Can't think of a superstar that fits better than Kevin Love

[Jamshid]

Based on CNN report, he is interested in joining GSW or Bulls. Also, there are some serious interest from NYC and LA.

Raptors have no chance of landing Kevin Love.

[JimiCliff]

Based on CNN report, he is interested in joining GSW or Bulls. Also, there are some serious interest from NYC and LA.

Raptors have no chance of landing Kevin Love.

This kind of challenge is what gets TL out of bed in the morning.

[blackjitsu]

OR the Raps can play their way into being an option by winning.

Looks like Love plans to test free agency next year.
http://www.csnchicago.com/bulls/repo...cy-next-season

[Scraptor]

If trading Val could get you Love WITH the assurance that he'd resign, you kinda hafta make that trade.

Oh yeah, I said that several pages back, if we're not going to feature or develop Val's offense, he's an undervalued asset, and we may as well use him in trades. I suggested pairing Love with Larry Sanders, which would easily be the best frontcourt in the east imo.

I just am less sure of:
a) Masai's appetite
b) our ability to compete with offers from PHX/BOS/GSW, the former two of which have multiple picks

But you could pair Val and Salmons + picks for Love.
And swap Landry (can you believe he's finally expiring?!) and Hayes's expiring for Sanders so the Bucks can get out from under his contract, particularly if they land Embiid.

We end up with:
Lowry
Derozan
Ross
Love
Sanders

as our starting 5, and I think that is probably strong enough to compete with the Pacers and possibly the Heat (depending on DWade), and maybe get us a real look from KD in 2016.

[Scraptor]

OR the Raps can play their way into being an option by winning.

Looks like Love plans to test free agency next year.
http://www.csnchicago.com/bulls/repo...cy-next-season

This is now moot given that Minny is given all the other reports now surfacing about trades. Minnesota is going to try and get the most they can for him and that will require Love picking a place where he will sign an extension.

[The Great One]

Damn. Minny gotta move KLove now, they have no choice lol. Of all the rumoured teams that are interested, Bulls could offer the best package.

Gibson + their 2 first round picks this year.

If you're Minny, and Chi offer you that you can't say no.

[magoon]

This kind of challenge is what gets TL out of bed in the morning.

Look, it'd be nice to try, but look at what the teams reportedly vying for Love can offer.

Phoenix can offer up to three first-round picks this year, plus they can give Minnesota the Wolves' own draft pick back, plus they can send the Morris twins. That's before Phoenix starts cannibalizing its own future picks. They're also an exciting young team with star players already on board (Dragic, Bledsoe) and they play in a warm climate, which Love apparently really likes.

Boston can offer a 2014 pick that will most likely be top five, Brooklyn's pick this year (#17), and a host of future first-round picks - the Clippers' pick next year, and Brooklyn's 2016 and 2018 picks, plus they have a heap of second-rounders as well. Again, that's before Boston starts spending its own future picks. And let's be honest: playing for the Celtics has a pedigree.

Chicago has to send Carlos Boozer back to Minnesota to make the salaries work, but they can offer two first-rounders this year (their own #19 and Charlotte's #16), the Cleveland pick and the Sacramento pick they got in the Luol Deng trade (the protections involved mean neither of these is great, but still, they're picks), and the draft rights to Nikola Mirotic, who's ready to come over and looks to be a star-quality player. Again (you will notice a trend) this is before they include any of their own future picks. And there's rumours Love is interested in playing in Chicago.

The Lakers can only offer their first-rounder this year (likely top six) and their own future 2019 first-rounder, but they have a trump card: Love might want to play there since he's a hometown boy (and because come on they're the Lakers), which could mean he might force a trade.

So what can we offer? It doesn't look like Love particularly wants to play here because we're still basically an unproven expansion team. We don't have a wealth of draft picks to sweeten a trade and make Minnesota's rebuilding process easier and they're not interested in our stars, and Jonas and Ross might not move the needle enough to do it. We'd have to gut ourselves to land him and I'd be concerned that he'd walk next year anyway even if he promised to re-sign.

We should stay far away from the Love-fest.

[The Great One]

Btw

Sources: As Minnesota examines Kevin Love's future, Sam Mitchell has emerged as a coaching candidate. http://t.co/Lkd1tmTchr

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 18, 2014

[007]

We should stay far away from the Love-fest.

I burst out laughing at that.

[Scraptor]

So what can we offer? It doesn't look like Love particularly wants to play here because we're still basically an unproven expansion team. We don't have a wealth of draft picks to sweeten a trade and make Minnesota's rebuilding process easier and they're not interested in our stars, and Jonas and Ross might not move the needle enough to do it. We'd have to gut ourselves to land him and I'd be concerned that he'd walk next year anyway even if he promised to re-sign.

We should stay far away from the Love-fest.

I doubt Love is stupid enough to say he'd re-sign and then not re-sign, but even if he didn't sign a full-max extension immediately a la James Harden, we could trade him again after Dec 15th.

And the more I think about it, the more I think Val is probably a better prospect than most of what could be offered by PHX/CHI. LAL has the best pick but absolutely nothing else. BOS is too far from contention. And our record was better than the Bulls, and our weather's similar, so I think we might have a better shot than I originally thought.

The real question is whether Masai (and Casey) would be interested.

[blackjitsu]

This is now moot given that Minny is given all the other reports now surfacing about trades. Minnesota is going to try and get the most they can for him and that will require Love picking a place where he will sign an extension.

Not sure it's moot. If Love is telling teams that he is going to go through free agency no matter what, his trade value will take a hit. Raps fans should already know that.

[magoon]

And the more I think about it, the more I think Val is probably a better prospect than most of what could be offered by PHX/CHI.

Minnesota already has Nikola Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng at center; they're one of the few teams in the league that can arguably has two starting-quality centers. They don't need a third.

[Scraptor]

Not sure it's moot. If Love is telling teams that he is going to go through free agency no matter what, his trade value will take a hit. Raps fans should already know that.

I think you are misinterpreting that article. He has told MINNESOTA that he is going to go through free agency unless they trade him. I haven't seen anything in all the other articles that has said he will go through free agency "no matter what".

You can see all the stuff coming in at http://www.reddit.com/r/nba

Apparently Houston wants to make a bid too. So Ainge, Kupchak, Morey, three of the best GMs around, I guess they don't think Love is just a stat-padder like some folks around here.

[Scraptor]

Minnesota already has Nikola Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng at center; they're one of the few teams in the league that can arguably has two starting-quality centers. They don't need a third.

True. We'd have to make it a three-way I guess, if it took Val. I doubt Ross plus picks is remotely close to enough. And I'm not sure they want Derozan given they'd just go through the same thing with him next summer given Derozan's player option.

[imanshumpert]

I think if you can trade Val in a package to get Love you have to do it as long as no other core piece (Lowry, DeRozan, etc) is involved.

Superstars are what win in this league, and that's exactly what Love is... a superstar.

It really depends on what you think Val's ceiling is though, but I don't think he's ever going to be a superstar.