FOR THE foreseeable future, Memphis will have a very nice connection with West Virginia.

Call it the Love connection.

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Courtesy photo

O.J. Mayo hoists his new Memphis Grizzlies jersey with Darrell Arthur, who was picked later in the first round. At left is Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace; at right is coach Marc Iavaroni.

The blockbuster trade has Memphis buzzing. Finally, a star. Or, at least, a potential star - which is still an improvement. Yes, the Griz has had standouts, most recently Pau Gasol, but Mayo, the Huntington High grad, is seen as a star that could rise to the marquee level of Kobe or Dirk. KG or Nash.

"I've been a fan of O.J.'s for a long time," said Wallace this week.

Memphis residents are quickly joining that fan club, at least according to the immediate feedback. No, not all agreed with the trade that not only sent Love, the No. 5 pick, to Minnesota, but shooter Mike Miller and frontcourt has-beens Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins. (The Grizzlies also received forward Antoine Walker and guards Greg Buckner and Marko Jaric.)

But Mayo has sizzle. And that's what has the Memphis ticket office phones ringing.

"We slowly came to a meeting of the minds,'' Wallace said, recounting the trade. "It was something we thought would work for both sides.

"We didn't take Love to deal to Minnesota. We took him for ourselves. But at the end of the first round, the talks intensified. Both owners got involved - and then it was consummated.''

Memphis wanted to move up.

There were talks with Miami concerning No. 2 pick Michael Beasley, but Heat president Pat Riley wanted Wallace and company to throw in Rudy Gay. That wasn't going to happen. Memphis, however, did surrender Miller to Minnesota.

"Our goal was to obtain O.J.,'' Wallace said. "We thought he was the third-best player in the draft and, who knows, maybe first or second.

"[Mayo] has more potential. He's a branded player. He has good size for a lead guard. He can defend and can shoot the NBA 3.

"He's also in superb condition. He has almost an obsession to improve his body and game. He's a worker.''

A worker who could take some heat off Wallace and the rest of the Memphis hierarchy.

"When I got here, I had no plan," Wallace said. "The plan was to get as good as we could. We were targeting the 2010-11 season to put a team in the playoffs and contend to win it all.

"That all worked in O.J.'s favor.''

Wallace restarted.

Call it the Love connection.

The Memphis Grizzlies drafted Kevin Love in the recent NBA draft and then traded him - for the Mountain State's 2007 high school player of the year, O.J. Mayo.

It was a trade partially crafted by another West Virginian, the Grizzlies' general manager Chris Wallace, who was handpicked to succeed the state's most famous athlete ever, Jerry West.

The blockbuster trade has Memphis buzzing. Finally, a star. Or, at least, a potential star - which is still an improvement. Yes, the Griz has had standouts, most recently Pau Gasol, but Mayo, the Huntington High grad, is seen as a star that could rise to the marquee level of Kobe or Dirk. KG or Nash.

"I've been a fan of O.J.'s for a long time," said Wallace this week.

Memphis residents are quickly joining that fan club, at least according to the immediate feedback. No, not all agreed with the trade that not only sent Love, the No. 5 pick, to Minnesota, but shooter Mike Miller and frontcourt has-beens Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins. (The Grizzlies also received forward Antoine Walker and guards Greg Buckner and Marko Jaric.)

But Mayo has sizzle. And that's what has the Memphis ticket office phones ringing.

"We slowly came to a meeting of the minds,'' Wallace said, recounting the trade. "It was something we thought would work for both sides.

"We didn't take Love to deal to Minnesota. We took him for ourselves. But at the end of the first round, the talks intensified. Both owners got involved - and then it was consummated.''

Memphis wanted to move up.

There were talks with Miami concerning No. 2 pick Michael Beasley, but Heat president Pat Riley wanted Wallace and company to throw in Rudy Gay. That wasn't going to happen. Memphis, however, did surrender Miller to Minnesota.

"Our goal was to obtain O.J.,'' Wallace said. "We thought he was the third-best player in the draft and, who knows, maybe first or second.

"[Mayo] has more potential. He's a branded player. He has good size for a lead guard. He can defend and can shoot the NBA 3.

"He's also in superb condition. He has almost an obsession to improve his body and game. He's a worker.''

A worker who could take some heat off Wallace and the rest of the Memphis hierarchy.

"When I got here, I had no plan," Wallace said. "The plan was to get as good as we could. We were targeting the 2010-11 season to put a team in the playoffs and contend to win it all.

"That all worked in O.J.'s favor.''

Wallace restarted.

"When I got the job, we selected [point guard] Mike Conley. The intention was to let that team settle. When it was obvious the team wasn't going to go where we wanted, we made a major change. We let Gasol go. That was widely criticized.

"But we look at it differently. We received two first-round picks, one that turned out to be Darrell Arthur this year. We got Javaris Crittenton, who was the 19th pick in 2007, and Kwame Brown [the overall No. 1 in 2001].''

Memphis is also signing Gasol's brother, Marc, who went to high school with WVU's Jonnie West in Memphis before becoming the most valuable player of the ACB Spanish league.

"We got four assets and significant financial relief and cap room [via the trade],'' Wallace said. "We'll get back over time four to six players for Pau.''

The shot that hit crude oil, though, was trading for Mayo.

"I don't want to put undue pressure on O.J. to be a matinee idol,'' Wallace said. "I just want him to be the best O.J. Mayo can be. I think if he does that, people in Memphis will be happy.''

The morning after the draft, Wallace went as far as to say in a press conference, "This is a great day for the Grizzlies and the city of Memphis.''

And what about one West Virginian acquiring another?

"It's something that was quite enjoyable,'' Wallace said. "There aren't many NBA kids coming out of West Virginia. This is something that's quite significant.''

As Wallace said before, he has been following Mayo for years.

"I was quite happy when he returned to Huntington,'' said the Grizzlies GM. "I was talking to someone before he did and I said, 'Why can't he just go to Huntington High, his hometown?' When he did, I thought all the attention [HHS] received was great.''

Wallace, by the way, said Bill Walker, another Huntington native, was flown to Memphis for an interview. ("I told people there are probably 50,000 people in Huntington - and two guys drafted. There probably hasn't been anything like that there since Hal Greer.'')

He added there were pre-draft discussions about selecting WVU's Joe Alexander, who went at No. 8 to Milwaukee.

"We liked Joe a great deal,'' Wallace said. "I can't think of a player who came on as fast as Joe. We thought about him, but Kevin Love was too much to pass up.

"And then there was O.J.''

Which resulted in the aforementioned Love connection.

A connection that just may make Memphis residents love the Mountain State for years to come.

Reach Mitch Vingle at 348-4827

or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.