What would you give for Kevin Love

[HooverDam]

Does Love's contract allow him to nix any trade he doesn't like? If it doesn't, he can still accomplish the same thing by saying he won't sign a new deal with the proposed team that is trying to trade for him.

That way, he can just wait it out and sign as a free agent with the team he wants. That's a win win because the team he signs with won't be depleting itself to acquire him.

But it means he has to play another season in Minny to do that.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yes, absurd. There are several teams willing to give up so much more than 1 lottery pick. Melo essentially demanded a trade to NY as he refused to sign an extension with anyone else and Denver got far more than 1 lottery pick. Love hasn't even asked for a trade at this point, he's only let them know he won't resign with them. The rumors so far don't have Love saying the only place he'll sign is LA, he wants to go to a team that is close to contending or already there. I've seen GS and Chicago mentioned. Both of those teams have far more to offer in trade and in talent. Of course I'd like to think the Suns have a chance to get him, but as of now it's unknown if he'd be interested or if they have what Minn. is looking for. Unless Kevin Love demands a trade to LA, and even then I don't see them accepting 1 lottery pick for him. So give me a break with that crap, it sounds like a Laker fans arrogant fantasy and I know you are not a Laker fan so your suggestion is bewildering to me.

None of the above matters if Love has his heart set on playing in LA because if he won't sign an extension with someone, no team is going to trade for him. Thus, if he really wants to go to LA, he can make that happen if they a) have a high lotto pick and b) tells teams he won't sign an extension with anyone but LA.

What's really bewildering to me is why you're acting like such a jerk about this.

 

[elindholm]

When a disgruntled star forces his way out, the other team almost never gets a star back. I doubt that Minnesota will do better than a package of the Morrises, Frye (for salary), their own owed pick returned, and the WAS pick (#18). Of course it's moot if Love won't sign an immediate extension.

 

[JCSunsfan]

None of the above matters if Love has his heart set on playing in LA because if he won't sign an extension with someone, no team is going to trade for him. Thus, if he really wants to go to LA, he can make that happen if they a) have a high lotto pick and b) tells teams he won't sign an extension with anyone but LA.

What's really bewildering to me is why you're acting like such a jerk about this.

Its true that if Love wants to go to LA, he can make that happen. What I don't understand is how he says he wants to go to a contender. Kobe, Love and Nash aren't a contending trio. And there is no doubt that the Lakers would have to give up their lotto pick to get Love, so they cannot get help there. That trio eats up 51 million in cap space. With additional cap holds they are over the cap I believe.

 

[JCSunsfan]

When a disgruntled star forces his way out, the other team almost never gets a star back. I doubt that Minnesota will do better than a package of the Morrises, Frye (for salary), their own owed pick returned, and the WAS pick (#18). Of course it's moot if Love won't sign an immediate extension.

Boy, I would do that one in a minute. I do think that alot of teams want Green.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Its true that if Love wants to go to LA, he can make that happen. What I don't understand is how he says he wants to go to a contender. Kobe, Love and Nash aren't a contending trio. And there is no doubt that the Lakers would have to give up their lotto pick to get Love, so they cannot get help there. That trio eats up 51 million in cap space. With additional cap holds they are over the cap I believe.

the Lakers actually don't have any salary cap holds other then Nash/Kobe/Sacre moving forward. And I think I remember that the salary cap is projected to go up to 62 million this year. Which means if they stretch provision Nash (which has been talked about a lot in LA, they can stretch his 9 million hit over three years, meaning that would open up about 16 million bucks under the cap if Kobe/Love/.33 of Nash combine for almost 46 million. With that amount, they can still go out and get one more decently priced guy if they want.

but man...Bryant's ridiculous contract just killed that team this coming off-season.

I don't think it's super likely Love goes there. I'm just saying if he DOES want to go there (and there has been a lot of smoke in LA that he does), he can make that happen, especially if the Lakers end up with one of those top lotto picks. They're delusional enough out here to think they're not that far away and would definitely give up one of those picks to get Love and assuage Kobe's ridiculous ego to "go for it" for another couple years before they "inevitably" get Durant (which I don't think will happen).

 

[HooverDam]

When a disgruntled star forces his way out, the other team almost never gets a star back. I doubt that Minnesota will do better than a package of the Morrises, Frye (for salary), their own owed pick returned, and the WAS pick (#18). Of course it's moot if Love won't sign an immediate extension.

Agreed, though I imagine Minny would demand the LA pick that the Suns own too.

 

[JustWinBaby]

Just read in Hoops Hype that Rubio said that Love was a poor leader but a player that puts up fantastic Stats. I can see that as well. That is probably the real issue in Minnesota. Some guys are and have been great players but just are not leaders. I think Rubio could fall into that category as well.

Adelman was a good coach but not a great coach and with his wife's medical problems probably was not as connected as he should have been with the team. Due to no fault of his own Minnesota was a rudder less ship.

What Minnesota really should do is keep Love while adding a quality coach and adding player that can be a leader in the locker room.

