The Kevin Love trade looks all but certain with the Cleveland Cavaliers and now the Timberwolves and Cavs must work on the details, as the framework has been agreed in with Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a first round pick going for Love and there also is a chance a third team with the 76ers and Thaddeus Young.
The Cavs beat out the Chicago Bulls for Kevin Love and now the Timberwolves want to try and replace Love with Thaddeus Young while also ditching some salary and contracts. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Wolves have targeted Young as a trade option while names like Kevin Martin and JJ Barea could be offloaded in the deal to save cap space for Minnesota. The Wolves want to replace Love and to do it they may flip Bennett to get Young and that would make this into a very big trade deal.
The Cavaliers have already acquired some players with nonguaranteed contracts to include in the deal and they likely will go to Minnesota. According to ESPN.com, the Sixers may move Young but they are looking to pick up Bennett and he could be another major piece to their rebuilding plan. The team is terrible and will be bad this season, but adding him to a group with Michael Carter-Williams and Joel Embiid could signal a bright future in Philly.
The Cavaliers originally did not want to trade Wiggins in the deal for Love, but Minnesota pushed the price up and it worked and now he is the main piece of the trade. These deals usually end up having multiple teams involved since the money can get complicated and this trade looks to be shaping up in the same way this time around.
Bennett had a rough rookie season, but he has tons of potential and now he has the chance to move and start his career over in another city most likely. The Sixers would be lucky to snag a top overall pick in this trade, as they likely will be trading Young in the future anyway and this is more than anything they will get for him straight up, even at the trading deadline.
The Golden State Warriors had been in on the Kevin Love trade talks early on, but the team eventually dropped out since they did not want to deal Klay Thompson. The Timberwolves reportedly wanted Thompson over anyone else they were talking about, but the Warriors refused to give him up and that's one of the main reasons why the team picked the Cavaliers. The Warriors offered David Lee and Harrison Barnes, but the Wolves were looking for more.
The Chicago Bulls also were in the mix and they nearly had a shot at getting it done over their division rivals, but that appears to be over. The team offered Taj Gibson along with Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic and while that was a solid deal, the Cavs wanted Wiggins and the potential he has. The Bulls now have Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose and they are looking strong in the division, while the Pacers are reeling from the injury to Paul George.
