Love tells T-Wolves he's out after this year

[Smokeeye123]

I been saying this for the past 2 years..Love will be a Laker

Even if the Lakers win the lotery and get #1, the Celtics have more assets and better offers. Unless he isn't traded and signs with LA in free agency than I think it's a possibility.

[CoachBo]

I take the chance and deal all my chips in for Kevin Love, even if he possibly bails after next season.

Sorry, but I don't see Sullinger, Olynyk, Bradley, Green, anyone in the draft or whatever else the Celts would have to deal as irreplaceable.

It's like the Celts did back in 2007. Turn in a bunch of average role players with "high upside" into a team with a disgruntled all-star and take your chances.

Now granted, KG was willing to sign an extension before the deal whereas Love may not, but I still take my chances.

I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Love ends up with the Lakers or Knicks.

Like others have said, all the Lakers really have going for them right now is an aging Kobe Bryant and a revolving door with their coaching position.

This, in total. TP for an excellent post.

This is a deal I'd make at all costs, including adding Rondo to the pile to make it more attractive - and asking for Rubio in return.

Add Asik to this team with the TPE, and all of a sudden you're pretty tough in the East.

[playdream]

I take the chance and deal all my chips in for Kevin Love, even if he possibly bails after next season.

Sorry, but I don't see Sullinger, Olynyk, Bradley, Green, anyone in the draft or whatever else the Celts would have to deal as irreplaceable.

It's like the Celts did back in 2007. Turn in a bunch of average role players with "high upside" into a team with a disgruntled all-star and take your chances.

Now granted, KG was willing to sign an extension before the deal whereas Love may not, but I still take my chances.

I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Love ends up with the Lakers or Knicks.

Like others have said, all the Lakers really have going for them right now is an aging Kobe Bryant and a revolving door with their coaching position.

This, in total. TP for an excellent post.

This is a deal I'd make at all costs, including adding Rondo to the pile to make it more attractive - and asking for Rubio in return.

Add Asik to this team with the TPE, and all of a sudden you're pretty tough in the East.

It's different from 2007, Love is nowhere near KG and is not a winner, i won't give up lottery picks for him
Love is like Sully 2.0 with worse defense, better offense and rebounding

[Monkhouse]

I take the chance and deal all my chips in for Kevin Love, even if he possibly bails after next season.

Sorry, but I don't see Sullinger, Olynyk, Bradley, Green, anyone in the draft or whatever else the Celts would have to deal as irreplaceable.

It's like the Celts did back in 2007. Turn in a bunch of average role players with "high upside" into a team with a disgruntled all-star and take your chances.

Now granted, KG was willing to sign an extension before the deal whereas Love may not, but I still take my chances.

I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Love ends up with the Lakers or Knicks.

Like others have said, all the Lakers really have going for them right now is an aging Kobe Bryant and a revolving door with their coaching position.

This, in total. TP for an excellent post.

This is a deal I'd make at all costs, including adding Rondo to the pile to make it more attractive - and asking for Rubio in return.

Add Asik to this team with the TPE, and all of a sudden you're pretty tough in the East.

It's different from 2007, Love is nowhere near KG and is not a winner, i won't give up lottery picks for him
Love is like Sully 2.0 with worse defense, better offense and rebounding

Okay.... Already proved in my Greenstreet thread that Love isn't such a terrible defender... Hes definitely not a sieve at least.

And Sully will never be like Kevin Love, let's stop dreaming...

[WeMadeIt17]

Please oh please oh please! If we can land Love you have to do it. Idk if Danny does it if we get top 3 though. That means we get 1 of the top 3 guys. Only chance is if Embid's back doesn't check out.

But outside of all of that. If we could land Love keeping Green and down the road getting Asik. Then we turn into one hell of a basketball team. Was excited for Tuesday. Now i can't wait!

[Monkhouse]

I take the chance and deal all my chips in for Kevin Love, even if he possibly bails after next season.

Sorry, but I don't see Sullinger, Olynyk, Bradley, Green, anyone in the draft or whatever else the Celts would have to deal as irreplaceable.

It's like the Celts did back in 2007. Turn in a bunch of average role players with "high upside" into a team with a disgruntled all-star and take your chances.

Now granted, KG was willing to sign an extension before the deal whereas Love may not, but I still take my chances.

I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Love ends up with the Lakers or Knicks.

Like others have said, all the Lakers really have going for them right now is an aging Kobe Bryant and a revolving door with their coaching position.

This, in total. TP for an excellent post.

This is a deal I'd make at all costs, including adding Rondo to the pile to make it more attractive - and asking for Rubio in return.

