Kevin Love: 6 Ways the Timberwolves Can Ensure He Stays With the Team

The Minnesota Timberwolves' cup runneth over with drama. This offseason has been no exception. 

Fortunately, the summer 2011 news cycle surrounding the team was largely positive with the additions of Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams. And Kevin Love's breakout season was the high note for this Wolves 2010-2011 season.  

But underlying drama festers in Minny. Kahn is up to his usual antics, most recently by taking his sweet time to fire Kurt Rambis.  

Kevin Love is obviously looking over the fence at greener basketball pastures. His name was thrown around in trade talks this offseason. We don't know if he loves it or hates in Minnesota, but this is the season to ensure that he sticks around for a while.  

Here is a look at what the team needs to do to keep Love in a Wolves uniform. 

David Kahn: Make the Right Moves

David KAAAHHHHNNNNN ensured the Timberwolves would continue to get no respect by culminating his prolonged firing of Kurt Rambis.

Even so, Kahn has shown flashes of being a decent GM by getting Michael Beasley for next to nothing and convincing Ricky Rubio to play in the hinterlands of Minnesota.

And then there is a laundry list of laughable moves: point guard stocking, giving everything but the kitchen sink to Darko and hiring a triangle offense coach for a run and gun team.

David Kahn needs to get his head on straight and make the right moves to bring this organization back to basketball relevance. If he makes any more boneheaded decisions, Kevin Love will be on the first plane out of MSP.   

Develop Ricky Rubio

Ricky Rubio is the current "it" guy in Minnesota. All eyes are on him.

Two years of waiting, suspense and frustration have reached a boiling point among Timberwolves fans. If there is a season, Rubio will finally be able to display his heralded ball handling skills in the Target Center.

Kevin Love is happy to finally see Ricky come to Minnesota as well. There is a lot of talent, money, time and energy invested to Rubio. If all of that does not pan out, Love might be the first guy to become frustrated.

Make Him the Next Big Thing

Kevin Love is argubably the second-most marketable superstar in Minnesota, behind Joe Mauer (Love's Right Guard or Mauer's Head and Shoulders?).

The Timberwolves need to market, market and market their All-Star forward.

Why? Because fans in Minnesota haven't cared about basketball in years. Love is one of the most likable basketball players in the league. He made some of the funniest promotions in all of sports.

Granted, making Love even more likable starts with winning. But the more Minnesota fans see of Love, the more they will care if he sticks around. We need Love to feel like people want him to be here.

With the dearth of good news in the organization, Love's double-double streak and 30-30 game, gave Minnesota sports fans some much needed warm fuzzies this past season. The team needs to make sure Love knows that.

Get the Right Coach

The Rambis era in Minnesota is over. The rebuilding mode continues and this next season is a crossroads for the organization. Excitement is at an all-time high (post-KG) and the team finally has a decent mixture of good veterans and exciting rookies.

The team just needs the right skipper at the helm. Love stated that he doesn't have a preference for who will coach the team next, but Kahn needs to keep Kevin during the process. Developing young players must be in the next coaches skill set.

This team cannot stay on the coaching carousel any longer. The drama needs to stop and the Wolves need to find someone who will guide this team for the long haul.

Kevin could easily take his talents to an established franchise if there is more indecision in the front office. 

Get Veteran Help

As said before, this team is the one of the youngest in the league. After Love's team USA experience in the offseason, I'm sure he would love to play with a player who has a winning pedigree (or at least someone who has made the playoffs).

Bringing in someone like Tyson Chandler or Andre Igoudala would put a huge check mark in the "stick around Minnesota" column for Love.

Finding a Winning Attitude

Ever since KG left, the Timberwolves have been alright with losing a lot of games. The players don't have the winning attitude that championship teams posess. The attitude in locker room needs to change.

This may partly fall on Love's shoulders, but it must permeate through the entire organization. Everyone from upper management to the twelfth man on the bench needs to become obsessed with winning games.

Love can provide the winning spark, but the team must provide the fuel if winning is going to catch fire.  

Hopefully, David Kahn, Glen Taylor, and the rest of the Timberwolves organization can do these things to ensure Kevin Love stays in a Minnesota uniform for a while.