The Minnesota Timberwolves have a trade for Kevin Love to the Cavaliers basically set and now details must be worked out and names like Kevin Martin, JJ Barea, Shabazz Muhammad, Alexey Shved, Corey Brewer or Chase Budinger could be moved at some point, as the Wolves want to unload salary in the trade and there's a chance the Philadelphia 76ers jump in to help get it done as three team deal involving Thaddeus Young.
According to ESPN.com, the Timberwolves have a "handshake" deal for Love to the Cavaliers and now it gets down to details, as names like Kevin Martin, JJ Barea, Shabazz Muhammad, Alexey Shved, Corey Brewer and Thaddeus Young all could be involved in the trade, as the wolves are looking to shed some salaries. Reports from ESPN and Pro Basketball Talk have Martin and Barea as two players that could move and to get Young, Minnesota may have to trade Bennett and potentially another player to the Sixers.
The Timberwolves are heavy into trade talks with the Cavaliers about Love and now it appears that the deal is all but done. The two sides have negotiations and details to work out, but the basic framework has Love going to the Cavs for Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and a first round pick. There could be more players involved and there is a good chance this ends up being a three team deal and the Sixers could be the third to join in.
The Wolves really did not want to trade Love, but they had no choice, as he made it clear he wanted to test the market in free agency next summer and likely would leave. Philly has plenty of cap space and if they give up Young, they will want something of value in return and while Bennett would be a good start, the team may ask for more if they are also asked to saddle some large contracts from this deal.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has gone back and forth in the media about what will happen and he was hopeful that Love would remain with the team, but that is looking less likely by the day. According to ESPN.com, Taylor said to the Pioneer Press in Minnesota that a deal would likely be going down in late August around the 23 or 24, as that is when Wiggins can officially be traded. Wiggins signed a rookie contract and could not be traded for a month, which is one of the hold ups of the deal going through.
The Timberwolves have not made the playoffs in any of the six years that Love has been with the team and now they have no choice but to trade him or lose him for nothing. The team has some solid talent, but they never could get it together all at once for Love and now he has made it clear that if he is not traded, he probably will leave as a free agent. The Bulls and the Warriors were also in on the Love talks, but the Cavaliers won out and now he will be teaming up with LeBron James and they likely will be east favorites for the title.