Add Asik to this team with the TPE, and all of a sudden you're pretty tough in the East.

It's different from 2007, Love is nowhere near KG and is not a winner, i won't give up lottery picks for him
Love is like Sully 2.0 with worse defense, better offense and rebounding

Kevin Garnett at age 31 > Kevin Love at age 25.

Garnett was used to doing it all and doing it well. When he came to Boston, he didn't have to do everything anymore, which increased his effectiveness in the things he did do.

Also, KG is a once in a generation player. Players like him rarely come in the NBA. Love is not. He is a selfish rebounder, a classic stat padder, doesn't play defense at all, has very limited offense, takes threes more than going inside, thinks he is a shooting guard and is the opposite of KG in terms of setting winning culture and environment and leadership qualities.

It's just wrong to compare KG and Love. It might be easy to compare the two since both missed the playoffs in their last couple of years with the Wolves, but that's the only similarity between them. A big three of Rondo-Love and anyone not named LeBron, Durant or Kobe (prime Kobe), isn't going to get anything done. A team that has Rondo and Love as its star players will definitely need at least 2 more stars to have a legit chance at winning anything.

This is where I'M SICK and TIRED of arguing or debating half of these shots at Kevin Love...

1) Here is the NBA list of rebounds that are grabbed contested... THIS MEANS Kevin Love is actually down on the block, boxing out, and trying to grab the board.

Love's column is significantly more impressive because he's fighting for his boards on a much more consistent basis. In fact, take a gander at the top-10 players in contested rebounds per game thus far:

    Kevin Love, 6.0
    Enes Kanter, 5.6
    Anthony Davis, 5.0
    Roy Hibbert, 4.6
    Greg Monroe, 4.5
    Andre Drummond, 4.5
    Shawn Marion, 4.4
    Pau Gasol, 4.4
    Zaza Pachulia, 4.3
    Jonas Valanciunas, 4.3

2) Now as for uncontested rebounds this is where Love has his best bread and butter, but HE STILL DOES WELL.

Now, let's glance at the top 10 in uncontested rebounds per game:

    Dwight Howard, 11.0
    Kevin Love, 8.6
    Al Horford, 7.8
    Serge Ibaka, 7.5
    Spencer Hawes, 7.4
    Joakim Noah, 7.3
    Trevor Ariza, 7.0
    Carmelo Anthony, 7.0
    Andre Drummond, 6.8
    Paul George, 6.6

So think about this carefully... Love actually grabs more boards uncontested than he does contested... So how is he selfish? If you think hes stat-padding think again, because uncontested rebounds are most of the time rebounds from a free throw.

3) How is Love a terrible defender? This was a response from a sports analyst, who refuted the argument that Love is a terrible defender when Chandler called him out.

The 6-foot-10 Love is averaging a career-low-tying 0.4 blocks, but to his credit he’s increased his defensive win shares from 0.9 last season to 3.1 this year, according to Basketball-Reference.com. The Wolves also rank No. 12 in defensive efficiency, well ahead of the No. 26 Knicks.

Opposing big men have just shot 34 percent against him in the post, and the T-Wolves are 2.3 points better defensively when Kevin Love is on the floor... By the way shooting 34 percent puts him in top 7 in big men defending at the post..

4) Very limited offense?
In reality...

He ranks as the eighth-most-efficient isolation scorer in the league this season, per Syngery sports.

That was in 2012... His scoring has only gotten better, and his 3 pt is only more effiecent... Why take a shot down the block, when hes making 38% of his 3pt shots? He could also get injured, or hurt his back if someone fouled him hard.. Why take that chance if most bigs can't keep up with him?

5) The Timberwolves team that KG had was relatively better... Rubio is one of the worst PG, and in the past few years, the Wolves have suffered numerous injuries which forced Pekovic/Rubio/Love all out in the worst of times...

6) No one can match Kevin Garnett's intensity, but... You can't knock Love's competitive fire to try to win.. Get out of here, Love is a top 7 superstar... Please...

You guys just say whatever you want about Love, but all the things you guys are saying about him is false.

The only knock I have on him is that Love is one of the worst 4th quarter players, but that is also due to the fact there is more added pressure. And honestly, no one else can create offense, or bump his team 11.3 points offensively better than Love can..

Fundamentally sound, great in the post, deceptively quick, and high basketball IQ...

For example lets compare Anthony Randolph to Kevin Love, who at the combine were arguably the two best PF in terms of potential.

