NBA Trade Rumors: Latest on Kevin Love, New York Knicks' Draft Plans and More
With all the talk about the NBA Finals, you may have missed the really important stuff: trade rumors.
The NBA rumor mill knows no end, and it acts independently of whatever else is going on in the league.
Heck, fans of every team not named the Miami Heat or San Antonio Spurs might have more fun hypothesizing potential trades or draft picks rather than watching the Finals themselves.
For those of you monitoring each and every new development, here are three of the latest trade rumors.
Kevin Love
This is how every summer in the NBA is gonna be, isn't it? Some big star is either a free agent or a year from becoming a free agent, and each day from January to August brings a new development regarding his status.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Kevin Love appear to be at an impasse. He has a player option for the 2015-16 season, but Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported as far back as January that he wouldn't stay with the team beyond this year.
If the T-Wolves don't deal Love this offseason, they risk losing him this time next year for nothing. If they deal him midseason, they risk getting diminished returns because they will have lost a lot of leverage.
Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Minnesota isn't in any hurry to make a deal, though. The Timberwolves hope that a new coach might entice Love to stay:
Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears reported back in May that the Sacramento Kings would be willing to trade for Love without the condition that he signs a long-term deal. According to Darren Wolfson of KSTP in Minneapolis-St. Paul, that idea hasn't been broached between the two teams:
Now is the calm before the storm regarding the Love rumors. Once the draft is over and Minnesota has a new coach, speculation will hit a fever pitch.
New York Knicks
At the moment, the New York Knicks are frozen out of the 2014 NBA draft's first round as a result of the Carmelo Anthony trade. That's something team president Phil Jackson wants to change.
ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman reported that Jackson and the Knicks are hoping to move inside the first 30 picks:
Given New York's lack of assets, it's unlikely that the team would be able to get too far into the round, but P.J. Hairston would seem an attainable target if the team can land somewhere in the early to mid-20s. ESPN's draft insider Chad Ford (ESPN Insider subscription required) has the former North Carolina star ranked 23rd on his most recent big board.
Jackson and the Knicks didn't waste any time in their workout with Hairston, putting him through the paces in Jackson's famed triangle offense, per Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv:
The Knicks need to rebuild from the ground up in order to become a contender again, and that would start with gaining a first-rounder in what is a stacked NBA draft.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Unlike the Knicks, the Timberwolves possess a first-round pick, but that could change.
Ford reported on Tuesday (ESPN Insider subscription required) that Minnesota was one of a host of teams weighing whether or not to trade its lottery pick.
Wolfson reported on Wednesday that the Timberwolves are open to the idea, but that they haven't pursued it too much:
The T-Wolves need to add a shooter at some point this offseason. Maybe they can trade down to a pick in the 20s, walk away with Hairston or C.J. Wilcox and have whatever they received from the trade.
If all of that happened, it will have been a successful draft night for Minnesota.
