What a Quandary

[Coolbreeze44]

Like many of you, I am really torn on this Love issue. I keep thinking that we haven't been able to really do anything with Love over 6 years, and we might get a pile of assets for him in a trade. But then somebody posts we should keep him and force him to take less money to leave, and I really like that idea too. At this point I have no idea what Flip is thinking, and I can't decide what I want him to do. Just don't fuck it up.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

Like many of you, I am really torn on this Love issue. I keep thinking that we haven't been able to really do anything with Love over 6 years, and we might get a pile of assets for him in a trade. But then somebody posts we should keep him and force him to take less money to leave, and I really like that idea too. At this point I have no idea what Flip is thinking, and I can't decide what I want him to do. Just don't fuck it up.

Lets say we keep him, make the playoffs, and are a tough 1st round out. Where is going to sign with that has the cap space and would be further along then the Wolves?

[Coolbreeze44]

Like many of you, I am really torn on this Love issue. I keep thinking that we haven't been able to really do anything with Love over 6 years, and we might get a pile of assets for him in a trade. But then somebody posts we should keep him and force him to take less money to leave, and I really like that idea too. At this point I have no idea what Flip is thinking, and I can't decide what I want him to do. Just don't fuck it up.

Lets say we keep him, make the playoffs, and are a tough 1st round out. Where is going to sign with that has the cap space and would be further along then the Wolves?

But the question there is why would we make the playoffs next year? We were relatively healthy for most of the year and we don't really have the potential to improve that much.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Can I throw this tidbit in here too? I've only seen it said maybe once or twice, but it's been on everyone's mind for years now I'd bet. Even with Love our ceiling is capped, unless we get really lucky and strike gold on a draft pick. I'd rather rebuild properly and boost this team's potential than hope to be a 2nd round exit.

I know we're supposed to want to change the culture, but the big goal is to build a winner. I wouldn't be satisfied with a team I knew had no chance at winning a championship.

[kekgeek]

Like many of you, I am really torn on this Love issue. I keep thinking that we haven't been able to really do anything with Love over 6 years, and we might get a pile of assets for him in a trade. But then somebody posts we should keep him and force him to take less money to leave, and I really like that idea too. At this point I have no idea what Flip is thinking, and I can't decide what I want him to do. Just don't fuck it up.

Lets say we keep him, make the playoffs, and are a tough 1st round out. Where is going to sign with that has the cap space and would be further along then the Wolves?

But the question there is why would we make the playoffs next year? We were relatively healthy for most of the year and we don't really have the potential to improve that much.

I am just playing devils advocate, but if we don't lose all those close games just take a few to go our way and who knows (I think our roster makeup is a problem in the clutch is a problem). Dieng will be playing all year, who knows with Shabazz, you have to hope whoever we pick at 13 will make a few game difference (I like Mcdermott). If Rubio plays like he did in the second half of the season the whole year could make a difference. Barea can't play as bad as he did this year (would love to see him gone), Bud even though not a great player he started to turn a corner near the end of the year what would be huge for our bench. Even though they haven't made the finals we need to be like the Pacers in the sense that we need to hit on mid first round picks (Lance, George, Hibbert, Hill was traded for a mid first round pick)

With that said I would trade Love and I hate to do it, to much risk on actually needing to make the playoffs and probably need to make the second round for Love to stay and that is to much improvement and risk not to trade him.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I ultimately don't think a trade will happen this offseason. Teams are certainly calling the Wolves, but I highly doubt anyone is making a serious offer that is giving Flip pause - at least not yet. Boston and Cleveland know that Love can opt out after one season if things go sideways, so how much are they really willing to give up?

The other thing to keep in mind is that if Love opts out next season, not only is his contract off our books, so are a few others. About $13 Million more comes off the books in Barea, Shved, and Mbah Moute (although I'm hoping we can somehow get rid of Barea this offseason) . With Dieng, Rubio, may be Shabazz, and this year's #13 pick, and a boatload of cap room, we could potentially rebuild fairly quickly.

[mrhockey89]

Coolbreaz, you asked why would we make the playoffs next year.

