NBA Rumors: Charlotte Hornets could chase Kevin Love
Although he has another year remaining on his contact, it is becoming obvious that star power forward Kevin Love does not have much of a future with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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Love is expected to have plenty of suitors with the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets topping the list. Love could turn each one of those teams into a legitimate title contender.
Of course, every team in the league would love to land Love and there is one under-the radar team that Love would unquestionably improve – the Charlotte Hornets.
Rick Bonnell and Ben Weinrib of The Charlotte Observer wonder if the Hornets could land Love.
"Making this sort of trade would be complicated because the Hornets would have to satisfy both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Love, since he’d have to sign an extension to justify the risk. But he’d be terrific as a complementary scorer to Al Jefferson and one of the NBA’s top rebounders……Love and Jefferson played together in Minnesota for two seasons from 2007-09. The duo averaged a combined 31.8 PPG, 19.8 RPG, and 1.9 blocks per game on 48.1 percent shooting."
Last season, the Hornets hired a new coach, Steve Clifford, and signed one of the top players on the market in Jefferson. Those two moves combined with the development of point guard Kemba Walker helped them improve their win total by 22 games and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
Love is clearly one of the best players in basketball and proved that again in 2013 when he averaged 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.