The Chicago Bulls are in on the Kevin Love trade talk and they are battling with the Cleveland Cavaliers to get a deal done and reports from ESPN say that the team has offered Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott, Nikola Mirotic and potentially draft picks over Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler in a package for the Minnesota Timberwolves, while the Cavs are offering Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to try and get Love for LeBron James.
The Bulls recently jumped back into the fray after previously having interest and then fading out, as the Cavaliers deal hit a snag with Andrew Wiggins for a bit. At first the Cavaliers did not want to deal Wiggins, but now they have relented on that and are okay with trading him if they can get a deal done. According to ESPN.com, the Bulls are making a push to get a trade with the Wolves and they have offered combinations of Gibson along with McDermott, Mirotic as well as options like Jimmy Butler and Tony Snell as possible pieces.
Depending on what the Wolves are looking for, some think that the Bulls deal is actually better than the Cavaliers despite the fact that Bennett and Wiggins were both number one overall picks. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Wolves want to make the Love deal, but they are hoping to at least get some NBA ready players in the trade, as they do not want to be in a hard rebuild again. The team has some solid talent with Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic and if they can get someone like Gibson, they could have a decent team out west.
The Bulls signed McDermott and the Cavs signed Wiggins, so both teams are in the same boat with not being able to trade those players for 30 days. Sources say that it won't be an issue for the trades and that both teams remain in play. The Cavs are hoping to get the deal done over the Bulls and this just adds to the intrigue that is the central division this season. The Pacers, Cavs and Bulls are all battling and it should be great to watch.
The potential of Wiggins is immense and that is hard to overlook, as he was considered the number one overall pick before he even went to college. Bennett has shown some flashes but he was a mess last season and while the team could build around two overall number one picks, the Wolves may look at the Bulls deal over the Cavs. Cleveland was not in on the Kevin Love trade much until LeBron signed back and now Love has said that he would be open to signing long term there.
The Warriors are also in the mix for Kevin Love, but the Wolves want Klay Thompson and right now that does not look like it's happening. According to ESPN.com, the Warriors are reluctant to part with Thompson because they see him as a potential elite player and they also like his defense in the backcourt. The team knows that Steph Curry is not an ace defender and losing Thompson means likely exposing Curry to some tough matchups. While the team wants Love badly, they are not willing to sacrifice Thompson for it after Mark Jackson gave the team a tough defensive mindset last season before getting fired for Steve Kerr.