Best Potential Love Trades

[Lipoli390]

With the end of the NBA draft came a lull in the talk about possible deals for Kevin Love. But I suspect that July 1 will usher in a new waive of trade talk regarding Kevin Love. That date is significant for a number of reasons. First, a number of player salaries come of the books of their respective teams, creating additional cap space for some teams to make a deal for Love without necessarily taking back equivalent salary. Second, the new NBA salary cap will kick in and it's expected to be significantly higher than the current, hence creating even more cap space for teams to absorb Love's salary in a deal. Finally, the free agency fate of Melo and LeBron will soon settle and the bevy of teams competing to land them will have to turn to plan B and plan B has to be Kevin Love since after Melo and LeBron he'll be the only elite player on market -- in this case trade market rather than free agency.

If LeBron goes to Cleveland, there is no doubt in my mind that the Wolves will deal Love to the Cavs for a package including Tristin Thompson and Wiggins. But since it appears almost certain that LeBron will return to Miami along with Bosh and Wade, I don't consider the Cavs a realistic trade option going forward. I think Melo will end up re-signing with the Knicks. I see the Bulls as the only other team Melo may select. If the Bulls don't get Melo, I think they'll make a huge all-out push to acquire Love. And even if they do get Melo, I can see them still making a serious run at adding Love. For now I'm assuming Melo stays in New York. Assuming that LeBron and Melo stay put, the handful of really serious suitors for those two will likely push hard to a deal to acquire Love. The list of serious suitors for one or the other consists primarily of Chicago, Houston, and the Lakers. In addition, I expect Boston to remain interested in dealing for Love. Denver is interested, but Love's' camp has made it clear he won't agree to stay there, which means the Nuggets are not a realistic trading partner for the Wolves.

So based on my assumptions that (1) Melo and LeBron stay put; (2) Chicago, Houston and the Lakers are the primary serious contenders for acquiring either Melo or LeBron (more likely Melo), and (3) the mutual interest between the Celtics and Love continues with Love still refusing to agree to commit to Denver, here's my list of realistic trade possibilities and my thoughts on each -- ranked in order of preference:

1. Wolves/Rockets --

- The Deal: Love and Martin or Budinger or Barea for Parsons, Jones and Lin.

- The Value: Parsons is a highly productive, top tier SF who, at age 25, is still on the upward trajectory of his career. Lin would be a quality backup PG to Ricky. His intelligence would make him a great fit for Flip's complicated, very directed offensive system. Jones would add to our emerging pool of young talent with Dieng, Shabazz, Robinson and LaVine. A very nice deal for the Wolves. Why would Houston do it? Because it would give them a killer core three in Harden, Love and Howard while still allowing them to retain Beverley to run the point. Howard's defensive prowess makes him the perfect complement to Love at the PF position. And McHale and Love are very close. Houston's GM likes to make a big splash and this would be a very big splash even if not quite the same splash created by signing Melo.

- Prediction: I don't think this one will happen. At the end of the day, I don't think the Rockets view the net value of Love over Parsons as enough to do the deal given the cap implications of the deal and the loss of depth in Jones and Lin.

2. Wolves/Warriors

- The Deal: Love and Martin or Budinger or Barea for Klay Thompson, David Lee and Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green (and any necessary filler to match salaries).

- Value: There has been a lot of debate on this Board and among media commentators about the relative merits of a deal built around swapping Love for Thompson and Lee, which is really the core of the deal. We've heard all sorts of stories about what's going on. We've heard that there is a split internally in the Warriors organization over whether they should agree to part with Klay to get Love. But we've also heard that the Warriors have agreed to include Klay in the deal and that completion of the deal has stalled over disagreement regarding various ancillary pieces -- whether the Wolves will also get Barnes or Draymond Green and whether the Warriors are willing to take Martin and the ill-advised contract Flip gave him. I like this deal for the Wolves. Klay is arguably the best 3-point shooter in the League and he has become one of the League's better defenders at his position. He would be an upgrade over Martin on both ends of the court, especially the defensive end. Lee is an excellent PF who has been an allstar and is still in his prime.

- Prediction: I think this one will happen, but Flip may have to agree to forego getting Barnes or Draymond Green and he may have to substitute Barea or Budinger for Martin in the deal, in which case, Flip would have to find an alternative trade to move Martin. I could see involving a third team in the deal to find a place for Martin.

Wolves/Bulls

- The Deal: Love and Martin or Budinger or Barea for Taj Gibson, Carlos Boozer, Jimmy Butler, McDermott and the rights Mirotic. '

- The Value: In McDermott, the Wolves get a superb shooter and offensive threat who is ready to contribute right away at the SF position. I'm not saying his is another Larry Bird or Dirk Nowitski, but he does have a number of their qualities. Perhaps Chandler Parsons may also be a good comparison. But beyond the imperfect comparisons, McDermott looks like he could be an excellent NBA starting SF and contribute right away. I'm not a huge Taj Gibson fan, but he would significantly upgrade our defense at the PF position and provide a better defensive complement to Pek. I could do without Jimmy Butler, but he's an excellent defender who can play both SF and SG. The guy I'd insist on including as part of our incoming package would be Mirotic. I suspect the Bulls will be ready to part with him one it's announced that Melo is staying in New York. As I see it, the three essentials for the Wolves in this deal would be: Taj Gibson, McDermott and the rights to Mirotic.