When we think about our success this year I do not think we can give too much credit to Tucker and Hornacek for the way they set the tone night in night out. IMO they both were great leaders for our team. If we do not sign Tucker this off season we could be sorry.

Should a player that is a poor leader receive a MAX Contract?

I think that is a legit question in the case of Kevin Love.

 

[KloD]

None of the above matters if Love has his heart set on playing in LA because if he won't sign an extension with someone, no team is going to trade for him. Thus, if he really wants to go to LA, he can make that happen if they a) have a high lotto pick and b) tells teams he won't sign an extension with anyone but LA.

Clearly we disagree on his ability to force a trade to LA. I'm guessing th whole LA thing is media speculation, but who knows.

What's really bewildering to me is why you're acting like such a jerk about this.

I felt you were a jerk in your original response. Sorry if I read you wrong. Shake hands and move on? Peace.

 

[KloD]

When a disgruntled star forces his way out, the other team almost never gets a star back. I doubt that Minnesota will do better than a package of the Morrises, Frye (for salary), their own owed pick returned, and the WAS pick (#18). Of course it's moot if Love won't sign an immediate extension.

I don't know? I don't think Love is worth more than that, but I think there will be a lot of teams looking to trade for him. Obviously he has some control given his willingness to sign an extension, but the more I think about it the more I don't think the Suns with all those assets have what Minn, will want. I'm not sure who does though. I just hope we don't give away the farm if we are in the running.

 

[KloD]

Question: We hear all this speculation of free agents signing with the Lakers, but when was the last time they signed a "star"? I could be wrong, but was it Shaq in 1998? Every other top shelf player was via a trade. Their history since the 1980's (I could be wrong) was getting them through the draft or forced trade (Gasol the exception). If I remember correctly even Shaq forced a sign and trade because the Lakers didn't have the cap space. So why this assumption that the top shelf guys will want to sign with them in the next few off seasons? Especially with Kobe's ego and refusal to share the spotlight?

 

[sunsfan88]

Just read in Hoops Hype that Rubio said that Love was a poor leader but a player that puts up fantastic Stats. I can see that as well. That is probably the real issue in Minnesota. Some guys are and have been great players but just are not leaders. I think Rubio could fall into that category as well.

Adelman was a good coach but not a great coach and with his wife's medical problems probably was not as connected as he should have been with the team. Due to no fault of his own Minnesota was a rudder less ship.

What Minnesota really should do is keep Love while adding a quality coach and adding player that can be a leader in the locker room.

When we think about our success this year I do not think we can give too much credit to Tucker and Hornacek for the way they set the tone night in night out. IMO they both were great leaders for our team. If we do not sign Tucker this off season we could be sorry.

Should a player that is a poor leader receive a MAX Contract?

I think that is a legit question in the case of Kevin Love.

Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin James Harden, Dwight Howard, LMA, George etc aren't all great leaders and they still have max contracts.

Even a guy like Steph Curry isnt a great leader and yet there's no doubt that he would immediately get the max if he was a FA sometime soon.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Question: We hear all this speculation of free agents signing with the Lakers, but when was the last time they signed a "star"? I could be wrong, but was it Shaq in 1998? Every other top shelf player was via a trade. Their history since the 1980's (I could be wrong) was getting them through the draft or forced trade (Gasol the exception). If I remember correctly even Shaq forced a sign and trade because the Lakers didn't have the cap space. So why this assumption that the top shelf guys will want to sign with them in the next few off seasons? Especially with Kobe's ego and refusal to share the spotlight?

I personally don't buy the Durant talk, but K Love has California/LA ties and loved it out here when he was a Bruin by all accounts.

I personally think the Lakers are a disaster...and will be mired even more in mediocrity if they DO get Love (who just doesn't impress me all that much as a #1 or #2 option on a title contender). Add into this the fact that FA now have to take LESS money to get to the Lakers will make it that much harder to make that big splash they want to make in the next couple years.

 

[elindholm]

Question: We hear all this speculation of free agents signing with the Lakers, but when was the last time they signed a "star"?

They got Malone and Payton on the cheap to chase one last ring. It didn't work out, but it shows the draw that they have.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't know? I don't think Love is worth more than that, but I think there will be a lot of teams looking to trade for him. Obviously he has some control given his willingness to sign an extension, but the more I think about it the more I don't think the Suns with all those assets have what Minn, will want. I'm not sure who does though. I just hope we don't give away the farm if we are in the running.

I think the only way we have the assets they want is if a) we win the lotto and get a top three pick and use that as the main carrot of the trade or b) if we included Dragic or Bledsoe in a deal somehow.

and I don't want to see us do EITHER of those to get Love.

hell, even if we didn't have to do either of those, and we somehow put together a big three of Dragic, Bledsoe, Love, I think we've just made ourselves the 2014 version of the 1988-92 Suns with KJ, Horny, Chambers. Fun teams to watch sure...I mean REALLY fun to watch, but complete playoff pretenders. That team would STILL need a Barkley, just like Cotton said back in the day.

