Another Kevin Love Thread

[Nosferatu]

Yeah, there are about a dozen threads about Love but I just wanted to chime in.

Unless he just can't stand the front office I don't understand why he would wanna leave.

We have all seen reports of the Bulls, Celtics, Warriors and now Nuggets possibly making offers. I understand the Bulls and Celtics have history on their side but it's cold there too so if he agrees to go there it can't be for the weather and honestly how much better are those teams than the Wolves?

If Golden St. trades for him, is that a better team than what Minnesota has? Curry is a great player but without Klay Thompson and Lee I just don't see how they are better than the Wolves either.

Denver? If they give up Chandler and Faried that team isn't any better than what the Wolves have.

The Wolves have Rubio who can't shoot worth a shit but he moves the ball pretty good, Pekovic is one of the better centers in the game and last years pick Dieng looks to be a real good player, Kevin Martin is still a pretty good scorer, they have decent rotation guys in Brewer and Budinger and maybe Muhammad turns into a decent player. They add a decent player in this years draft and it's a pretty solid team if everyone could stay healthy.

The Wolves were a plus 219 in points last year which was 90 points better than Memphis who made the playoffs and that's without the starters playing together for a full season.

I honestly think this team could be 4-8 seed in the west next year if they stay together and stay healthy. The grass isn't always greener!

 

[Davis_Mike]

The west is just too tough right now to see Min being anything other than the #9 or #10 team in the conference. Sure Min can score, but they have problems defending. They were the 5th worst team in the league in opponent ppgs & the 2nd worst in opponent FG%. They lost a lot of games down the stretch in the 4th quarter last season. Even with Love on the team, they are just an average rebounding team.

Then you add the dysfunction of Minnesota's management over the last 3-4 seasons. Their drafting has been questionable & their ability to land quality free agents has been lacking. Everyone can see why Love would prefer to play elsewhere for the remainder of his career.

Of all the possible destinations, I think Phoenix, GS, Chicago make the best sense in terms of immediate winning & being a playoff threat. But these are all just rumors that the talking heads perpetuate in order to fill airtime in the offseason. No one really knows Love's preferences or willingness to resign with each team.

Personally, I would like to see Love in a Suns uniform. Minnesota could receive 3 mid-1st round picks between the 14 & 15 drafts along with some good role players & a young player in Alex Len.

With or without Love, I don't see Minnesota being anything other than a team just outside the playoffs.

 

[wildturkey]

Maybe he doesn't like the cold

 

[Nosferatu]

Maybe he doesn't like the cold

Chicago, Boston and Denver all have cold and snow in the winter months.

 

[wildturkey]

Chicago, Boston and Denver all have cold and snow in the winter months.

Yeah but Minny is like "Fuck, my dick froze off" cold

 

[Nosferatu]

Yeah but Minny is like "Fuck, my dick froze off" cold

Eh, cold is cold, it is cold as phuck in Minneapolis during the winter but it's really cold in Chicago too, never been to Boston but I imagine it's pretty damn cold there too.

 

[Heatles84]

Davis_Mike nailed it. The T-Wolves have been horribly ran since KG played for them. There's no direction in that team whatsoever, and I honestly can't blame Love for being frustrated. The teams that are trying to trade for him have all been to the playoffs recently and show direction - something the Timberwolves haven't shown.

I don't know how they would be a 4-8 seed. For one, the top 4 seeds in the West will belong to the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers and likely the Trailblazers/Rockets. That's not including the Warriors should they stand pat as well as the Grizzlies.

 

[Nosferatu]

Davis_Mike nailed it. The T-Wolves have been horribly ran since KG played for them. There's no direction in that team whatsoever, and I honestly can't blame Love for being frustrated. The teams that are trying to trade for him have all been to the playoffs recently and show direction - something the Timberwolves haven't shown.

I don't know how they would be a 4-8 seed. For one, the top 4 seeds in the West will belong to the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers and likely the Trailblazers/Rockets. That's not including the Warriors should they stand pat as well as the Grizzlies.

