So since last year I've been keeping an eye on Kevin Love. He's actually my candidate for the next Decision: a superstar who'll leave his team and seek fame and fortune elsewhere. Last year you had all these stories about how Love is disgruntled/unhappy with organization, and considering their luck I think they're gonna miss the playoffs again this year, or squeak into the top 8 and get decimated by Spurs/OKC/LaL. http://www.sbnation.com/2012/7/9/3146050/nba-rumors-kevin-love-unhappy-minnesota-timberwolves http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...innesota-good-bad-reasons-222201360--nba.html The game today he went back (premature imho) and put out an amazing night, 34 and 14. But his team still got spanked. Love is quite young, 24 years old, but professionally he's already been playing for 4 years, and all on teams that suck, and with all the injuries it doesn't look like they're gonna be OKC 2.0 anytime soon. I can see him demanding a trade, and then the Lakers offering up Pau Gasol for him straight up, in typical "Hey I'm the Lakers so you're supposed to take whatever I give you and be happy with it" fashion. Morey's gotta take his assets and trade for Love before that happens lol. What do you guys think? IMHO he won't resign with Minny and will be traded either mid-season or in the offseason.
Nope, not this season. Not until he becomes a UFA will they think about trading him. No matter how much he moans and groans.
I don't give a hot damn about his ass. I think he's an undercover arrogant star. THe fact that he stepped on Scola's face makes him forever on my crap list. Do not like. Happy Thanksgiving.
I would love for the rockets to trade for kevin love. However, it would suck that a great coach like Rick Adelman lose a great player like Love.
aren't him and Harden pretty cool with each other or am I confusing him with someone else. they're the same age and both from the LA area. they would be great combo.
Even if the t-wolves were going to trade him what can the rockets offer? Maybe if we end up with a high lotto pick this year
He'd be stupid to leave the wolves. He was complaining because they didn't reach the post-season, which is understandable. He's a very competitive guy and he wants to win. The assembled roster they have is very good and will only get better as their young guys grow and develop chemistry. Love, Rubio, Pekovich is a very solid core, they've got some good veterans and young guys who complement them well (Shved, Kirilenko ...), and an excellent coach who will know how to use them well - they fit his offensive system perfectly and almost seem a resurrection of 2000 era Kings. I think they'll be really, really good and I'd be very surprised if they missed the playoffs. They're at .500 with their two best players missing for the whole season and with Pekovich, arguably their 3 best player, missing a number of games. Rubio, Shved, Kirilenko, Love, Pekovich, combined with a very solid bench (Barea, Rindur, Budinger, Amudson, Howard ...) and a great coach is a recipe for success. Only further injuries can set them back so much that they'd miss the playoffs, imo. And even if by some miracle Love would want out, Houston has nothing to offer. They gave their all for Harden and will have to chase their no. 2 star guy via free agency.
Smh people still mad about that Scola stomp? I understand it was dirty but we've all done stupid things playing sports. It's not like he has a history of doing it. Plus, you'd probably step on Scola too after him flopping all game
Love isn't going to demand a trade this year. He was rightfully complaining last season because their whole team was **** outside of Rubio and Pekovic. Adelman is a good coach, but he can only do so much with garbage like Wesley Johnson and Darko. They've dumped all those players though and brought in some guys who've actually got brain cells and desire and the results look good so far. The Wolves should definitely make the playoffs this year and be even better the next couple years as Rubio makes a full recovery on his knee and keeps getting better. Now, when it comes time for Love to decide whether or not he wants to opt into his fourth year, my guess is that he probably will want to opt out and leave. Doesn't really have to do with the Wolves as a team though, it’s just that the Lakers are going to be after him and it’s probably going to be pretty enticing for a guy like him...getting to play in LA again under the bright lights. Plus he still seems pretty salty about the Wolves not giving him the five year deal he wanted (he actually brought up Harden's five year deal in a recent interview). But anyway, three years is a long way away, so the Wolves don't have to worry about all that for awhile. Love isn't leaving Minny anytime soon.
He will leave. Minny has a terrible GM. Makes me feel bad for Rubio because he's one of my favorite players and I don't want him to waste all his years there.
Didn't he just sign contract extension with the Wolves? There's no way i see Minny trading Love.. which sucks for us. They will build around him and Rubio.
I think this will be a LeBron-like situation. They'll wait, hoping he stays, and with Rubio/Pekovic they have a good reason to hope. But I think he'll end up leaving as a free agent. The Lakers will likely have major cash available that year and make Love their #1 priority.
I don't think so. Players like Lebron, Garnett, Howard left because their franchise didn't have any prospects besides them and no hope of getting significantly better. Khan is terrible, but he managed to gather a nice group of young talent that will convince Love to stay.
in 3 years, they won't have "hope of getting significantly better". By that time, we will know who the Wolves are. I just don't think they'll be a legit tier 1 contender.
That was my point. Orlando, for example, had no significant player besides Dwight, no cap room to get such a player, no assets to trade for one and no high value picks to draft such a player, so Howard left. Wolves on the other hand already have two very good players in Rubio and Pekovich and room to improve further. I think the'll be good enough to warrant Love staying and will be somewhere up there competition wise.
well i don't, so... we are going in circles. it's not like anyone doesn't know Pekovic and Rubio, it's just a matter of opinion about where that team will be in 3 years and what are Love's priorities.