The Chicago Bulls have jumped into the Kevin Love trade talks and now the team may offer Doug McDermott, Nikola Mirotic and Jimmy Butler in a deal with the Timberwolves, while names like Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah, Mike Dunleavy and Tony Snell also could be in the mix and this comes as the Cleveland Cavaliers are making a hard push with Andrew Wiggins.
The Bulls have players and assets to move and now it could be an arms race between the Cavaliers and Chicago and that adds to the already intriguing central division this year. According to ESPN and Pro Basketball Talk, the Bulls are making a push for Love and they feel they have the chance to get it done over the Cavaliers, as they have a nice package with McDermott and Mirotic as well as other players. The Bulls and the Cavaliers have to worry about the 30-day period after signing rookies to deals, but sources say that is not an issue.
The Cavaliers and Bulls are okay with the 30-days because the season won't start at that point anyway and it also gives both sides time to battle each other over the deal. The Cavaliers at first were not willing to give up Andrew Wiggins and now they are and after the Bulls looked like they were out of the mix for the deal, they jumped back in late in the game. The team sensed an opening with how long things were taking between the Wolves and the Cavs and now they might be able to swoop in and get him.
Originally ESPN.com reported that the Bulls were willing to give Gibson and Jimmy Butler along with a first round pick and now McDermott and Mirotic could be in the mix. McDermott was acquired in a trade with the Nuggets on draft night, while Mirotic was signed after three years and the team bought out his contract with Real Madrid. Sources say that the Wolves like the Bulls offer better since they have more NBA ready players and that could be a huge coup for the franchise over LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers deal got a bit more complicated with the Wolves wanting to offload Kevin Martin and JJ Barea, as a third team likely needs to be involved. The Cavaliers originally offered Anthony Bennett, Dion Waiters and a first round pick, but that was not good enough for the Timberwolves, as they wanted Wiggins. Now the team is willing to trade Wiggins, but they cannot absorb all that cap money, which is why they pulled off a trade with the Jazz to get some players to move with nonguaranteed deals.
The Cavaliers now are ready to offer Wiggins, Bennett and a first round pick, but they still need a third team and reports say it could be the Nuggets, Sixers or Celtics. Knowing Danny Ainge he will swipe a first round pick out of this, while the Nuggets actually were interested in trading for Love earlier in the offseason but eventually that fell by the wayside. Golden State has offered David Love and Harrison Barnes, but so far they are not willing to give up Klay Thompson, who is the main target for the Wolves.