"If" the stayed healthy and played together they could be a 4-8 seed.

They averaged 106.9 points this season and allowed 104.3
The 4th seed Rockets averaged 107.7 and allowed 103.1

Not a huge difference.

 

[Davis_Mike]

"If" the stayed healthy and played together they could be a 4-8 seed.

They averaged 106.9 points this season and allowed 104.3
The 4th seed Rockets averaged 107.7 and allowed 103.1

Not a huge difference.

Don't let PPG & PPG allowed fool you.

The difference is that Houston is top 10 in both Def FG%(7th) & 3FG%(9th), while Minnesota is 2nd to last in the NBA in Def FG%(29th) & middle of the road in 3FG%(19th). And Houston is 2nd in rebounding while Minnesota is 14th. Houston is also #1 in TO differential & #2 blocks, while Minnesota is dead last in both of those categories.

That tells us that Houston plays defense, takes care of the ball, rebounds, & can win close games. None of the things that Minnesota can do with it's current roster. I won't even get into the problems Minnesota has on offense compared to Houston.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Here is another stat that explains the difference between the teams & highlights a big problem for Minnesota.

4th Quarter
Min - 23.8 ppg - 26.1 ppg against - -2.3 ppg differential
Hou - 25.4 ppg - 25.7 ppg against - -.3 ppg differential

Minnesota is just not a good enough team as constructed, to keep with the top 8 teams in the west.

 

[Hambombs]

Yeah, there are about a dozen threads about Love but I just wanted to chime in.

Unless he just can't stand the front office I don't understand why he would wanna leave.

We have all seen reports of the Bulls, Celtics, Warriors and now Nuggets possibly making offers. I understand the Bulls and Celtics have history on their side but it's cold there too so if he agrees to go there it can't be for the weather and honestly how much better are those teams than the Wolves?

If Golden St. trades for him, is that a better team than what Minnesota has? Curry is a great player but without Klay Thompson and Lee I just don't see how they are better than the Wolves either.

Denver? If they give up Chandler and Faried that team isn't any better than what the Wolves have.

The Wolves have Rubio who can't shoot worth a shit but he moves the ball pretty good, Pekovic is one of the better centers in the game and last years pick Dieng looks to be a real good player, Kevin Martin is still a pretty good scorer, they have decent rotation guys in Brewer and Budinger and maybe Muhammad turns into a decent player. They add a decent player in this years draft and it's a pretty solid team if everyone could stay healthy.

The Wolves were a plus 219 in points last year which was 90 points better than Memphis who made the playoffs and that's without the starters playing together for a full season.

I honestly think this team could be 4-8 seed in the west next year if they stay together and stay healthy. The grass isn't always greener!

LOL golden state will win 55+ if they trade lee and klay. Love>>>>> Lee

 

[Hambombs]

Davis_Mike nailed it. The T-Wolves have been horribly ran since KG played for them. There's no direction in that team whatsoever, and I honestly can't blame Love for being frustrated. The teams that are trying to trade for him have all been to the playoffs recently and show direction - something the Timberwolves haven't shown.

I don't know how they would be a 4-8 seed. For one, the top 4 seeds in the West will belong to the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers and likely the Trailblazers/Rockets. That's not including the Warriors should they stand pat as well as the Grizzlies.

Warriors will get a 4-5 seed if they stand pat. They were poorly run by mark Jackson on offense

 

[Jims_Doors]

6:33 a.m. Saturday update:

The LA Times is reporting that the Lakers and Warriors are talking about a deal that would send the Lakers’ #7 overall pick to the Warriors for Klay Thompson as part of a three-way Kevin Love deal with Minnesota.

A few hours ago an NBA source insisted to me that the Warriors flat-out will not agree to any of the proposals Minnesota is currently suggesting in the Kevin Love discussions.

Not now, not in a day, not in 400 days.

The first stumbling block: The Warriors are making it clear to everyone in the league, including Minnesota president Flip Saunders, that they very much do not want to part with Klay Thompson, the key part of any Minnesota demand.

