With Kevin Love no longer having much interest left in staying with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Flip Saunders has been exploring his options – most notably with the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors can offer David Lee to help replace Love at the power forward position and have the luxury of including young stud Klay Thompson – a player Minnesota definitely wants included in a Love deal – or Harrison Barnes. Marc Stein of ESPN has full details on the discussions the two teams have had recently:
The Minnesota Timberwolves are seeking a future first-round pick from the Golden State Warriors in addition to the rights to prized marksman Klay Thompson in Kevin Love trade talks, according to sources close to the situation.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Warriors, while they covet Love greatly, have been weighing internally whether they’re prepared to give up two such assets in addition to former All-Star forward David Lee for Love and Wolves swingman Kevin Martin.
Sources say the Wolves also have expressed interest in Warriors forward Harrison Barnes, with various trade constructions being exchanged by the teams in recent days as next Thursday’s draft draws near.
The Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets also remain at the forefront of the Love pursuit, sources said, but Golden State appears to possess the most appealing combination of players who can make an immediate impact for the Wolves, whose team president — Flip Saunders — is also their new coach.
Since Love is being shopped, it’s only logical to believe that all the teams looking to add a major player this offseason would inquire about one of the best power forwards in the NBA. Interestingly, the Houston Rockets have not been very involved or linked to Love in any way up to this point, despite their desire to add one more star to the roster. Stein explained why the Rockets have stayed away:
For those asking why Rockets not cited in Love mix: I keep hearing they’re focused on Melo hunt … and seeing if they can get in LeBron mix
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 20, 2014
If LeBron really ponders other teams — and we have no indication yet he’s planning to — playing next to Dwight Howard must be worth a look
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 20, 2014
It appears the Rockets are looking to go all out this summer for a superstar trio of their own to follow the Big-Three format used by the Miami Heat. Not that they couldn’t form such a tandem with Love, but if you have the chance to acquire bigger names like Anthony and James (although you can legitimately debate who is more valuable between Love and Anthony), it’s not hard to understand why Daryl Morey is keeping his focus on the ultimate plan.
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.