Minnesota Timberwolves: Should the Wolves Consider Trading Kevin Love?

Should the Minnesota Timberwolves consider trading Kevin Love? Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com

Even after Kevin Love broke his hand during the preseason, there were some people out there who were still bullish on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ chances in 2012-13.

Sports Illustrated’s Paul Forrester picked the Timberwolves as his surprise team in the NBA this season:

"“Despite the early-season absences of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, there are a lot of reasons to believe the Wolves will still reach the playoffs for the first time since 2004. There’s Rick Adelman, whose history as a turnaround artist is as underrated as his offensive schemes. And that’s to say nothing of his experience forging winning teams in Houston without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady at various times. There’s a rebuilt level of depth, with Andrei Kirilenko, Brandon Roy and Chase Budinger trumping the departed Michael Beasley, Wesley Johnson and Martell Webster. There are the developing Nikola Pekovic, who proved to be one of the NBA’s most productive big men on a per-minute basis last season, and former No. 2 pick Derrick Williams, who reportedly spent the summer working on his conditioning and ball-handling. Finally, there are Love and Rubio, who are good enough to fuel a second-half run should the Wolves get off to a slow start, which is likely.”"

Rubio and Love, when they’ve been healthy enough to be on the court together, can do some special things.

But we all know how it played out in 2012-13. Pekovic was as good as advertised, getting 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds a game on 52 percent shooting. His player-efficiency rating of 20.26 was in the top 10 among centers. But Pekovic had trouble staying healthy last year. He sprained his left ankle twice, had a contused right thigh and left calf and a strained abdominal and, with all of those, missed 20 games in all.

Of course, if there was a theme for the 2012-13 Timberwolves, it was health—or a complete lack thereof. Luke Ridnour was the only player on the roster to play in all 82 games. Kirilenko missed 18 games. Rubio missed 25. Roy only played in five before his balky knees acted up. Budinger blew out a knee and missed 59 games.

And then there’s Kevin Love.

Love came back from a broken hand and played 18 games. He had trouble getting his shooting touch back—he was just a 35.2 percent shooter and made just 21.7 percent from 3-point range. That compares to marks of 45.7 and 37.2, respectively, over his first four seasons.

Then Love reinjured his hand in early January and was done for the year, eventually having surgery in April to remove scar tissue from his left knee.

Minnesota finished 31-51, dead last in the Northwest Division, and missed the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year. So as they prepare for the offseason, one question for whoever is running the franchise—Yahoo! Sports reported on April 26 that David Kahn is going to be fired as president of basketball operations and replaced by Flip Saunders, though that hasn’t happened yet—is this: Should the Timberwolves entertain the notion of trading Kevin Love?

For his part, Love vented in December to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that he wasn’t exactly a happy camper in the Twin Cities.

“I don’t know who labels people stars, but even [Timberwolves owner] Glen Taylor said: I don’t think Kevin Love is a star, because he hasn’t led us to the playoffs,” Love said. “I mean, it’s not like I had much support out there.

“That’s a tough pill to swallow.”

The Chicago Bulls have had an interest in Love for a long time, according to ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell. One trade scenario suggested by Grantland’s Bill Simmons involved moving either Luol Deng or Carlos Boozer, Jimmy Butler, the rights to 2011 first-round pick Nikola Mirotic and Charlotte’s future No. 1 pick from the trade for Tyrus Thomas in a deal for Love.

That would be a heck of a package for Love, but it’s also unlikely Chicago would be willing to give up all of that for a guy who has only been healthy for 73 games over the last two seasons.

On the other hand, he’s also only 24 years old and is a guy who can get 20 points and 20 rebounds on a regular basis, games such as the one he put together against the Cleveland Cavaliers in December.

Love also has an option to opt out of his deal after the 2014-15 season and, given the less-than-complimentary comments from Taylor, he also has an incentive to exercise that option.

That falls on Kahn, who should have locked up Love to a five-year maximum deal when he had the chance but instead gave Love a four-year deal with an opt-out. It is decisions like that which have exponentially increased the temperature level of his chair.

Another quote from Love tells of just how unhappy he was over Minnesota’s decision to save their max deal for, presumably anyway, Rubio.

“I have a very, very good memory and I always remember the people who have done right by me and the people who have done wrong by me,” Love said. “It will be embedded in my brain and something I won’t forget about. There’s no telling what will happen. I would love to compete for a championship in Minnesota, but …”

So if Saunders replaced Kahn, as has been widely rumored, his first order of business will be to try to rapidly mend fences with his star.

If Saunders can’t pull that off, then the next best thing would be to see how many assets he could bring to the Twin Cities before Love decides to walk away and leave the Timberwolves empty-handed in two years.