The Cleveland Cavaliers are the last team left in the Kevin Love trade talks and a deal now looks nearly certain for Andrew Wiggins, as the Minnesota Timberwolves and owner Glen Taylor are likely to pull the trigger later in August when the rookie can be traded and this would be a major move for the Cavs and LeBron James after Paul George's injury and the signing of Kyrie Irving to a max contract.
According to ESPN.com, the Timberwolves are likely dealing Love around August 23, as owner Glen Taylor made comments to the media about the deal and speculated that the trade could take place later in the month. The Cavaliers cannot trade Wiggins for 30-days after signing him to a contract and that means the deal with the Wolves cannot go down until later in the month. Taylor said that a deal is likely happening and that is just more confirmation of what everyone in the NBA is expecting, which is that Love will be traded to Cleveland.
The Cavaliers are the last team left after the Timberwolves also were in negotiations with both the Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors and those teams simply did not have the package the Wolves wanted. The Bulls offered a very solid deal with Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, while the Warriors offered David Lee and Harrison Barnes over Klay Thompson, the player Minnesota wanted over anyone involved in the deal.
Minnesota did not and does not want to trade Love, but as Taylor said, they feel they have no choice and it comes as Love said he would like to test the market, meaning he would be a free agent in the summer of 2015 since he can opt out. Love is coming off of a fantastic season that saw him average 26 points and 12 rebounds and he also garnered some MVP votes and now it looks like he will be a major factor in the NBA race this season.
LeBron coming back to Cleveland shifted things and put the Cavs, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers all in contention in the central, but that was before the injury to Paul George. James and the Cavs now are the favorites and if they get Love they will be the favorites for the conference and the Bulls come back looking good as well after signing Pau Gasol in the offseason. The trade has some details to work out since the Wolves want to deal Kevin Martin and JJ Barea along with other contracts for salary cap relief and that could lead to a third team getting involved.
