Just one day from the NBA Draft and Kevin Love trade rumors are running wild again.
Let’s start with what’s new.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are dangling the No. 1 overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft in exchange for Love, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
But there’s a problem.
Cleveland pushed on deal centered on No. 1 pick for Kevin Love, but his refusal to re-sign w/ Cavs has killed talks, sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 25, 2014
Cleveland’s pick was often seen as tempting trade bait for the Minnesota Timberwolves, giving the team its choice of top draft prospects in what is a very deep, talented class. But if Love – who after the 2014-15 season can opt to become an unrestricted free agent – is unwilling to guarantee the Cavaliers’ brass he’ll be there long term, parting with a valuable asset like the No. 1 pick becomes much less appealing.
Of course, with LeBron James opting out of his Miami Heat contract, a return to his hometown of Cleveland could be in the cards. Whether a Kyrie Irving-LeBron James duo is enough to convince Love he should stay in Cleveland beyond the upcoming season is unknown at this point (and James may not even go back to Cleveland when it’s all said and done).
But that’s not the only option, and not even the only one where James’ name is being tossed around as a match for Love.
Enter back into picture Golden State. Less than two days after saying talks between the Wolves and Warriors were dead, a new report indicates the Warriors are veery much in it.
ESPN’s Chad Ford said on Bill Simmons’ podcast, that Golden State and the Timberwolves have already agreed on a deal, in principle. Ford said:
They’ve agreed on Kevin Love and Kevin Martin for David Lee and Klay Thompson. They are fighting over draft projections on draft picks, whether Harrison Barnes and J.J. Barea will be in the deal or not. Kevin Love wants to go to Golden State, and Klay Thompson wants to go to Minnesota because he knows he’ll get a bigger contract there.”
The Warriors believe a deal for Love could help them convince James to come to Golden State.
The Warriors believe if they can trade for Kevin Love, they call sell LeBron on Curry and Love being perfect players for him to play with.
— SportsBlogNewYork (@SportBlogNYC) June 25, 2014
There have been several other offers as well. The Chicago Bulls are also in the mix. One deal would send the Wolves Taj Gibson, Danny Snell and the 16th and 19th picks in Thursday’s draft for Love.
Denver, Boston, the Lakers and Sacramento have all shown interest in Love.
And don’t count out the Houston Rockets.
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On Tuesday, Timberwolves coach and president Flip Saunders said anything is possible when it comes to a trade, it appears that anything could. Stay tuned!
