[ESPN] Wolves picking Rubio over Love for a max deal a wise decision

Love has two 'elite' skills. Rebounding and passing.

He gets a plus grade with his shooting as his range extends out to the three point line and he is near automatic from the elbow and he gets to the line often.

While his defense is average at best... his other traits qualify him as one of the top players in the league at his position.

From ESPN:
Scouting report
+ Dominant two-way rebounder who is a master of positioning underneath.
+ Good spot-up shooter and passer. Will use jump hook from left block.
+ Improved defensive player. Physical, but lacks great quickness and leaping.

Analysis
Hello, superstar. Love improved his conditioning, upgraded his defense and showed off a crazy step-back 3-pointer move that opposing big men seem hopeless defending, and in doing so, he finished fifth in the NBA in PER. Love led all power forwards in points per minute and defensive rebound rate, and was second in overall rebound rate. He also ranked eighth in true shooting percentage.

Love developed a killer up fake, and between that and his brutishness on the glass, he had one of the highest free throw rates at his position; he also made 82.4 percent from the line. But the most potent part is the step-back 3-point move he's developed. Catching the ball on the elbow, he'll fake a dribble hand off, and then dribble backward to the line and launch. Love didn't even have that good a season shooting the ball by his standards, making 37.2 percent of his 3s and 34 percent of his long 2s, leaving the scary thought of what might happen if he gets hot.

Love's other go-to move is a jump hook with his right hand from the left block. He has trouble getting this shot off against long defenders, but it's a good tool to keep opponents honest and force their bigs to chase him on the perimeter. The one thing you'd like to see more of is Love finding teammates and protecting the ball. He played for himself a bit too much this past season and had a very low assist ratio for a go-to guy.

Defensively, Love's improved conditioning and increased minutes at center had some real benefits. While he doesn't block shots, he seems better off at center because he doesn't have to chase small-ball 4s on the perimeter as much and can use his physicality more. He'll never be an elite defender, but last season he was neutral, and the way he scores and rebounds, you can live with neutral. Other than hops, his biggest weakness is a tendency to whine about calls rather than running back on defense.

It is pretty fun to imagine him working in McHale's offense with Lin, Harden and Parsons.

I would sign him in a heartbeat over any of the other big men on the market.

 

Harden and Love being paired together would make us a top 5 team in the west, if not better, and having two stars would fill the stands so it won't be so damn depressing.

 

26/13.

 

Except he has already signed a deal that if he opts out of would pay him $15.7M in his last year. Every FA is eligible for a 5% raise, so his minimum max contract would start at $16.5M, not $15M.

If he resigns with the team that owns his rights in 2015 for the max, he basically gets 5 years $96M, and that is assuming he doesn't qualify for the 30% max.

 

You know DM is gonna jump on that if this is true !

 

People on clutch fans hate on dwight and love love despite one guy who has never won anything vs a guy who consistently takes his team to the playoffs and has even been to the finals.

 

LOL @ TWolves. This is why you are what you are. Your PG cannot finish at all in a league that has so many talented PGs currently and you chose to give him a max deal over a talented big who shoots threes and grabs more rebounds than Taylor Swift. Rubio cannot shoot, cannot finish layups. Why the hell would you give him a max deal?? What team in the league would give Rubio a max deal?

 

Love would fit perfectly with this current group

I'd rather have Love than Dwight Howard

 

Didn't Love openly say that he wouldn't mind playing for the Rockets awhile back? if not, then I apologize, but it's pretty well known that Harden and Love are homies, and Mchale and Love are pretty close as well.

 

I think there's an equal amount of love and hate for both Dwight and Love. I personally love both and either one of them paired with Harden would make us serious contenders for the immediate future. I'd personally roll with Kevin considering his value is not as high as Dwight's and considering the fact he's 3 years younger, can stay in the game late without being a liability at the FT line and hasn't had any serious injuries yet.

 

I bet Kevin Love can't wait to go yachting in the beautiful brown waters of Galveston with James Harden.

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So many dumb Rockets fans these days. Love would be amazing in a Rockets jersey.

 

The most underpaid team player in the world plays in the NBA. His name is James. Love, 20mil? Pay it. Fast.

 

Him or Howard, don't care. Both are great!

 

Sign Dwight outright. Trade Omer, Parsons, Dmo and whatever else outside harden and Lin for love

Championship

 

There you go!

 

Can that even work salary wise?

 

Well...in Love's defense, he hasn't done half the diva crap Howard has pulled.

Love did step on Scola's face, though...

I am not too thrilled with getting Dwight but it would certainly be interesting. If Love were able to play some D, his offensive game is exactly what the Rockets could use at the four. I will trust Morey to make the correct decision this offseason.

 

Rockets have the cap room to sign Dwight outright in the summer with some maneuvering and then trade Asik and filler to match Love's salary.

The Rockets of course would be stuck paying three max players for the forseeable future but then again they already have three minimum salary players (Beverly, Smith, and Parsons) getting significant playing time in the rotation as is so might be able to make it work if Morey can keep finding hidden gems.

 

This is where it gets interesting....

We will finally fulfill our obligation of our lottery protected first... So this summer after the draft not only will we have capspace to sign a max player, but we will be able to trade for a max player with future 1st rd picks...

We have a nice package of players to offer Minnesota, or any other team but I'll stick with Minnesota... They will likely lose pekovic this off season, because iirc kahn has said he won't, our doesn't want to, pay pekovic 10_12mill... Peko will recieve those types of offers, he us restricted so its up to kahn. But if they lose peko, asik becomes extremely attractive.

Now its a pipe dream, but never the less it is completely possible for the rockets to trade for love... Especially if they lose peko...

Keep in mine love doesn't want to be in Minnesota, and is unhappy... He could Very likely make a scene thus off-season...

A package of asik, parsons, dmo, trob, multiple 1st rd picks (say 3 or 4) is a very enticing and valuable deal for Minnesota... And honestly i don't know who could offer more...

A team centered around harden, love and Lin is an amazing core and already a contender, without any depth or quality big our sf...

To make things even more interesting and fantastic, it is quite easily possible we also sign Dwight outright this free agency... If this were to happen i would buy Comcast, and i don't even own cable...I'll buy season tickets even tho I'm poor...

Pipe dream, but possible...