NBA Rumors: Houston Rockets eyeing Kevin Love

Now that the Houston Rockets have been eliminated from the playoffs, they will turn their attention to trying to improve.

That could mean firing head coach Kevin McHale and will almost certainly mean pursuing another star, perhaps New York Knicks’ forward Carmelo Anthony.

Many teams around the league hope another star, Minnesota Timberwolves’ power forward Kevin Love, will become available. At this time, the Timberwolves are doing whatever they can to keep him.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, the Rockets will certainly be checking in on Love.

"Kevin Love isn’t nearly as available as Melo will be this summer. He might not be available at all via trade. Yet you can rest assured that Houston will be lobbing frequent calls to Minnesota to test the Wolves’ resolve, since Love would complement Howard better than pretty much anyone you could nominate."

Love is a fantastic offensive player and excellent outside shooter, which would make him an outstanding player next to Howard, as Stein says. Howard did his best work playing next to stretch fours, Rashard Lewis and Ryan Anderson, with the Orlando Magic and Love is clearly a superior player.

Love averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per game this season.