Kevin Love continues to be the biggest story in the NBA. The current Minnesota Timberwolves forward has every team planning on how they can acquire the young star in a trade this summer after he reportedly hinted at test the free agent market over signing a contract extension. Love is wasting away in Minnesota as the team continues to fall short of the postseason. As they endure another coaching change, plenty of teams are looking to give Love a championship.
While the Los Angeles Lakers are preparing their push for Love and the New York Knicks are looking at their chances, the Houston Rockets are convinced they stand the best shot at making a favorable deal with the Timberwolves. The Rockets have the right assets to win over Minnesota and could be considering a trade that might not thrill fans.
According to Sam Smith of ChicagoBulls.com, the Rockets are offering a trade package of Omer Asik and Chandler Parsons in exchange for Love. A deal involving Asik is not shocking. The team has been trying to dump off the disgruntled big man ever since the arrival of Dwight Howard. Asik himself has been asking for a deal from the team, but so far they have not finalized anything despite negotiating with several teams.
Including Parsons over point guard Jeremy Lin is a bit surprising. The Rockets have been shopping Lin since last offseason in an attempt to get rid of his overly inflated contract. However, Parsons would get more attention. He averaged 16.6 points last season with 5.5 rebounds. He also has an expiring cheap contract to his name which any team would love to take on. He could be a solid replacement of Love while giving Minnesota financial freedom for other moves.
For now the Timberwolves owner is denying any trade of the forward. Love is set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2015, but if he has no intentions of re-signing then the Timberwolves lose him for nothing in return. Right now, he has every team in the league wanting him which can only benefit Minnesota. The Lakers are considering offering up their top draft pick. The Chicago Bulls are rumored to offer Joakim Noah which would be insane, but shows the power Love has over teams.
"I should never say never because who knows what might come up? But that's not our plan," owner Glen Taylor said, via the Pioneer Press. "I'm not in a position where you would say absolutely I wouldn't do it, because what if something that I can't even speculate [on] happens? You'd say, 'You're nuts, Glen.' Maybe some team puts a value on him that's different than we suspect."
