Kevin Love has been the center of trade rumors all offseason with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors and now the Minnesota Timberwolves must decide what to do with their star, as they are targeting Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson in trades this summer and this could be a blockbuster if it goes down.
Love is the top player on the trade market and he is coming into potentially his last year with Minnesota, as he can opt out of his contract next summer. According to ESPN.com, Love said he would be willing to sign long term after LeBron James came back to Cleveland and LeBron is one of the main reasons why the team is pushing this deal. At first the team was not willing to put in Andrew Wiggins in the deal, but they have relented on that and now they are trying to sign him and that could hold things up a bit.
Cleveland feels that they can be championship contenders with James, Love and Kyrie Irving as their big three and that combo would be one of the best in the east. Last season Love averaged over 25 points and 12 rebounds and he will be the top player on the market next year if he makes it there. Earlier this season other teams like the Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics were interested in making a move, but those teams have fallen off and made other signings while Cleveland and Golden State negotiate.
The Warriors have been reluctant to add Thompson and that has been the major hold up to the deal between them and Minnesota. The Warriors have offered David Lee and Harrison Barnes, but the Wolves are looking for more in the deal and are targeting Thompson from the team. Some in the NBA think that the Wolves are driving up the price on Love and playing the two teams off each other and think that it could be a ploy to get the Warriors to include Thompson.
PBT writes that the Warriors are worried about defense as the reason they don't want to deal Thompson. Last season the Warriors were one of the best defensive teams in the league under Mark Jackson and they want to keep that going under Steve Kerr and they feel that adding Love and moving David Lee could change that. Lee and Love are basically a wash, but losing Thompson would leave Steph Curry vulnerable and the team is not looking to do that. The Warriors won over 50 games last season and now they have the chance to keep that going and that is why Thompson is off limits.
The Cavaliers feel they would be a championship team with this traded and they easily would be the team to beat in the west. They have LeBron James now after winning the draft lottery two years in a row and they feel it's time for the iron to strike and this could be a major deal. The Timberwolves have the chance to trade Love now and they hope to make a run at him and could deal him at the deadline instead.
