Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 recent offseason tragedies

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 03: A close up shot of Ricky Rubio #9 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 3, 2017. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

3 of 6

Photo by Chris Elise/Getty Images /

4. The Kevin Love trade

On Aug. 23, 2014, ESPN broke the news that the Minnesota Timberwolves had traded star forward Kevin Love in a three-team deal that sent Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young to Minnesota, and Alexey Shved and Luc Mbah a Moute to the Philadelphia 76ers.

To be fair, this wasn’t a move that hurt too many Timberwolves fans, since Love had requested an opt-out, making him a free agent at the end of the 2014-15 season. Still, over time, everyone would come to realize the trade didn’t give the Wolves too much in return.

Minnesota did not receive another draft pick in the deal, two of the three players acquired are no longer on the roster, and the third (Andrew Wiggins) is reportedly “unhappy” and the Wolves were looking to trade him this offseason. This move also sent away a player who had been steadily increasing his production, and was looking more and more like the (lesser) successor to Kevin Garnett that Minnesota fans had been craving.

Love is now the centerpiece to another rebuilding squad with the Cavs, though that came after he won a championship. Minnesota, for all its trouble, just recently broke a historic playoff drought, only to upset one of the key players on that team and lose another.

Home/Minnesota Timberwolves