The Golden State Warriors are in on the Kevin Love trade rumors and now Klay Thompson is another player that could be added into the trade talks along with David Lee, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green, as the franchise is looking hard at making a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves and they would like to add Love as a franchise player for new coach Steve Kerr.
Love has been the center of attention in trade rumors this offseason and that is due to the fact that he will be a free agent after next season, as he can opt out of his contract in the summer of 2015. According to ESPN.com, the Warriors are now the front runners, as they have added Klay Thompson in their trade proposal that already included David Lee and now they could be the team that wins the sweepstakes for Love.
ESPN and SI.com write that the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, LA Lakers, New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Suns have all expressed interest in trading for Love. The Timberwolves have not straight up said they will trade Love and while owner Glen Taylor has come out against the move, the team may not have much of a choice. Love wants to test the market and he said as much already to the media and that means the Wolves have to decide if they want to lose Love for nothing or trade him soon for a package.
Michael Wilbon on ESPN wrote and spoke about how the longer the Wolves wait, the worse off their trade package will be, as they will lose leverage since everyone knows Love wants to opt out. The Celtics feel like they have a chance to make the deal, as they have enough players and first round picks to make the Wolves happy. The Bulls and Rockets are in the mix, while the Knicks and Lakers likely do not have enough to use in a trade to get the Wolves to pull the trigger. Love has not made the playoffs since being in Minnesota and that is one reason why he wants to play elsewhere.
The Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets are two teams that want to make a deal for Love as well and they need to make massive trades to get that done, as they have players with high salary cap numbers. The Rockets have also been a target for Carmelo Anthony and the Bulls are also going after the Knicks star and for the two teams to try and sign Melo or trade for Love, they will have to find a way to clear more cap space. The Bulls will have to deal Carlos Boozer and they have said they would be willing to consider trading Joakim Noah as well. The Rockets have to trade Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik to get enough space and they could be the team that does it if they blow the roster up enough and they also have Chandler Parsons top consider as well.