Kevin Love Losing Patience with Timberwolves

[Snakehead]

I actually feel a little badly for a team like Minnesota, who is trying to build a franchise.  The Twolves are pursuing good players in Batum, Brandon Roy, etc., and are trying to improve.  However, there's no way they can compete with the "super teams" being put together in the big markets.

And then by being in that middle ground area you can never really get a good draft pick.  No free agent is really excited by your team, from a talent perspective in addition to issues with location you may have.

Yeah it has to suck.

[Moranis]

I hate that. He just signed a contract extension less than a year ago. If you feel that way, don't sign the contract or at least don't sign as long of a deal.

Whiny little so-and-so.

Perhaps they made him promises.  I mean they just let a couple of younger contributing players leave and haven't replaced them.  I find it difficult to fault Love when Minnesota has done nothing this off season except let key players leave.

[Mr October]

There is no such thing as competitive nature in the new breed of NBA players anymore. Most of them just wants to win the easy way out.

Stockton didn't do this.
Reggie didn't do this.
Ewing, bad legs and all, did not do this.

Malone, Payton, Shaq, Barkley did it when they were WAY past their primes. But never wanted out during.

I understand that Minny has a long way to go. But c'mon. He's 23 (turning 24). Rubio is 21. They have a solid piece in Nikola Pekovic, not a superstar but a solid starter to get some help, and he's only 26. Jury is still out on Derrick Williams, but say he pans out, he's only 21. That's a very young core. Oh and they also got Brandon Roy who, even at 60% is probably better than most 2 guards in the NBA, he's only 27.

Minny also has 3 years to put more pieces to be a contender until his extension is over. That's a good amount of time. Add the fact that in those 3 years, Rubio is just going to get better, and maybe to some extent Williams and Pekovic.

Kevin and Rubio is not even on their prime years yet and Love is complaining already that if next year they don't make playoffs he's gonna bolt. Today's NBA players just want the easy way out of a championship and a legacy, it's pathetic.

The Knicks, Jazz and Pacers were much better run franchises than the Wolves. The Wolves are terrible.

Why should he stay with that team if they are going to bungle his career away? They've made 2 good moves since drafting Kevin Garnett and that is getting Love and Rubio. Everything else has been a mediocre to bad move. Thats almost 20 years of bad or mediocre moves.

When I have a job for a bad company and see an opportunity to go to a better company, I go! The only difference is that I can just give notice, whereas an NBA player can only get traded or wait for a contract to end.

The T-Wolves was and kinda still is a bad run franchise. But it's not like their heading South even more. Before the Rubio injury they were doing pretty good, contending a playoff spot.

Basically my knack on him is he signed a 4 year extension. That's enough time to build a contending team, of course if it's done right. He's saying he could bolt AFTER THIS YEAR, not realizing that he and another key piece of this franchise is relatively young. They were improving last year before the Rubio ACL tear. He couldn't wait for 3 years as they improve more?

True, in a perfect world Love should keep his mouth shut, at least until his contract year. I can understand why is not happy though. And he's venting. Sometimes guys in their 20's vent and say the wrong thing politically. All his all star peers have made the playoffs. The Wolves are terrible. Even if they improve what is their ceiling? First round exits will get old after a while.

[Who]

I actually feel a little badly for a team like Minnesota, who is trying to build a franchise.  The Twolves are pursuing good players in Batum, Brandon Roy, etc., and are trying to improve.  However, there's no way they can compete with the "super teams" being put together in the big markets.

I think Minnesota is at a larger deficit than anyone else in the league in terms of attracting players to come and play for them. They have such a tough time getting FAs.

Draft + trades, have to build their team that way ... free agency is too difficult to net top tier talent.

[stylo617617]

question . why sign batum when you have derick williams 2nd overall draft pick in play?

[Who]

If I were Minnesota, I'd start evaluating Kevin Love's trade value right now and be willing to deal him right now if someone gave me a comparable individual talent/prospect in return. If not, I would continue to monitor his trade value for the next few years until I find a good trade package for him.

Better to bring someone else in that will allow you to, will give you time, to build around him than someone who has a strong likelihood of bailing on you in the next few years.

Hmm, what prospect would be available for him though? Trying to look for potential trade partners and I'm having a tough time making it attractive to both sides.

No idea.

(1) Oklahoma don't seem willing to break up their core. They could make interesting offers with (a) Westbrook, or, (b) Harden plus Ibaka.

(2) Lakers with Andrew Bynum

(3) Trading Love for a top 3 pick might be the best idea. Target a specific prospect you are very high on + add a bunch of cap space.

(4) Maybe an underperforming prospect with a high ceiling like John Wall. He plays the same position as Rubio though which is a problem.

(5) Try to get Aldridge out of Portland.

The trading for the draft pick looks the most likely option.   

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

I hate that. He just signed a contract extension less than a year ago. If you feel that way, don't sign the contract or at least don't sign as long of a deal.

Whiny little so-and-so.

