Kevin Love Trade Rumors/ Trade Speculations

What’s the benefits and consequences of trading Kevin Love?

Well, there’s a lot of good to come from trading a superstar-in-the-making who’s publicly hinted that he doesn’t want to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves. And honestly, I would love to see him get traded. 

Well, sure, Minnesota sports fans have had to deal with some of these excruciating deals (see Johan Santana, Randy Moss, Kevin Garnett, etc), but this situation is different. For the first time since trading away Kevin Garnett, the T-Wolves are in a position to draft No.1 Overall in any deal they make with the Cleveland Cavaliers. There isn’t going to be any deal with the Cavs unless the No.1 pick is involved that’s for sure unless the Cavs are going to package a Dion Waiters plus Tristan Thompson and future first round picks, the wolves are not going to bite. 

Not only is the position to draft No.1 overall enticing, the fact that Love wants out after this year if he doesn’t get traded doesn’t bode well for the Timberwolves front office. They need to get something back in return for Love, but do they risk waiting until the All-Star break or trade deadline? What if Love gets injured? What if a player they covet in the trade market is injured? Now is the time to bite on a Love deal.

But the T-Wolves shouldn’t go in headstrong asking for a mega deal. Let’s be honest, because Kevin Love isn’t controlling where he ends up, he might not sign an extension with that team. This means Love could end up being a rental player. The only question remains, Who’s going to pay the price for a superstar rental player? 

Here are 5 Likely teams in order of likeliness Love lands there:

Cleveland Cavaliers:

Cavs Get: Kevin Love, JJ Barea

Wolves Get: Tristan Thompson, Anderson Verajao ?, No.1 Overall Pick 2014 Draft, expiring contracts

They have some nice pieces and the NO.1 Overall Pick. Even if Love is a rental player, nothing short of a package that includes the No.1 Pick, Tristan Thompson, and some expiring contracts (probably Anderson Verajao) is acceptable. If you really think about it, the price the Cavs have to pay to pair 2 superstars together should be high, and what I have suggested so far isn’t even close. This is the most likely place for Love to land. Who knows, maybe LeBron follows suit and love signs an extension. How does Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Kevin Love sound?

Boston Celtics:

Celtics Get: Kevin Love

 Wolves Get:  Jeff Green, Kelly Olynyk,  ,  Brandon Bass, Multiple 1st Round Picks

Well wadda-ya-know, we’ve seen this before. Struggling T-Wolves team with disgruntled superstar and the Boston Celtics are buyers! This trade doesn’t make a lot of sense on paper and it doesn’t even make a lot of sense on the business side (Celtics have NOTHING of worth in return) but it sure as hell makes for a good story. A trade for Kevin Love must contain multiple first round picks and expiring contracts or a combination of Kelly Olynyk and Jeff Green. This trade doesn’t make the Celtics contenders next year, as they’ll likely have to wait until the 2015 FA class to define their team. With a bunch of contracts coming off the board for the 2015 FA class, maybe a Rondo, Love, Carmelo Anthony Boston Celtics for 2015?

Golden State Warriors:

Warriors Get: Kevin Love, JJ Barea, Shabazz Muhammad

Wolves Get:  David Lee, Maurice Speights, Harrison Barnes, Draymon Green, Future Conditional Picks

The Warriors have been wanting a superstar for a long time coming. Are the Warriors’ this year’s Houston Rockets? They could be. This trade makes the most sense from a non-rebuilding stand point. The Wolves also rid themselves of JJ Barea’s contract and Shabazz Muhammad who never looked the part of a 1st round pick. In return they get some NBA ready players who can contribute right away so they don’t have to rebuild necessarily.  A Rubio, K-Mart, Harrison, Lee, Pek lineup doesn’t sound too shabby. Neither does Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Love and Bogut.  If the Wolves do not land the 1st overall pick, this would be the dream scenario.

Sacramento Kings:

Kings Get: Love, Chase Budinger

Wolves Get:  No.8 Pick 2014 Draft, Future Conditional Picks, Carl Landry, Jason Thompson, Travis Outlaw, Ben McLemore

The Kings have expressed strong interests in Kevin Love. New ownership, new direction, and they most likely would love to bring in Love to be the face of their franchise. The Wolves would get a lighter return from other trades with less talent and more quantity, but if the Kings are the only team that bites, do the Wolves make this trade? I doubt it but the No.8 Pick might look good 3 years down the road considering if Love just walks for free. 

Los Angeles Lakers:

Lakers Get: Love, Barea, Shved

Wolves Get: No.7 Pick 2014 Draft, Pau Gasol, Marshawn Brooks, Xavier Henry, Robert Sacre, Future Conditional Picks

The Lakers get Kevin Love in a love affair since Love publically called out his teammates.  Something like that. In all seriousness, this trade does make a lot of sense in the notion that no other teams are willing to give up anything for Kevin Love. The return isn’t great in terms of long term projections but pairing Gasol with Rubio might accelerate Rubio’s development, something you cannot get elsewhere.  The Wolves might not keep all of these players, but picking NO.7 and NO.13 in this year’s draft doesn’t sound too bad, considering the hype around this year’s class. The Wolves also get some potential rotational guys in Brooks, Henry and maybe Sacre.  As for the Lakers, Love might actually sign an extension here and the best they can hope for is Carmelo 2015.

In a perfect world, the Wolves don’t trade Love, come back with the same starting 5 and hope to stay healthy and see how that does for them and hopefully make the playoffs. But there is also a business side to things, and as of right now, trading Love is in both parties’ interests no matter who wins or loses.  No matter what happens, my hope is that it happens within these next few weeks leading up to the Draft AND NOT ON DRAFT NIGHT. 

Those are the benefits of Trading Kevin Love, acquiring assets is a nice thing. But is it really worth the consequences of more rebuilding years with maybe future draft busts in store? Many teams that have been feeding at the bottom of the league know this all too well. No superstar, no chance at the playoffs simply put. Are the Wolves up to this? Are they going to be smart enough to acquire assets where they don’t have to rebuild? For whatever its worth, the backlash of the Kevin Garnett trade still hurts the T Wolves to this day, as they haven’t made the playoffs since, even with Love. Maybe history repeats itself, or maybe the Wolves will get it right this time. 

Bonus Teams—

Just for fun, here are 3 Bonus Fantasy Trade Scenarios:

Indiana Pacers trade Roy Hibbert for Kevin Love straight up.

Bulls Trade their entire future for Love, no pun intended.

Miami Heat trades Chris Bosh and players for Love.
Pelicans trade Anthony Davis for Kevin Love and an extension.