The Boston Celtics are coming into the offseason with a top draft pick and now that Kevin Love trade rumors starting to pop up around the team, there is a chance Rajon Rondo could have a new partner in crime and names like Jared Sullinger, Jeff Green, Avery Bradley or Kris Humphries could move in a deal for Danny Ainge this summer.
Love has been one of the most consistent players in the NBA over the past few years and now he is the main subject of trade rumors in the league after saying that he wants to test the market as a free agent. The Timberwolves had hoped to sign Love to another contract extension this summer, but he has made it clear that he wants to get on a winning team and if he is not traded, there is a nearly 100 percent chance he will opt out in the summer of 2015. Ricky Rubio has tried to convince Love to stay and Flip Saunders is back as head coach in the hopes that he can get Love to remain, but the chances of that happening are slim.
According to ESPN.com, the top choices for Love are the Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors and they are among eight to 10 teams that thinks it has a chance to trade for Love. The Cleveland Cavaliers have the number one overall draft pick and they can use that to trade for Love, while the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns both have the first round picks to make it happen. The Celtics are also reportedly targeting Aaron Gordon in the draft.
The team has been mentioned as a wild card in the Kevin Love trade rumors and one reason they are in the mix with the Timberwolves is because of that number six pick. The Celtics will pick Gordon if he is there says Bill Simmons, as they see him as a Shawn Marion type, but they also could use that pick in a trade. Kevin Love visited Boston last week and the team has first round picks and enough young talent to make a deal, but it's not clear how hard the Celtics will try and pull off that trade. Boston comes into the offseason with Rondo at the center of their plans and Ainge feels that adding a top player like Gordon could help turn the team around and he will have to decide whether to attempt a trade for Love or if the team should sit tight at six.
Minnesota is getting into Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard territory like the Denver Nuggets and Orlando Magic had to deal with, as they risk losing Love for nothing if he leaves as a free agent and is not traded. Aaron Gordon is just 19 years old and that youth could be big for the Celtics and with players like Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins ahead of him, Gordon could slip out of the top five and into the Celtics hands.
Chris Mannix at SI.com writes that the Celtics are looking at Gordon as their pick and if they don't go for a blockbuster trade, they likely will not deal the number six pick. Gordon is an athletic player and he could give the Celtics a prime option with Rondo and they come into the offseason after going just 25-57 under Brad Stevens and it could be a number of years before they are competing again.