NBA Free Agency 2012: Is $60 Million Enough to Keep Kevin Love in Minnesota?

According to a Pioneer Press article published Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves will offer All-Star Kevin Love a four-year deal worth $60 million.

Here's the problem: Under the terms of the new CBA, Minnesota can afford as much as $80 million.

It's possible that Love is waiting for a better offer and will hold out.

Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press offers further explanation of Love's situation:

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Love, 23, who is playing for $4.6 million this season, can become a restricted free agent after the season unless he signs an extension before Jan. 25. If he opts for free agency, the Wolves would have the right to match any outside offer. Love also can return to Minnesota in 2012-13 for $6.1 million and become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

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Team president David Kahn has yet to comment on the potential deal.

For what it's worth, I think most professional athletes are overpaid. They just are. However, I also realize it's a business and it's not a situation that's going to change.

Consequently, as a Timberwolves fan, I hope that Kahn steps up and offers the forward a deal to keep him in Minnesota.

CBS Sports' Royce Young weighs in:

"[Love is] a legit building block player and while I can understand Minnesota's reservations in giving him the max, you have to do it. Or at least get closer."

In the fourth year of his NBA career, Love is one of only five players in league history to grab a double-double in the first 13 games of a season.

He is the fifth highest-paid player on the Timberwolves roster.

Will Love remain loyal to Minnesota, or is his desire for a larger market unavoidable?

Although statistically putting up better numbers than Blake Griffin, Love tends to be overshadowed by the second-year forward.

"For whatever reason [...] people see Griffin as a no-brainer superstar and Love as just a good, solid 4-man," Royce wrote.

Why is this? Do the Timberwolves' recent losing seasons affect how fans and the media view their star player?

"[He] likely sees himself as a max guy," Royce wrote, "and the Wolves will probably have to step up to the plate. I think they will. But the clock is ticking."