Kevin Love measured out reasonably well-6-9 ½ in shoes (6-7 ¾ without), with a 6-11 ¼ wingspan and an 8-10 standing reach. His body fat is still very high at 12.9%, but in the combine he jumped 35 inches, lifted the 185 bar 18 times, and ran very well (11.17, 3.22)

    Anthony Randolph is 6-10 ¼ in shoes, with a freakish 7-3 wingspan and 9-1 standing reach. He is skinny as expected at 4.7% body fat, jumped 35 inches on the max vert, and ran just OK at 11.86 and 3.26.

Love will never be a great defender, but so what? Get a good defensive Center that can defend, and alter shots, then you're golden..

Love, by contrast, averages 0.88 PPP in the post per Basketball Reference. His efficiency is elite thanks to his innate ability to score out of offensive rebounds, which account for an astounding 11% of his shots. Love is also a great and underrated passer...

Have you seen the amount of fastbreaks, and havoc he creates in transition with great heaves to Corey Brewer..? I swear 3-4 points in Brewer's averages has to be credited to Kevin Love..

[BballTim]

I take the chance and deal all my chips in for Kevin Love, even if he possibly bails after next season.

Sorry, but I don't see Sullinger, Olynyk, Bradley, Green, anyone in the draft or whatever else the Celts would have to deal as irreplaceable.

It's like the Celts did back in 2007. Turn in a bunch of average role players with "high upside" into a team with a disgruntled all-star and take your chances.

Now granted, KG was willing to sign an extension before the deal whereas Love may not, but I still take my chances.

I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Love ends up with the Lakers or Knicks.

Like others have said, all the Lakers really have going for them right now is an aging Kobe Bryant and a revolving door with their coaching position.

This, in total. TP for an excellent post.

This is a deal I'd make at all costs, including adding Rondo to the pile to make it more attractive - and asking for Rubio in return.

Add Asik to this team with the TPE, and all of a sudden you're pretty tough in the East.

  I think your insistence on including Rondo in these trades if it isn't necessary is a sign that your bias against Rondo affects your ability to make rational, objective basketball decisions about him. It's great if we get Love and better if we get Asik but you undo much of the gain if you insist on swapping Rondo for Rubio.  Imagine if you swapped Pekovic for Asik on your below-.500 Minny team. Is that group going to strike fear in the hearts of even fringe contenders? I don't see the need to put together such a team in Boston.

[lurkerStrips]

hi there. first post after years of lurking. this k-love talk coaxed me out of hiding. interesting suggestions from everyone here. after playing around with the trade machine, here's a fantasy line up we could have next year:

* (considering we get pick 5-8)
pg - rondo / lin / pressey
sg - hayward / stauskas
sf - parsons / ariza / johnson
pf - love / olynyk /
c - asik / turiaf / free agent pick up (hopefully stiemsma)

notes:
- hayward could be had through free agency or s&t for bradley
- parsons and lin for bass, bayless, and faverani
- asik for the tpe
- ariza and temple for green (with temple to be waived)
- love and turiaf for the pick, sully, bogans, wallace, and anthony

feel free to share all of your opinions on this. im not saying this is the team that will bring us banner 18, im just throwing this line up around. it could be something we might have next season.

please be gentle...

[Monkhouse]

hi there. first post after years of lurking. this k-love talk coaxed me out of hiding. interesting suggestions from everyone here. after playing around with the trade machine, here's a fantasy line up we could have next year:

* (considering we get pick 5-8)
pg - rondo / lin / pressey
sg - hayward / stauskas
sf - parsons / ariza / johnson
pf - love / olynyk /
c - asik / turiaf / free agent pick up (hopefully stiemsma)

notes:
- hayward could be had through free agency or s&t for bradley
- parsons and lin for bass, bayless, and faverani
- asik for the tpe
- ariza and temple for green (with temple to be waived)
- love and turiaf for the pick, sully, bogans, wallace, and anthony

feel free to share all of your opinions on this. im not saying this is the team that will bring us banner 18, im just throwing this line up around. it could be something we might have next season.

please be gentle...

TP for joining us.

Jazz isn't letting go of Hayward at all...

Parsons for Green is not going to happen either... Parsons is relatively a better rebounder/passer. I don't see why Rockets say yes to Bass/Faverani/Bayless... You also can't trade Bayless as he needs to be re-signed before trading him off.

Ariza for Green is a possibility... I would rather keep Green though.

Also T-Wolves DO NOT WANT WALLACE!

[SHAQATTACK]

I'd say our lottery pick and Sully gets it done . ...if it's a top 5

It's a high price ....but I'm betting that's the deal.

Btw....yes Lakers will probably get Love....But not because of Kobe ,  he is old and really means little and he mean too......LOL

I just think Love is a warm weather dude ....I think he just wants the heck out of that freezing hole with no chance of a title .