- Prediction: If the Golden State deal doesn't happen, I expect that this one will. If Bulls lose out in their effort to sign Melo, then look for the Bulls to come charging in an all-out effort to do a deal for Love. It's been widely reported that the Bulls offered Taj Gibson, Snell and both of their mid-first round picks before the draft. The Wolves obviously rejected that offer. But things have changed or will change soon to make a deal more likely. First, as mentioned above, I think Melo will stay in New York, which will give the Wolves significantly more leverage in dealings the Bulls. Second, the Bulls came out of the draft with McDermott -- a top 10 prospect who the Wolves like.

[Lipoli390]

By the way -- consider whether that 2nd round pick we sold to Houston may have been part of a larger deal that's already been agreed to.

[Phenom]

I'm sure McHale would give just about anything for Kevin Love. Too bad he doesn't make the decisions there. A Rockets deal dies in its tracks when Parsons says he won't sign in Minnesota. Thats why I give this deal a very low chance of happening.

[foye2smith [enjin:6593248]]

I hope the Houston deal happens for no other reason than the civil war it'd start among fans new and old. Camp Lin v. Camp Rubio.

Saw it on general NBA boards where Lin fans just ignore the play of the team and the result and sulk about Lins minutes & usage. Then on the flip side wolves fans wanting Adelman and Barea's head over 4th quarter minutes. which I'll concede was messed up 75% of the instances it happened with 25% of the time being understandable for Ricky to be benched. Just imagine if the alternative was an upgrade over Barea.

Get your popcorn ready.

[KiwiMatt]

Out of the three deals you've mentioned Lip I like in order 1. CHI, 2. GSW, 3. HOU.

The key to me for the CHI deal is Mirotic as you also mentioned. I'm not sure how well he'd fit next to Pek with his lack of athleticism, but one thing I like about him (especially with Love gone) is he can hit the outside shot at a high clip. We need a stretch four if Love leaves. He also had a good post game and can create his own shot off the dribble (kind of like a poor man's Nowitzki). He's not the greatest defender but would be an upgrade over Love, due to the effort he puts in.

Gibson is a solid PF and Butler gives us a good lock down perimeter defender. Boozer's 15 mil expiring would be a massive chip to have at the trade deadline for any team trying to clear cap space.

Kevin Love J.J Barea, Chase Budinger and LMAM for Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butller, Doug McDermont and rights to Nikola Mirotic.

Rubio / LeVine / Shved
Martin / Brewer / GR3
Butler / McDermont / Muhammad
Gibson / Mirotic / Boozer
Pekovic / Dieng / Turiaf

I like it!

[MikeAz [enjin:6636981]]

The Rockets deal is intriguing to me because you'd be getting back 2 young starting forwards, you'd then have a solid young nucleus to build around. Of course, with no Love, you'd really have no go-to guy.

C-Gorgui Dieng - 24 years old
PF-Terrence Jones - 22 years old
SG-Chandler Parsons - 25 years old
PG-Ricky Rubio - 23 years old
SG-Zach LaVine - 19 years old

What kind of money do you suspect that Parsons will be asking for?

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

Out of the three deals you've mentioned Lip I like in order 1. CHI, 2. GSW, 3. HOU.

The key to me for the CHI deal is Mirotic as you also mentioned. I'm not sure how well he'd fit next to Pek with his lack of athleticism, but one thing I like about him (especially with Love gone) is he can hit the outside shot at a high clip. We need a stretch four if Love leaves. He also had a good post game and can create his own shot off the dribble (kind of like a poor man's Nowitzki). He's not the greatest defender but would be an upgrade over Love, due to the effort he puts in.

Gibson is a solid PF and Butler gives us a good lock down perimeter defender. Boozer's 15 mil expiring would be a massive chip to have at the trade deadline for any team trying to clear cap space.

Kevin Love J.J Barea, Chase Budinger and LMAM for Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butller, Doug McDermont and rights to Nikola Mirotic.

Rubio / LeVine / Shved
Martin / Brewer / GR3
Butler / McDermont / Muhammad
Gibson / Mirotic / Boozer
Pekovic / Dieng / Turiaf

I like it!

You can't go into the season with Levine and Lexi as your backup pg. Find a real backup and another scorer and I like it

[KiwiMatt]

Out of the three deals you've mentioned Lip I like in order 1. CHI, 2. GSW, 3. HOU.

The key to me for the CHI deal is Mirotic as you also mentioned. I'm not sure how well he'd fit next to Pek with his lack of athleticism, but one thing I like about him (especially with Love gone) is he can hit the outside shot at a high clip. We need a stretch four if Love leaves. He also had a good post game and can create his own shot off the dribble (kind of like a poor man's Nowitzki). He's not the greatest defender but would be an upgrade over Love, due to the effort he puts in.

Gibson is a solid PF and Butler gives us a good lock down perimeter defender. Boozer's 15 mil expiring would be a massive chip to have at the trade deadline for any team trying to clear cap space.

Kevin Love J.J Barea, Chase Budinger and LMAM for Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butller, Doug McDermont and rights to Nikola Mirotic.

Rubio / LeVine / Shved
Martin / Brewer / GR3
Butler / McDermont / Muhammad
Gibson / Mirotic / Boozer
Pekovic / Dieng / Turiaf

I like it!

You can't go into the season with Levine and Lexi as your backup pg. Find a real backup and another scorer and I like it

Grevis Vaquez with the MLE :thumb:

[mjs34]

I could get on board with some version of the Chi and GS deals, but Houston does nothing for me. Parsons is due a big contract this season, and just isn't a difference maker. He is at best a #3 guy on a team, and we can't be paying guys like that upwards of 10 mil a year, which is what I expect he wants. Our location and market demand that we acquire those type of players through the draft, or already signed long term so we don't have to overspend on them.

[thedoper]

If Love didn't want to be here no way Parsons does. That guy is a total Dbag off the court and quite frankly wayyyy overrated in my opinion on the court.