Minnesota Timberwolves: Giving Up Too Easily On Kevin Love?

They say nothing good comes easy. Thus has been the course for Kevin Love’s tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves – nothing good.

After Love made it clear that he intends to become an unrestricted free agent after next season, it seems Wolves owner Glen Taylor did everything but put up the bright and blinking “thank you for visiting Minnesota” sign.

As reported by Charles Walters at the Pioneer Press, Taylor halfway renounced the Timberwolves interest in trading Love saying, “I should never say never because who knows what might come up? But that’s not our plan.” Taylor left himself an out continuing with “I’m not in a position where you would say absolutely I wouldn’t do it, because what if something that I can’t even speculate (on) happens. You’d say, ‘You’re nuts, Glen.’ Maybe some team puts a value on him that’s different than we suspect.”

Most teams aren’t interested in overpaying for anything. Being overcompensated for Kevin Love is an idea Taylor needs to relinquish – or at best never mention again. It’s a concept that quite possibly the Minnesota Timberwolves have arrived at a bit too fast.

Any guy at the bar will tell you rejection is only a doorway to receiving a “yes,” and as this is the first public rejection Love’s given the Wolves, it suggests that all is not lost. Perhaps the Timberwolves are throwing their cards in too quick. With only $45 million on the books for the 2015-16 season, the Wolves need to pitch like Gordon Gekko. After all, greed is good – and what good is it to develop your first-round draft pick into a double-double machine, just to watch him walk away?

In his most games played (77) since the 2010-11 season, Love put up 2,010 points on the year, hoping to push the Timberwolves to their first playoff appearance since 2004. He averaged a career high in points, netting 26.1 per game with 12.5 rebounds, and somehow that’s resulted in Taylor and Wolves president Flip Saunders fielding offers for the All-Star forward. They’ll entertain every swap under the sun, when their time would be better spent entertaining Love with stories on how the Wolves plan to shift the Western Conference balance of power in their direction.

With more than $20 million in cap room in 2015/16, there’s an interesting story to be told filled with hope and optimism. However the Wolves front office needs to remind Love of the old adage “sometimes the grass isn’t greener.” Whether Love plans to land with the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks or any of the other 25 teams that would welcome his services – nothing is certain. There’s always the potential to end up on a dud – just ask Steve Nash.

Winning on the highest level in the NBA is dependent on a multitude of factors. One major injury, the smallest lack of chemistry, or any type of momentum killer brings déjà vu for any free agent seeking exile from his below .500 squad. Taylor and Saunders must remind Love of their vision; anything less than it being crystal-clear and they’ll spend their summer hoping for “equal talent”.