Small Market Teams in the NBA: How Their Future Could Depend on Kevin Love

Some people blamed LeBron James for the lockout. I thought when I heard this, "That's stupid. He took less money than some of the now bench players in the league." However, when I thought about it, this statement became more true.

The major issue of the lockout was that small market teams want to become more competitive. LeBron James kind of screwed that up single-handedly .

Granted, when LeBron James left, I was one of the first to point out that Cleveland didn't surround him with great players, and he had the right to leave as a free agent. However, part of the reason Cleveland couldn't gain good players is because no one wanted to join a team where LeBron would just abandon them in a few years.

So LeBron left. And with him came the growing trend of NBA superstars packing up and picking exactly where they want to play basketball.

In my mind, this is making the NBA a whole lot worse.

Players can't put together a good NBA team. General managers put together a good NBA team. If you look at the success of almost any team in the history of the NBA, it was sneaky trades, good draft picks and subsequent later free agent signings that win championships in this league.

Take any of the latest championships in this league. Dirk stuck with the Mavs year after year, and finally won a title. Kobe stuck with the Lakers, and through their moves to acquire Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, drafting Andrew Bynum and then signing the player formally known as, "Ron Artest" led them to a championship. Before them came the Celtics, who Paul Pierce stuck with through years of adversity, and finally won a championship by staying with the team, who later traded for KG and Ray Allen.

But now as we enter the era of pick your teammates, we are going to enter an era of bad basketball.

New York Knicks is a team that everyone expects to become up-and-coming champions. However, with Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony leading the charge, they are becoming one of the worst defensive teams in the league. LeBron, Bosh and Wade clearly have a ton of issues in the paint, and at the point, and even with two of the top 5 players in the world playing together, they still couldn't finish the job against Dirk and company.

Now, while this shift in the league is happening, there are still some teams making it big doing things the old fashioned way. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls have recently drafted very well, traded very well and gotten their teams established with some key free agents, but no where near the superstar status of LeBron or Wade.

However, there are still many small market teams in the dumps right now. The Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Bobcats, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors are still among the worst teams in the league. Most of these teams are on par with each other in a lot of ways. However, Minnesota is in a slightly more unique situation. The Timberwolves are a team with a lot resting on a future superstar that may leave soon.

Kevin Love will become a restricted free agent next season. Despite the fact that the Wolves are completely infatuated with Love and will undoubtedly match any offer sent his way, he has given us the indication that he may be searching for a change of scenery when that time comes. However, Love has the ability to start a change in the face of the NBA today by simply turning toward the Timberwolves and signing an extension.

This would send a huge message across the league. With the growing trend of the top players in the league leaving the moment they feel as though their team is slipping away, players need to start trusting their general managers to make smart decisions. Because once the superstar is committed, other players will soon be willing to join their forces.

Because honestly, which would you rather join: A team where Kevin Love may be leaving in the next few years, possibly even next year, or a team where Kevin Love has stated publicly, and proven in writing that he's not going anywhere for the next 5 years? Probably the latter.

One of the major flaws in this logic is that the Wolves are historically not a team worth committing to. But Kevin Love is only 23 years old, and by signing a 5 year contract, he's only committing about 1/4 of his career to this team. And who doesn't want to work under Rick Adelman? Plus with the additions of Derrick Williams and Ricky Rubio to a young squad that already has Michael Beasley, Wesley Johnson and Anthony Randolph, this team has a wealth of potential. Add the fact that Minnesota could potentially sign some free agents, and you have a team. However, the Wolves will only have a team if Kevin Love is willing to commit to it.

This recent notion of having players pick their teammates and destinations is screwing up the league. We're suddenly filling up rosters with starters that should barely be considered bench players alongside two or maybe three of the best players in the league. Players like John Wall, Kevin Love and Tyreke Evans could change that if they commit to their small market teams. It's just that Kevin Love has this opportunity first.