NBA Rumors 2014: Kevin Love to Sacramento Kings deal only interesting to Minnesota Timberwolves under certain circumstances
By Chris Walder
As first reported by Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Sacramento Kings have let the Minnesota Timberwolves know that they’d be willing to make a trade for power forward Kevin Love, even if he doesn’t re-sign with the team.
Sacramento would include their No. 8 pick in the 2014 draft, but according to Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com, that would only entice the Timberwolves if two players they have their eyes on fall to them at that spot.
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Our post-lottery FanSided NBA Mock Draft has Julius Randle of the Kentucky Wildcats going to the Utah Jazz at pick No. 5 and Noah Vonleh of the Indiana Hoosiers going to the Boston Celtics one pick later at No. 6
Forward Aaron Gordon is projected to go No. 8 to the Kings, but in the minds of Minnesota management, that simply won’t do.
The Timberwolves would need to look for their big man of the future if Love were no longer in the picture, so it’s hard to blame them for wanting a certain asset in exchange for the three-time NBA All-Star. The problem is that there’s no guarantee that either Randle or Vonleh will be available that late in the draft, making a potential deal between the two sides extremely difficult to put together.
Love averaged a career-high 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 77 games last season for the Timberwolves.
The Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets are also being looked at as potential suitors for Love’s services.