He might come to Boston not,on his,own , but get traded and wind up liking it .....most guys do.

So if it's up to him....he'll go to LA.........he is forcing the trade , meaning they can send him to the best offer......that could be the Celtics , but it will cost a plenty

I think , probally this lottery pick, maybe another first rounder or Sully will be the demand .....it will be outrageous high .....at least asking price.

I would also gamble .... Love will Love Stevens and Boston like Pierce and KG came to love the place , and he would sign an extension.

[D.o.s.]

hi there. first post after years of lurking. this k-love talk coaxed me out of hiding. interesting suggestions from everyone here. after playing around with the trade machine, here's a fantasy line up we could have next year:

* (considering we get pick 5-8)
pg - rondo / lin / pressey
sg - hayward / stauskas
sf - parsons / ariza / johnson
pf - love / olynyk /
c - asik / turiaf / free agent pick up (hopefully stiemsma)

notes:
- hayward could be had through free agency or s&t for bradley
- parsons and lin for bass, bayless, and faverani
- asik for the tpe
- ariza and temple for green (with temple to be waived)
- love and turiaf for the pick, sully, bogans, wallace, and anthony

feel free to share all of your opinions on this. im not saying this is the team that will bring us banner 18, im just throwing this line up around. it could be something we might have next season.

please be gentle...

Run love at center with Ariza and Parsons at the 3-4. Don't bother with Asik. Score all of the points.

Also -- no way Ainge pulls the trigger on a Love trade if it's not certain he'll sign here after his single year.

Double Also -- I'd probably vomit profusely if we ended up with K-Love.

[crownontherocks]

The Minnesota Timberwolves are under pressure to begin consider trade scenarios for Kevin Love, according to sources.

Love is anxious to exercise his Early Termination Option in the summer of 2015 to leave as a free agent.

"For the first time, [Flip Saunders] sounds like looking at deals for [Love] is an option," one rival executive told Yahoo Sports.

The Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns are among the teams determined to make a serious run at Love in trade discussions.

The Celtics and Lakers will make high-lottery picks in the 2014 NBA Draft available in their offers for Love.

No team, however, is likely to trade for Love without an assurance that he'll commit to a five-year, $100 million max contract.

There has been a belief that Love would seek a big market such as Los Angeles or New York, but he's open to deals in markets in which he can be part of an immediate contender.

But Saunders wants to convince Love to reconsider before looking at trades.

Wojo yahoo

[Moranis]

The Lakers will likely stink next year, what could they have to offer to the T wolves?

they will just sign love as a free agent with their cap room.

[Tr1boy]

phoenix and GS warriors have enough attractive assets to make a trade work. The Celts and the Lakers have high draft picks but also are both rebuilding teams. I can't see Love guaranteeing to stay going from one losing situation to another

trade possibilities

To GS - Love, Shved
To Wolves-  Thompson, Lee, Barnes

To Phx - Love
To Wolves - 2014 14th, 18th picks,  Gerald Green, Alex Len, Channing Frye

[gpap]

I take the chance and deal all my chips in for Kevin Love, even if he possibly bails after next season.

Sorry, but I don't see Sullinger, Olynyk, Bradley, Green, anyone in the draft or whatever else the Celts would have to deal as irreplaceable.

It's like the Celts did back in 2007. Turn in a bunch of average role players with "high upside" into a team with a disgruntled all-star and take your chances.

Now granted, KG was willing to sign an extension before the deal whereas Love may not, but I still take my chances.

I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Love ends up with the Lakers or Knicks.

Like others have said, all the Lakers really have going for them right now is an aging Kobe Bryant and a revolving door with their coaching position.

This, in total. TP for an excellent post.

This is a deal I'd make at all costs, including adding Rondo to the pile to make it more attractive - and asking for Rubio in return.

Add Asik to this team with the TPE, and all of a sudden you're pretty tough in the East.

It's different from 2007, Love is nowhere near KG and is not a winner, i won't give up lottery picks for him
Love is like Sully 2.0 with worse defense, better offense and rebounding

I am sorry but I vehemently disagree with anyone who thinks Sullinger can or will be either just as good as Love or a comparable player to Love.

I fail to see anything to support that. Not that I don't like Sully as a player, but to say he's on par to be possibly as good as Love if not better is ludicrous (IMO.)

It's funny too because I think there was a very similar debate back in 2007 on whether Al Jefferson should've been included in a deal for KG. If I recall, many were saying that the team should've hung onto Jefferson because of his "potential."

I'd say the Celts made the right move in dealing him for KG. Which is not to say that having Jefferson today would be a bad thing, but I think it's safe to say if you had to deal Jefferson for KG, you would do it.