News broke Sunday morning via Mark Stein of ESPN, that Kevin Love “has made it clear” that he has no interest in being a part of the Minnesota Timberwolves. What does “has made it clear” really mean? Did he flat out tell Flip Saunders, president of basketball operations, that he wants out? He must have, because how else would one “make it clear” about anything?
A few weeks ago, I wrote how Kevin Love is not feeling Minnesota, so much of this doesn’t come as a surprise. The All-Star power forward has been unhappy since David Kahn, former president of basketball operations, did not give Love the coveted max contract that every NBA star thinks he deserves. From that moment on, the Timberwolves knew they were inching closer and closer to Dwightmare.
Courtesy of the Orlando Magic: See a similarity here?
For those of you who don’t know what a Dwightmare is, turn back the clock a few years to when the Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard were in similar situation. Howard, who was drafted first overall by the Magic in 2004, was somehow unhappy with his situation in Orlando. He made it be known, through people “close to the situation,” that he had no interest in elongating his career with the Magic.
Dwight wanted the big lights of the big city. He wanted the celebrity status that he felt he was not getting in Orlando (which is a joke if you ask me). The Magic had no choice but to grant him his wish. The Magic fielded offers from multiple teams and ultimately settled for a confusing trade that sent Dwight to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Magic received six players, three of which no longer play for them, and five draft picks (three first rounders and two second rounders). Time will tell in regards to the draft picks, but they certainly did not land the next LeBron James in that deal.
Courtesy of Yahoo
As for Dwight, how is that Los Angeles Lakers legacy treating him? Oh that’s right, he couldn’t co-exist with one of the best NBA players of all-time, Kobe Bryant. The lights, the fame, the mecca of the NBA that is the Lakers, and yet it was not good enough for him. The Lakers took a gamble (some could argue it was more of an assumption) that Dwight would sign with the Lakers long term, and now they are awful.
Which brings us to Love’s mess in Minnesota. Regardless of the size of market teams play in, if you find yourself in a situation where your best player, hands down, no longer wants to be a part of your organization, you have to trade them. In today’s NBA, you can’t afford to lose top-notch talent for nothing. Especially if their teammates are making comments like Ricky Rubio did recently. In an interview with basketamericano.com, Rubio said this about Love…
“He is a special player, his numbers are unbelievable but maybe our leader must be other player. He is our leader in points and another things but he can’t be or he doesn’t want to be our ‘voice’ leader Many kind of leaders. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been our leader, perhaps Kevin Martin could have been our leader because he had more experience, perhaps I could take a step ahead to be the definitive leader.”
The Timberwolves will have to field offers from every interested party, and choose the best one. They have no choice. But which teams make sense?
Courtesy of SG Gate: Could these two be teammates this fall?
In Stein’s report, he mentions the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls as teams Love “would have interest in.” Again, very similar to Dwight in that he would make it known where he would and would not play, thus limiting the options to whom the Magic could work out trades with. Does “interest” result in Love being guaranteed to sign there long term? No. Love can talk all he wants about where he would like to play, but that team may not have assets to pull off a trade.
Take the Warriors for example. They have a good team, therefore their draft picks won’t be very attractive. And who can they offer in return? A nasty contract in David Lee (by the way, David Kahn went hard after Derek Lee during his free agency period…ironic) and a disappointing Harrison Barnes? That would be an awful trade for the Timberwolves no matter how many ways you look at it. We know the Warriors are not trading Stephen Curry, and it is likely they wont part with Klay Thompson either.
How about Chicago? What can it offer? Again, mid-20’s draft picks are not really that attractive. Would they ship someone like Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler? Doubtful, unless they can assure themselves that Carmelo Anthony would somehow join Love and Derrick Rose in Chicago. Then maybe. Still, this appears to be a long shot.
Other potential teams who could make a run at Love:
Courtesy of SB Nation: How does Love look in a Lakers uni?
Los Angeles Lakers – They will have a high first-round pick in this year’s draft, but don’t have any talent to give Minnesota. Perhaps they get a third team involved. Think about this scenario: First Love, then next year, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook joins his former college teammate in Los Angeles for a “homecoming” of sorts? That would allow Laker fans to get over their Dwightmare, and may ease the pain of Kobe Bryant’s career coming to an end.
New York Knicks: Phil Jackson has yet to make any sort of splash since arriving in New York. Although I believe Jackson doesn’t want Carmelo Anthony to stay with the Knicks, he recently missed out on Steve Kerr as head coach and should be looking to make a significant move that excites the fans. His connection to Love would make sense, but is there a trade scenario that does?
Phoenix Suns – A team that that makes all sorts of sense from a basketball standpoint to trade for Love, has no chance if he doesn’t want to play there. They have the picks and they have players they could send. But again, not likely.
Boston Celtics – “Where Minnesota athletes go to win championships” (David Ortiz/Kevin Garnett). If a trade with the Celtics went down, the NBA would be better off contracting the Timberwolves’ organization, as the fans in Minnesota would blow a mental fuse.
Dallas Mavericks – Somehow, some way, Mark Cuban is interested in Love. He is interested in everyone with a big name. Remember, Cuban swung and missed with Dwight.
Los Angeles Clippers – If Donald Sterling wasn’t in the midst of a lifetime ban from the NBA, there is a good chance he would be interested in Love, for obvious reasons. (yes, that was a joke…too soon?)
Kevin Love has created a Dwightmare for the Saunders and the Timberwolves, and if they don’t play their cards right, they may wake up in the middle of the night, with cold sweats, and no binkie to snuggle with.
Stay tuned…there will be plenty more of this non Love story in the weeks to come.
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Photo: Kelley L. Cox, USA Today