NBA Trade Rumors 2014: Kevin Love For Celtics or Bulls?
It's the summer of Love, the person.
With the NBA games already over, all eyes have turned to the drafts; and sports analysts from all corners are thinking where this and that player is going, with a lot of buzz around Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love.
The Bleacher Report noted that the Minnesota star has no shortage of suitors, with teams cropping up as the summer draft draws nearer to heat up his trade market.
It is no secret that Love has joined the list of hoopers that might not be wearing their former jerseys to the next season of the basketball league, but sports insiders now think that his move might be toward either the Boston Celtics or the Chicago Bulls.
The report mentioned the Celtics' willingness to pull all the stops to land a deal with the three-time All-Star.
It cited a tweet by Basketball Insider's Steve Kyler: "It will be interesting to see if the Wolves, hold their 'we're not trading him' line. There are real offers out there."
Team coach Flip Saunders may not want to trade Love, SB Nation reported, but he is aware he can't lose his star power forward for nothing in free agency.
Trading Love prior to the draft will net the highest potential return for the Wolves, with the Celtics offering the best deal, the report added. It could trigger a Timberwolves rebuild.
There are slim chances that the Timberwolves can do enough within two years to entice Love, the Bleacher Report said. With Love almost certainly gone, the team should work to get whatever they can from a trade.
The Chicago Bulls are also looking to improve their roster, with Fansided saying it might make gigantic moves from typically being afraid to spend any sort of money to remain competitive.
They can possibly land both Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love, the report said, but it would cost them Joakim Noah and a whole lot more to make it happen.
In a fascinating development, what was once an either/or scoffed at by experts is a twin deal, although a long shot.
Other quarters say the twin deal is with LeBron James of Miami Heat and Anthony, with the team aiming to make a splash in free agency after a bad 2010 Carlos Boozer deal, said the Bleacher Report.
Only Derrick Rose is safe in the lineup, it said, with the team prevented by Rose's bill of health and the $60-plus million remaining on his contract.
The Bulls have one of the more attractive setups to close the best deals, the Bleacher Report said. If they land Anthony or James, they transform into the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.
ESPN reports that Love's approach is a new passive-aggressive method for stars to demand trades: They will drop the implication that their current team has no chance of re-signing them so it's better off moving them before they walk.
In the past few seasons, it happened with Anthony, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.
The rumors are unending and the Bleacher Report foresees that there will be no respite until he's on his way out of Minneapolis--more than a week from now.
The Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings are also reported to be in the Love contest.