Hoops Habit
Fansided

Minnesota Timberwolves: Nothing Is Happening

By Trevor Magnotti

Jan 24, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward David Lee (10) and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love (42) fight for control of a loose ball in the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Timberwolves defeated the Warriors 121-120. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 24, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward David Lee (10) and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love (42) fight for control of a loose ball in the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Timberwolves defeated the Warriors 121-120. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

There is no news to report in regards to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Free agency has been a holding pattern for the T’Wolves. Kevin Love wants out. The Timberwolves don’t really have room to make any moves to convince him to stay.

There are some suitors for Love. The T’Wolves do not appear interested in any proposed deals.

We’re in the same spot we were in a month ago.

More from Minnesota Timberwolves

The Warriors have consistently been linked to a potential Kevin Love trade, but the news out of Golden State has basically been the same. The Wolves want Klay Thompson. The Warriors are refusing to part with Klay Thompson.

So, yeah.

Boston also wants Kevin Love, but there hasn’t really been any movement regarding this deal, either. Boston packages have been rumored to include Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Zeller, and pieces of Boston’s draft pick horde.

However, none of those players seem that appealing as potential Love return, and the Celtics’ extra picks are from the Nets, Clippers, and Cavaliers, all of whom should be playoff teams and not yield solid draft position for the foreseeable future. Again, the T’Wolves aren’t interested.

The Cavaliers became a Kevin Love suitor this weekend, as they signed LeBron James, and Love stated he’d be open to joining the Cavs for the long term. However, the Cavs deal basically is at the same stopping point the Warriors deal is at: The Timberwolves want top overall pick Andrew Wiggins. The Cavaliers are not willing to part with him.

That makes a potential deal center around some combination of Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, and Anthony Bennett, which doesn’t interest Minnesota.

So, here we are. This Love trade discussion has dragged on for more than a month, and will likely continue to drag on.

The Timberwolves don’t appear to have a chance to re-sign Love, so they kind of have to make a trade in order to get some kind of return for him. The common theme, though, appears to be that the Timberwolves want more of a return than teams think he is worth, likely because of Love’s contract situation.

If Love isn’t willing to re-sign, he could essentially be a one-year rental for a team, which makes many teams (the Cavs in particular) wary of dealing a big asset for him. So, if the Wolves stick to their guns, and other teams stick to theirs, we likely won’t see any new developments in the Kevin Love cold war for some time.

The discourse surrounding potential Love trades is making this a lot worse. Twitter and blogs have been filled with stances centered around “The Timberwolves should/shouldn’t make X move!” or “X player/package is/isn’t worth Kevin Love!”

With no real new developments or progression on deals, though, these arguments quickly become circular and exhausting, because nothing new ever comes from them. And, even if they did, it isn’t going to change how the Timberwolves appear to feel about the situation.

It just becomes an annoyance over time, and that’s even before we get to the arguments that Kevin Love can’t win, is a glorified stat-stuffer, or is one of the worst defensive players in the league, none of which are based even remotely in fact.

It would be one thing if there was anything else positive going on to distract from the Love issue. However, little is happening outside of Love talks.

The Timberwolves’ Summer League team has been mostly forgettable, with non-competitive losses to the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, and the Chicago Bulls, and the only player who has even remotely impressed so far is Gorgui Dieng, who was the only player who’d shown anything as a pro so far anyway.

The Timberwolves also haven’t even been linked to many potential free agent signings. The lone new player the T’Wolves have shown reported interest in is Evan Turner.

Wonderful.

Live Feed

3 Miami Heat starting lineup options without Damian Lillard
3 Miami Heat starting lineup options without Damian Lillard /

All U Can Heat

  • Hornets get veteran depth in proposed trade with MiamiSwarm and Sting
  • 3 players who could break into Heat starting lineupFanSided
  • 7 players the Cleveland Cavaliers held onto for way too longKing James Gospel
  • Miami Heat bring back Josh Richardson, re-sign Kevin LoveAll U Can Heat
  • Lakers Rumors: LA could reunite LeBron James with former Cavs teammateFanSided

    • So, here we stand. Unless a new team, like Houston or Sacramento, becomes active in trade talks, or one of Andrew Wiggins or Klay Thompson becomes available, the T’Wolves will likely remain in this holding pattern for the foreseeable future.

    Until then, we’re stuck listening to potential issues or merits to the Warriors, Celtics, and Cavaliers’ packages.

    If that interests you, that’s great. But in terms of real progress or news regarding the Minnesota Timberwolves, nothing is happening.

    Home/Minnesota Timberwolves