5 Reasons Why Kevin Love’s Best Option Is The Phoenix Suns
5. The Suns and Timberwolves could work out the best deal:
The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers have been mentioned when Kevin Love’s free agency comes up, but the whole point of Love essentially forcing management’s hand to deal him before they lose him for nothing is to play for a playoff team. Teams like the Warriors, Bulls, Suns and Houston Rockets would all be interested in Love and the possibility that any of them would miss the playoffs after adding him to the roster is nearly unthinkable. That being said, the Suns would be Minnesota’s most attractive suitor for Love.
Phoenix will have at least four picks in the loaded 2014 NBA Draft and could have as many as five if the Suns miraculously land in the top three of the draft lottery and the Timberwolves do not. None of these picks figure to be very high up, but if the Suns don’t get Minnesota’s pick this year, it would defer to 2015, where the Suns also have a top-5 protected pick from the Los Angeles Lakers as a part of the Steve Nash deal. Basically, the Suns have more picks coming out their ears in the next two years than Tony Romo will.
PHX pitch:
— Chillin in my Bacta (@DarthAmin) May 18, 2014
1- We can give you lots of future building blocks
2- We can give you decent role guys
3- We can take toxic deals off your hands
But the assets don’t stop there. As much as the chemistry must be respected with this young team, Phoenix has plenty of useful pieces the Wolves could use in what would be their new rebuilding process. Channing Frye proved he’s one of the league’s deadliest pick-and-pop options as a stretch-4 this past season. Miles Plumlee proved his potential as a starting center in just his second NBA season. Alex Len showed flashes of promise and is an extremely young prospect at 20 years old. The same could be said of the 19-year-old Archie Goodwin, to a slightly lesser degree. Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris are two pieces the Suns would be reluctant to part with, especially after Chief ‘Kieff’s breakout season as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, but if Kevin Love is in play you pretty much have to do it.
If the Suns are able to get a deal together while keeping their hands on Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe, that Big Three would be enough to firmly entrench Phoenix in the playoff picture. Without Love last season, the Suns were two games away from a playoff berth. With Love and roughly the same roster intact, Phoenix would become a fringe Western Conference contender. For the Wolves, the Suns are one of the most attractive trade partners in the league and would aid them in their rebuilding process with plenty of draft picks and young assets.