NBA Trade Rumors That Don't Make Sense: Pau Gasol and Kevin Love
Kevin Love has everything going for him.
He’s 22. He’s an NBA All-Star. He’s the league’s top rebounder. He has a sweet beard. He’s a millionaire. He’s related to a Beach Boy. He can do things like this. He lives in...Minnesota.
Okay, so his zip code is a bit underwhelming. Not exactly a place you convince other All-Stars to come live. No one likes living in the snow, ask LeBron James (Obligatory LBJ reference? Check).
For the sake of candor I’ll get right to the point: Minnesota is cold and boring. That’s the double-whammy for NBA players, who will tolerate one or the other, but not both.
I’m sure K-Love has given the twin cities a chance, but recruiting players to the American version of the North Pole is futile. Places like that make you stir-crazy. Do you think if the Overlook Hotel was in the Bahamas, Jack Nicholson would try to chop his family into tiny little pieces? Of course not. He’d be sipping rum on the beach with Danny and Olive Oil, not chasing them through the snow with an axe.
Why does this matter? Because unless the new CBA forces him to stay, it’s a sure thing that Kevin Love is on the first bus out of town once his current contract expires.
Fair? No.
Realistic? Yes.
I know this. You know this. Kevin Love knows this. Most importantly, Minnesota knows this.
Kevin Love made them relevant last season and they either need him to stay, or trade him for someone who will. Wolves GM David Kahn has tried convincing Spanish wonder kid Ricky Rubio to come to the northwest for years, and it looks like he's finally arrived. But for how long? Do you think a scraggly seven foot Spaniard with two NBA Championship rings might keep Rubio there for the long haul?
Suddenly trading Kevin Love and the No. 2 pick in the Draft for Pau Gasol makes a world sense for Kahn. One move turns Minny into Barcelona NW.
Here’s the kicker: word around town is that the Lakers actually initiated this discussion. This is all speculation, but for argument’s sake, REALLY?
If David Kahn called me to offer the entire Wolves roster for Pau Gasol I’d hang up on him.
Sure it sounds sexy on paper: Lakers acquire league’s top rebounder and future star for big man who flamed out in the playoffs.
Unless you write it like this: Lakers lose most consistent big man in NBA for league’s top overachiever and unproven young player.
I know Pau is the resident scapegoat and all Lakers fans want to burn him on the cross for his lifeless playoff flame out, but let’s not single him out for that debacle. Derek Fisher had a measly six ppg on 31 percent shooting. Ron Artest supposedly had eight points on 32 percent shooting, but I can’t remember one shot he made. Lamar Odom’s best play was a body check on Dirk Nowitzki after the season ended. I’m pretty sure the entire Lakers’ bench was zipped up in a black bag and put on ice sometime in April.
Laying in the weeds was Kobe Bryant’s performance: 23 points, 2.5 assists, 22 percent 3-point shooting and one crucial potential game-winning miss. This was conveniently overlooked because A. he’s Kobe, B. Pau Gasol was even worse, and C. Andrew Bynum nearly killed a man.
So curb the mob mentality before we go all Monty Python on Pau Gasol and ruin the few remaining years of the Kobe Bryant Era.
Keep in mind that Pau Gasol is the perfect fit for Kobe and the Lakers, and the lynch pin in the rotation of 7-footers that (still) makes the Lakers a nightmare match up.
Kevin Love is a career 46 percent shooter who will likely not reach 20 point, 15 rebound averages ever again.
Let’s give Pau the benefit of the doubt, and chalk it up to fatigue. It’s not like he had much help. There is no sense in dismantling a team that averaged 60 wins over the past three seasons and made the finals three of the last four years.
This spring was a blessing in disguise for the Lakers, who needed a good reminder that if you don’t bring you’re A-game, you get smacked.
Hello Mr. Kahn, thank you for the call. Let me save you the trouble and end this trade talk now.
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