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Mike Tokito and Joe Freeman of The Oregonian are reporting that UCLA freshman Kevin Love will indeed announce Thursday that he’ll make himself available for the NBA Draft, though they didn’t say if he had plans to hire an agent. Remember, Love is from Lake Oswego, Oregon, so I’m willing to believe they have some solid sourcing up there. (And, despite the semi-false alarm earlier in the week, it’s the decision we’re all expecting.)

… A source close to the Love family told The Oregonian on Wednesday that Love will announce his intention to enter the draft. UCLA has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. today at the J.D. Morgan Center, the school’s athletic administration building at which Love, his father, Stan, and Bruins coach Ben Howland will appear…

I’ve asked a few people around the NBA about Love, and (forgiving the unintentional pun) they really love the good stuff about him- his vision, passing ability, rebounding ability, fundamentals, and hoops IQ- while worrying a lot about the stuff they don’t- his questionable athleticism, lack of speed, his height, and what position he’d play at the next level. He can get himself in better shape, one NBA exec told me, but one thing Love can’t do is get taller. There will likely be some GMs who won’t go near him, and others who dig him in a big way, but perhaps not a lot of middle ground.

Personally, I think he’s a guy who on the right team could thrive. Someone perhaps wasted on a mediocre team, but one who could really help a good one that has enough firepower to help support Love in the things he doesn’t do that well. There’s no question he’s incredibly talented, but watching larger, longer, more physical players beat on him at times during the season makes me wonder how good he’ll be on the block in the pros. It wold be a shame for him to end up a jump shooter.

On the other end, the questions about who he’ll guard are totally legit. Players will be able to pull him away from the basket, both exposing his current lack of quicks and getting him out of rebounding position, which negates one of his great strengths- the ability to outlet the ball with ludicrous accuracy anywhere on the floor.

Different mocks have him going in the top ten, top fifteen, or maybe just out of the lottery. I think he’ll go in the top 15, but he’ll have to perform well in predraft workouts to solidify a draft position. In the link, Tokito and Freeman point out that UCLA coach Ben Howland suggests early entrants not hire an agent… just in case. Given Love’s strong family background, that would be a solid idea. He’ll probably be okay, but why risk it? He doesn’t need an agent to get where he needs to be.

Bottom line, if Love, or any other player for that matter, has solid reason to believe he’ll be a lottery pick, there’s really no reason to stay in school.  The money and security is just too good to pass up.

UPDATE (10:45 am): I asked Tokito for his opinion on Love as a pro, and he was kind enough to reply, with a great point about where Love should play in the Association:

 I think Love will be a good pro, and could be very good on the right team. His passing, court vision and intangibles — setting screens, knowing how to create space — are unique enough for a post player that he should be a big asset for the right team.
    I’d say he needs to get on a team that sees him as a center and doesn’t try to force him to become a power forward. I covered the Blazers for a few years, and to me, center is a particularly weak position in the NBA and one where athleticism matters the least.
    He will, of course, struggle to stop the Dwight Howards of the NBA, but everybody does. I’d say Love will have to become a better one-on-one post defender, something that was not an issue at UCLA since the Bruins typically double-team the post.

Brian Kamenetzky hosts the Lakers Blog and Blue Notes: A Dodgers Blog for the LA Times.com. He’s a contributing writer to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, and can be heard regularly on the Steve Mason Show, on 710 ESPN radio in LA. Write him at bk@sportshubla.com.

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