I think there's ample reason to think it's reasonable that we'd make the playoffs last year, as reasonable as it was this year, so I'll make a case:

1) some teams are getting a little long in the tooth (see Dallas). Some teams overachieved (see Phoenix). The Wolves advanced statistics say the Wolves should have won 48-50 this year, and lost an inordinate amount of close games. Part of that is that we lack a closer, but the other part is that we got extremely unlucky for the first like 12 or so close games in that teams were hitting ridiculous off balance 3 point game winners and the Wolves were missing multiple tip ins to win with our top 2 under the basket players in Love/Pek. Also, take into account many other teams stayed pretty healthy too this year so it wasn't JUST the Wolves that stayed pretty healthy. Additionally, Dieng will be a full rotation guy and we'll have an even better rotation. We also had, by far, the most 30 point leads of any team in the NBA this year with like 14 games like that. We've also had the best +/- team ratio of any team to not make the playoffs ever I believe.

With Love next year, it's tough to say we would or wouldn't make the playoffs, but I think it's fully plausible.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

There is for sure some room for improvement. Dunno where I saw it, but the wolves had the biggest differential between the starters and the bench. Getting a real backup PG will help big time. Key though is Rubio. If he can make a jump, it'll be all the difference in the world. Second would be getting the right coach. Hell Love could even be better as well

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Can I throw this tidbit in here too? I've only seen it said maybe once or twice, but it's been on everyone's mind for years now I'd bet. Even with Love our ceiling is capped, unless we get really lucky and strike gold on a draft pick. I'd rather rebuild properly and boost this team's potential than hope to be a 2nd round exit.

I know we're supposed to want to change the culture, but the big goal is to build a winner. I wouldn't be satisfied with a team I knew had no chance at winning a championship.

Two thoughts on this. First, some of us actually like watching good, competitive basketball, even if our team may not win the title. I enjoyed watching this past season's squad, which was by far the best product they put out on the floor in nearly a decade. They were better than their 40-wins indicated IMO too.

Second, if your sole goal is to win a title, and being "just" a playoff team isn't good enough for you, than the first thing you need is a superstar. Other than Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love is the closest thing we have had to a superstar in this franchise's history. The best chance this team has of contending in the short-term is to keep Kevin Love. Everyone else is fair game, but he must be kept if you have any chance of contending next season. If you want to throw in the towel on that in the interest of tearing things down to the studs so that we can rebuild "properly", than you are probably looking at another 3-5 years of sub-30 win seasons. That might be something you will happily live with, but the majority of fans are not and it could very well lead to an existential crisis for this club.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I ultimately don't think a trade will happen this offseason. Teams are certainly calling the Wolves, but I highly doubt anyone is making a serious offer that is giving Flip pause - at least not yet. Boston and Cleveland know that Love can opt out after one season if things go sideways, so how much are they really willing to give up?

The other thing to keep in mind is that if Love opts out next season, not only is his contract off our books, so are a few others. About $13 Million more comes off the books in Barea, Shved, and Mbah Moute (although I'm hoping we can somehow get rid of Barea this offseason) . With Dieng, Rubio, may be Shabazz, and this year's #13 pick, and a boatload of cap room, we could potentially rebuild fairly quickly.

I think you have laid out the most likely scenario, q. Right now we are in that pre-draft season where fans like us tend to overvalue college players, and as a result Wolves' fans are actually excited about the prospect of trading Love for some high draft picks. And rumors about possible offers take on a life of their own, so that they almost become fact. But as much as several teams want to add Love to their roster, they are going to take their time before deciding to give up draft choices...especially with the knowledge that they may only have Love for one year. So I see it as unlikely that Flip is offered a deal good enough to trade Love.

I still think Love believes he will leave in free agency, but there may be a part of him that is still curious about what might happen here next year. It's his team, after all. I tend to wear glasses that are a little more rose-colored than most, so I'm not giving up on the possibility of the Wolves parlaying a new coach, increased use of Gorgui and Shabazz, less JJ, and contributions from our 13th pick into a stellar season that convinces Love that there is potential here. I handicap this outcome at 25% or less, so I still think there is at least a 75% chance Love leaves at the end of 2015. At that point, as Q points out, we will have ample cap space to aid in another rebuilding,.