In a summer overrun by superstars approaching free agency, no storyline has received quite as much coverage as that of Kevin Love’s future. The Minnesota Timberwolves star has been involved in trade rumors with a high percentage of the league, but nothing has come to fruition.
After days of being labeled the front-runners to land him via a trade, the Boston Celtics appear to be taking a backseat in the hunt for Love.
According to Chad Ford of ESPN Insider, president of basketball operations and current Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders views Boston as the best partner for a trade. While the current offer for Love needs to undergo some tweaks and adjustments, Minnesota feels it can get the most valuable return from the Celtics.
As Ford reports, Saunders is attempting to balance the desire to retain Love with the unfortunate reality that he’s on his way out.
I continue to get strong signals that the Celtics are trying hard to use pick No. 6 and 17 along with future No. 1s and young players such as Jared Sullinger or Kelly Olynyk to persuade the Minnesota Timberwolves to trade them Kevin Love. One source close to the Wolves said that while Flip Saunders does not want to trade Love, he realizes the team likely will lose him this summer and the package the Celtics are offering is probably the best he’s going to get.
Not so fast.
Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald turned heads when he reported that the Celtics’ offer underwhelmed Saunders. At the heart of this surprising development is the emergence of trade offers by teams that are better equipped to land the mercurial power forward.
Per Bulpett, the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors are the franchises to watch as the Love saga progresses.
The Celtics are willing to discuss a number of options, but none of them includes the quality of player with NBA experience that Minnesota is seeking or believes it can get elsewhere.
One source indicated Denver and Golden State have both made more intriguing offers, and there are other teams very much in the picture, as well. There have been conflicting reports on whether the Warriors would make Klay Thompson available, but the Wolves are said to be confident they can find a more than acceptable deal there.
Nothing is certain until it happens, but Boston clearly has some work to do.
If the Celtics are to pull off the trade, it’d likely take some combination of Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Kelly Olynyk or Jared Sullinger and the No. 6 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Even then, it’s unclear if Minnesota will value such a package as fair compensation.
It’s also unclear if any team can offer a singular asset that blends promise with established ability as well as Klay Thompson of the Warriors.
Golden State could potentially deal Thompson with either Harrison Barnes or Draumond Green. Denver has a crop of young players, including power forward Kenneth Faried, who continues to turn heads.
Answers may not be easily attainable in this matter, but that doesn’t make it any less intriguing. Love is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in 2015 and is not expected to re-sign with the Timberwolves once he inevitably opts out.
Rather than letting him walk for nothing, the T-Wolves are in a position which permits a substantial return. Minnesota will not gain a player of Love’s individual caliber, but it can begin to develop its future by dealing their unsettled big man for building blocks.
The question is, where will Love end up when it’s all said and done?
Knicks Pursuing Patty Mills
In case you haven’t heard, the San Antonio Spurs have won the 2014 NBA Championship. In one of the most dominant postseason performances in history, the Spurs destroyed elite-level squads en route to the fifth ring of the Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich era.
As fate would have it, their role players are now becoming coveted free agents.
When a team wins a title, regardless of the sport, its players instantly experience a rise in value. That can lead to an organization overpaying an athlete who had previously served as a role player, but it also enables a team to justifiably pay a diamond in the rough.
According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, the New York Knicks are looking to find the latter with one of San Antonio’s under-appreciated playmakers: Patty Mills.
According to a source, Mills would be intrigued by the idea of playing in New York and increasing his role from Tony Parker’s backup to a more marquee role.
“New York is definitely a city Mills would want to play in,’’ the source said. “He has that personality.’’
Mills, 25, has always been on the Knicks’ radar for this summer, but he could have zoomed to the top after his playoff performance. The speedy 6-foot point guard with a sweet 3-point shot delivered the knockout blow to the Heat in Sunday’s Game 5 clincher.
If only one thing can be taken away from thsi, it’s that New York needs a point guard.
Mills, 25, posted regular season averages of 10.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.8 steals in 18.9 minutes per contest. During the NBA Finals, he finished with averages of 10.2 points on 54.3 percent shooting from the field in 15.2 minutes of action.
Mills also shot 42.5 percent from beyond the arc during the regular season and 56.5 percent during the Finals. Most notably, he displayed relentless energy which thus endeared himself to the basketball community.
As new Knicks head coach Derek Fisher knows, having a point guard who can knock down the three-ball is vital to the triangle offense. Phil Jackson stamp of approval.
The Knicks would offer Mills their mini mid-level exception, which is a relatively fair price for a backup point guard. Due to an absence of high-caliber point guards, however, the Australian could end up commanding a salary that’s out of New York’s reach.
The Knicks remain financially tied to the likes of Andrea Bargnani, Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton, J.R. Smith and Amar’e Stoudemire. With one brief look at the books, it’s clear that New York is low on cap flexibility as a crucial offseason approaches.
Nevertheless, the Knicks are intent on landing a point guard. Felton has struggled to put forth consistent production and Pablo Prigioni is 37 years old.
Bit by the championship bug, Mills could be the player who serves in that role in 2014-15.
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All that needs to happen is for LeBron to contact Love about both going to CLE at this time.
Sam Amico reports interest again in trading #1 pick for Love. Otherwise Boston is still best place for Love to land, since he like’s idea about being in the East and he would help to lock up Rondo. Without Love in CLE, LeBron stays another year in Miami.
Regarding Patty Mills, Spurs have cap space to re-sign Mills.
However, if Knicks use up their full mini-MLE on him, that would end any Knicks flexibility.