for their trade partner.

The source told Katz that until the deal is officially done, Minnesota could still work a trade to get a third party involved.

Meanwhile, the source said that Washington was thrilled to land Foye and Miller to beef up its perimeter shooting. The Wizards look at Miller as filling a 3-point shooting void on a team that was considered a playoff contender had it been healthy last season. Miller would be in the mix with Caron Butler while Foye would be a solid lead guard in a rotation with Gilbert Arenas, Nick Young and DeShawn Stevenson.

Foye is a three-year veteran who was second on the Wolves in scoring last season at 16.3 points per game. He added 4.3 assists per contest.

Miller was part of an eight-player, draft-day trade last season, going from the Grizzlies to the Wolves with Kevin Love for the rights to O.J. Mayo. The nine-year veteran averaged a career-low 9.9 points per game for the Wolves last season.

Kahn is off to an aggressive start heading into his first draft at the helm of the Timberwolves.

Last week he chose not to bring back Kevin McHale, the longtime Timberwolves executive, as coach and now he has cut the cord with what was viewed as one of McHale's biggest draft-day gaffes.

In 2006, McHale drafted Brandon Roy before trading him to Portland for Foye and cash. Roy developed into an All-Star and one of the best young players in the game. Foye has been solid, but not spectacular, while struggling with a knee injury.

He picked up some of the scoring load when Al Jefferson went down with a knee injury in February, but the Wolves had difficulty deciding whether to play him at point guard or shooting guard.

The Timberwolves reportedly covet Memphis guard Tyreke Evans but hope he will still be around at No. 5. Memphis at No. 2 and Sacramento at No. 4 have also been mentioned as possible suitors for Evans. The Timberwolves are also interested in Syracuse's Jonny Flynn and Davidson's Stephen Curry. Minnesota would also consider Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut if he is still on the board when the Wolves select.

Kahn recently expressed interest in Thabeet, but many projections have him going at No. 2 to the Grizzlies.

"You could say that would complete our front line if we had somebody of that size and rim-protecting capability," Kahn said. "You could actually make an argument, and I'm not making that for me right now, but somebody could make that argument, that he would be the perfect fit."

There is a strong possibility that Oklahoma City will select Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio at No. 3, according to sources. If Sacramento then took Evans at No. 4, the Wolves could get Arizona State guard James Harden.

A source with direct knowledge of Oklahoma City's situation told Katz that the Thunder are working on the details of Rubio's buyout. NBA teams can pay up to a maximum of $500,000 to free players from overseas contracts, but the Thunder want to ensure things go smoothly.

Thomas averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in just 26 games last season for the Wizards.

Songaila averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 77 games last season.



Wizards are gunna look nice next season. and Minnesota is setting up to be the team of the future. Good trade, both ways.

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the deal went through...


Minnesota:
PG Sebastian Telfair...Kevin Ollie/Bobby Brown
SG Corey Brewer...Rodney Carney
SF Ryan Gomes...Craig Smith/Brian Cardinal
PF Kevin Love...Shelden Williams/Mark Madsen/Jason Collins
C Al Jefferson...Etan Thomas/Darius Songaila/Oleksiy Pecherov

wow...Minnesota really needs to thin out their front court and hook their back court up. LOL





Washington:
PG Gilbert Arenas...Mike James/Javaris Crittenton
SG Nick Young...Randy Foye/Juan Dixon
SF Caron Butler...Mike Miller/Deshawn Stevenson
PF Antawn Jamison...JaVale McGee/Dominic Mcguire
C Andray Blatche...Brendan Haywood

damn, look at that bench...crazy for an eastern conference team.