 

[SunsTzu]

They got Malone and Payton on the cheap to chase one last ring. It didn't work out, but it shows the draw that they have.

I think that had more to do with being a contender than being the Lakers.

 

[HoodieBets]

Article came out love wants to go to Chicago or Golden State....Boston will be hot for him too they have a ton of picks and players. They are willing to trade their top 3 pick this year for him. The suns will have to give up both 1sts this year with a player like one of the morris twins. The names being floated out in regards to golden state are Harrison Barnes David Lee and picks.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[devilalum]

Agreed, though I imagine Minny would demand the LA pick that the Suns own too.

IMO that is the Suns most valuable asset. I'd say there's a 90% chance the Lakers are in the lotto again next year.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think the only way we have the assets they want is if a) we win the lotto and get a top three pick and use that as the main carrot of the trade or b) if we included Dragic or Bledsoe in a deal somehow.

and I don't want to see us do EITHER of those to get Love.

hell, even if we didn't have to do either of those, and we somehow put together a big three of Dragic, Bledsoe, Love, I think we've just made ourselves the 2014 version of the 1988-92 Suns with KJ, Horny, Chambers. Fun teams to watch sure...I mean REALLY fun to watch, but complete playoff pretenders. That team would STILL need a Barkley, just like Cotton said back in the day.

But that was a different league. We still haven't returned to the talent level of that period. Expanding so quickly really emptied the pool. With 22 or 23 teams, three fairly strong players just isn't enough but you expand that group to 30 teams and it's a different story. And Chambers was slowing down by the time we went after Barkley even though he was still only 30 or so. Also, we have dreams of Len and Plumlee being a far stronger tandem than Cotton dealt with so I don't think we're necessarily still a superstar away with the addition of a player like Love. We might fall short but if so, IMO, it's because our stars don't shine brightly enough rather than a numbers game.

Steve

 

[AzStevenCal]

IMO that is the Suns most valuable asset. I'd say there's a 90% chance the Lakers are in the lotto again next year.

Closet Lakers fan? I have them at 99% lotto bound next year.

Steve

 

[slinslin]

They got Malone and Payton on the cheap to chase one last ring. It didn't work out, but it shows the draw that they have.

How is that different from us signing eg Grant Hill?

 

[KloD]

They got Malone and Payton on the cheap to chase one last ring. It didn't work out, but it shows the draw that they have.

i agree with others. I think that had more to do with the players on the roster at the time, not LA being a desirable place to play. Malone, like many others didn't like Kobe and left after a year. They were both at the end of their careers and not big free agent stars in their prime. If the players were on the Bobcats at that time I think they could have drawn Malone and Payton to chase a ring.

 

[KloD]

I personally don't buy the Durant talk, but K Love has California/LA ties and loved it out here when he was a Bruin by all accounts.

I personally think the Lakers are a disaster...and will be mired even more in mediocrity if they DO get Love (who just doesn't impress me all that much as a #1 or #2 option on a title contender). Add into this the fact that FA now have to take LESS money to get to the Lakers will make it that much harder to make that big splash they want to make in the next couple years.

It's plausible for sure. I think it's Hoopshype today has a "story" that the whole LA thing is media speculation and is being over stated. Now they are also saying Jackson/NY is going to go hard after Love. I don't see them in much better shape than LA. They've traded their future and don't have anything outside of Melo to offer and he's going to opt out himself. I think Love will end up with Chicago, GS, Suns, or Houston, but how knows. .

 

[JCSunsfan]

the Lakers actually don't have any salary cap holds other then Nash/Kobe/Sacre moving forward. And I think I remember that the salary cap is projected to go up to 62 million this year. Which means if they stretch provision Nash (which has been talked about a lot in LA, they can stretch his 9 million hit over three years, meaning that would open up about 16 million bucks under the cap if Kobe/Love/.33 of Nash combine for almost 46 million. With that amount, they can still go out and get one more decently priced guy if they want.

but man...Bryant's ridiculous contract just killed that team this coming off-season.

I don't think it's super likely Love goes there. I'm just saying if he DOES want to go there (and there has been a lot of smoke in LA that he does), he can make that happen, especially if the Lakers end up with one of those top lotto picks. They're delusional enough out here to think they're not that far away and would definitely give up one of those picks to get Love and assuage Kobe's ridiculous ego to "go for it" for another couple years before they "inevitably" get Durant (which I don't think will happen).

Doesnt every open roster spot have a cap hold? Plus, every player you do not renounce has a cap hold.

 

[Phrazbit]

It should be mentioned in all of this "forcing his way to LA" talk, that there has been absolutely no indication that Love is going to do that, and recent reports have him looking at several teams.

Getting down to the basics, the Lakers and the Knicks dont have the ammo to trade for him. Period. For those teams to even have a shot at him it means that Minnesota decided to roll the dice and gamble on letting him hit free agency.

As far as I can tell Love has made it clear that his top priority is going to a team with a chance to win.

And Rubio questioning Love's leadership is funny stuff. If Rubio didnt suck the Wolves would probably also not suck and none of this would be an issue.