More than that, the Lakers don't have any other pieces. Lebron, who we still aren't sure is opting out, won't consider the Lakers at all and Melo hasn't been connected to the Lakers for months now. They definitely don't "feel he would come" any more than they believe Ryan Kelly is a "promising rookie."
In terms of an "asset package" the #7 pick is a nice start for the Lakers. But they just don't have anything else. No picks to trade and no other young talent on the roster. Even though Love will opt out and be a FA in 2015 (no matter where he is traded) and because of this, this will lessen the "asset packages" being offered to the Wolves, I feel like there will be some better offers for the Wolves that they would be willing to accept.
First off, considering, we have a thread where Lin fans who post here are specifically identified and counted, we have a fairly high level of confidence that at least 170 LOFs are active on this forum and vote in the polls. Now the natural position of the LOF is that Harden is merely an obstacle in the rising Superstar that is Jeremy Lin, we can safely assume they would jump at the chance to move Harden for Love. Now considering your poll, where you mustered roughly half the volume of the Lin poll, I think it is a fairly safe assumption that about 85 of those votes were LOFs. Taking that into consideration, its only fair to scale that back to a true outcome of 329 - 31, or 10% of the Rockets fans who believe we should consider trading Harden for Love. Regarding ESPN, who believe things like Brandon Jennings was a good contract for Detroit, while Walls extension was not. Well, its a little bit hard to take their "expert" takes seriously. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-130802/which-players-teams-made-right-moves Hey I apologize if I was rude, but if you want to have an honest discussion about it fine. 1.) Harden is under contract for multiple years, Love is an expiring contract. Making that trade takes away a guranteed assurance you will have "two stars and maybe 3 going forward" into "you have one star with a chance at two going forward." 2.) Harden chose to sign long term here, and all indications are he likes it here, we have no such assurances with Love. 3.) Harden is not injury prone, Love is. 4.) Harden does not have an overlapping skill set with Howard, Love does. 5.) Howard chose to come here, due to no small part of Harden being here. Breaking that apart sends a message to other stars "Do not trust the Rockets organization, they have no loyalty" 6.) We have no replacement for Harden. A Lin / Daniels backcourt is the worst in the league. 7.) Filling the PF position with a good player will be much easier than SG. Love, Milsap, Bosh, LMA could all be available sooner rather than later. 8.) Harden's lack of defensive intensity in the past, is not indicitive of future performance. Perhaps adding more pieces, releases the offensive load on him and he is able to focus more on the defensive end. 9.) Love has never shown he can be a key piece on a championship caliber team, Harden has. 10.) There are less risky options available, such as Melo, Lowry or perhaps even Rondo which would not required giving up Harden, as well as free agency in 2015. Even if you believe Love is a superior player to Harden, it is not a contest when you add either of those mention alongside Harden compared to Love.
I know a few Laker fans who have compared Ryan Kelly to Kevin Love.. Have you heard any Rockets news today, Cyberx? I haven't heard anything on Melo possibly coming to Houston lately? What's going on with the possibility of landing him?
question can teams even call around about players like love at this point in time? i thought after the deadline it was no contact in regard to trades
The agent can ask permission from the Twolves management if it is ok for other teams to contact the agent to help work out a trade.
As I understand it, teams can talk, and even line up trades to be completed on or before draft night. However the one thing I'm not 100% sure of is in regard to draft night (and the days leading up) trades that are made as far as when they are made official by the league office. I'm not sure if they are able to get league approval for the trades at that time, or if they are only able to make certain deals contingent upon the league approving after the July moratorium. (Bima I'm sure can answer this). (The reason why I say this is because, how will the league be able to approve one team taking on salary that might or might not put them over the cap the next year and violate CBA rules, etc?) Since rookies are drafted and traded and are allowed to wear the other teams hats & what-not, I'm positive the league allows them to officially be traded, but not sure about other existing contracts that are traded on draft night. Are those trade officially approved on draft night or do they have to wait until the July moratorium I dont know. But yes, I'm 99% positive teams can talk to each other about trades right now & I even think they could agree in principle now as well if they are eliminated from the playoffs. However I've never heard of a trade being agreed to until a few days before the draft. What they can't do is talk to agents or players currently under contract until they are free agents on July 1st. As long as they are under contract, no talk unless like Cyberx said, they are given permission by the team & I think the NBA might have to be notified as well If I'm not mistaken.
I mean... look if he wants to keep winning, why not do it with the younger better version of Wade and a better big than bosh.
I think the Rockets can put together an offer akin to the Warriors. Is Klay Thomson better than Chandler Parsons? Arguable. Some would say no. Some would say yes. I will say Klay's defense is underrated... and he's one year younger.. .and a better three point shooter. But Chandler is more versatile, imo. David Lee is a solid get... but he is what he is. A stats all-star. Isn't that part of their problem with KLove (to the extent they have a problem with him)? And of course he's getting paid $15+ million a year the next two seasons. Don't get me wrong, Thomson + Lee + filler is a decent offer for a guy who isn't resigning anyway. Add Barnes and it's better. But Golden State has that themselves. Plus Curry, an undeniably better PG than Rubio, plus Iggy, a great wing defender, etc. The TWolves would know exactly what their future holds, at best. This is why draft picks are better for them, really. Parsons, TJones, filler, plus a lotto pick is a better offer. It let's them suck for next year, etc. Not sure where DM gets the lotto pick, but if he can swing it, it is a better offer imo. Of course, a Cleveland offer is better, or a Celtics offer, etc... if KLove will re-up in those places.
Like who? Love is the biggest available name. He is also the best player at his position, which is also the our team's weakest position.
Only way the Timberwolves take that deal is if: (a) Love threatens to go nowhere but the Lakers (hey, we all know it's his first choice) and will not re-sign with another team; (b) Their GM is hopped-up on coke when Kupchak / Buss come calling; (c) The player coveted by the Twolves inexplicably slides to #7 Yeah, I'd say other teams can trump the offer.
Ehh if GSW isn't trading Klay then I'd take #7 easily. Boston can trump both but need Love to extend.