Second big stumbling block: The Warriors have zero desire to take back expensive, no-defense shooting guard Kevin Martin in the deal, the source said.


–Note: David Lee has to be part of this deal and both sides have generally agreed to this in the informal talks. He’s a productive offensive player and rebounder and Minnesota knows Lee’s salary must be included to make any deal with the Warriors work.

–Also, the Warriors would have no need for another high-salary power forward if they received Love.

–Lee is not the problem. He’s not a value-add to the deal, but he’s not considered a stumbling block, by either team.

–The problem issues are everything else that would have to go into any Warriors-Timberwolves deal, and a lot of other things would have to be in there.

Kawakami: Some snags in the Warriors' Kevin Love talks: They don't want to take back Kevin Martin... AND they don't want to include Klay Thompson

 

[Nosferatu]

Don't let PPG & PPG allowed fool you.

The difference is that Houston is top 10 in both Def FG%(7th) & 3FG%(9th), while Minnesota is 2nd to last in the NBA in Def FG%(29th) & middle of the road in 3FG%(19th). And Houston is 2nd in rebounding while Minnesota is 14th. Houston is also #1 in TO differential & #2 blocks, while Minnesota is dead last in both of those categories.

That tells us that Houston plays defense, takes care of the ball, rebounds, & can win close games. None of the things that Minnesota can do with it's current roster. I won't even get into the problems Minnesota has on offense compared to Houston.

Minnesota is 6th in steal differential while Houston is 27th
Minnesota is 12th in assist differential while Houston is 19th
Minnesota is 10th in FT% differential while Houston is dead last
Minnesota is not dead last in block differential

A healthy Pekovic and with more playing time for Dieng I would expect blocks, rebounds and defense to improve this season.

One thing I absolutely agree with is they have got to be better in the 4th quarter they were terrible.

 

[Nosferatu]

6:33 a.m. Saturday update:

The LA Times is reporting that the Lakers and Warriors are talking about a deal that would send the Lakers’ #7 overall pick to the Warriors for Klay Thompson as part of a three-way Kevin Love deal with Minnesota.

A few hours ago an NBA source insisted to me that the Warriors flat-out will not agree to any of the proposals Minnesota is currently suggesting in the Kevin Love discussions.

Not now, not in a day, not in 400 days.

The first stumbling block: The Warriors are making it clear to everyone in the league, including Minnesota president Flip Saunders, that they very much do not want to part with Klay Thompson, the key part of any Minnesota demand.

Second big stumbling block: The Warriors have zero desire to take back expensive, no-defense shooting guard Kevin Martin in the deal, the source said.


–Note: David Lee has to be part of this deal and both sides have generally agreed to this in the informal talks. He’s a productive offensive player and rebounder and Minnesota knows Lee’s salary must be included to make any deal with the Warriors work.

–Also, the Warriors would have no need for another high-salary power forward if they received Love.

–Lee is not the problem. He’s not a value-add to the deal, but he’s not considered a stumbling block, by either team.

–The problem issues are everything else that would have to go into any Warriors-Timberwolves deal, and a lot of other things would have to be in there.

Kawakami: Some snags in the Warriors' Kevin Love talks: They don't want to take back Kevin Martin... AND they don't want to include Klay Thompson

They don't want to include Thompson in the trade for Love but are open to trading him to the Lakers? Yeah, that makes sense. Sounds like a BS story to me.

 

[Clayton]

Minnesota really isnt that far off from making the playoffs but they arent built to go deep. They need a good 2 way guard

 

[purguy12]

Bulls offered Gibson, Snell and the 16th and 19th pick. This would of been a great trade for both teams but GS offer was better.

 

[Nosferatu]

Not sure the deal with the Warriors will happen. Wolves want Thompson and Barnes, not sure the Warriors will give that much.

 

[Desean12345]

Bulls offered Gibson, Snell and the 16th and 19th pick. This would of been a great trade for both teams but GS offer was better.

Our deal is way better for the Wolves.

 

[purguy12]

Our deal is way better for the Wolves.

Not if Thompson isn't involved.