Probably a fueled by feeling slighted when they refused to offer him their "designated player" contract.

I do agree that its pretty shady to sign a contract extension and then take a shot at the organization so soon afterwards.

I disagree. He's basically saying thanks for committing to paying me, but I'm not staying if you don't commit to winning. I applaud his honesty. No doubt he's worth the money so not sure what's so taboo here.

[Fafnir]

I hate that. He just signed a contract extension less than a year ago. If you feel that way, don't sign the contract or at least don't sign as long of a deal.

Whiny little so-and-so.

Probably a fueled by feeling slighted when they refused to offer him their "designated player" contract.

I do agree that its pretty shady to sign a contract extension and then take a shot at the organization so soon afterwards.

I disagree. He's basically saying thanks for committing to paying me, but I'm not staying if you don't commit to winning. I applaud his honesty. No doubt he's worth the money so not sure what's so taboo here.

If you're going to immediately start complaining about the organization and/or don't feel confident in it, don't sign there.

What his actions say is that he really doesn't want to be there, but wasn't about to risk an injury which would have cost him a ton of money.

[TheFlex]

I think if anything it's not Team USA, it's not the Heat... it's ironically one of the most classiest organizations in the game today, OKC.

OKC's biggest stars are in the same generation as Love yet just went to the Finals. Without OKC, Love would hear "Man being in NY with Amar'e is great" or whatever one of the posters mentioned above and think "That'll be me, Ricky, Derrick, etc. in a few years." Without OKC, Love would see our big three and Miami's big three and LAL's big three (now big four) and think the same thing. But with OKC I think a player as competitive as him (that's what people are missing... wanting to be dominant isn't necessarily "soft" or non competitive) is looking for the instant gratitude of being able to win right from the start and continue a winning tradition until he and his teammates retires. It's sad to see that he had a momentary lapse in expressing wishes to just take the easy way out instead of working towards that, but I think come training camp he'll see a group of young, talented players who in a few years could be the makeup of the next OKC so to speak. It's not just Love, Rubio and Williams. They have Pekovic, Wesley Johnson, Randolph, Roy, and possibly Batum now. Some of those guys have the potential to be quasi-stars and if not, at least solid role players in the years to come. Stay patient Kevin! And if not, come to Boston!

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I think if anything it's not Team USA, it's not the Heat... it's ironically one of the most classiest organizations in the game today, OKC.

OKC's biggest stars are in the same generation as Love yet just went to the Finals. Without OKC, Love would hear "Man being in NY with Amar'e is great" or whatever one of the posters mentioned above and think "That'll be me, Ricky, Derrick, etc. in a few years." Without OKC, Love would see our big three and Miami's big three and LAL's big three (now big four) and think the same thing. But with OKC I think a player as competitive as him (that's what people are missing... wanting to be dominant isn't necessarily "soft" or non competitive) is looking for the instant gratitude of being able to win right from the start and continue a winning tradition until he and his teammates retires. It's sad to see that he had a momentary lapse in expressing wishes to just take the easy way out instead of working towards that, but I think come training camp he'll see a group of young, talented players who in a few years could be the makeup of the next OKC so to speak. It's not just Love, Rubio and Williams. They have Pekovic, Wesley Johnson, Randolph, Roy, and possibly Batum now. Some of those guys have the potential to be quasi-stars and if not, at least solid role players in the years to come. Stay patient Kevin! And if not, come to Boston!

Yes, but you say it like KD and OKC did it over night... no... they had to be bad with KD to get good. They had to get good picks and pick and trade correctly to be where they are. What is this, Love's 3rd-4th season? You are right, he needs to stay patient... he is only like 24... not even prime. Although Brinda bolted on Clev., he did at least give 7 seasons.

[SHAQATTACK]

All I can say is  KEVIN LOVE ...come on home bro......

WE ARE WAITING......

[Sketch5]

Losing Patience?

Maybe he should talk to PP and Kg about they team building around them and how long they had to wait. I think Mini has done some good things in moving forward.

Rubio is going to be great, and if they get Batumn He'll get some really nice help. Geez dude, your 23, in the league for a couple years. You signed a big contract now you need to man up stay put for a while before you LOSE PATIENCE...

[TheFlex]

I think if anything it's not Team USA, it's not the Heat... it's ironically one of the most classiest organizations in the game today, OKC.

OKC's biggest stars are in the same generation as Love yet just went to the Finals. Without OKC, Love would hear "Man being in NY with Amar'e is great" or whatever one of the posters mentioned above and think "That'll be me, Ricky, Derrick, etc. in a few years." Without OKC, Love would see our big three and Miami's big three and LAL's big three (now big four) and think the same thing. But with OKC I think a player as competitive as him (that's what people are missing... wanting to be dominant isn't necessarily "soft" or non competitive) is looking for the instant gratitude of being able to win right from the start and continue a winning tradition until he and his teammates retires. It's sad to see that he had a momentary lapse in expressing wishes to just take the easy way out instead of working towards that, but I think come training camp he'll see a group of young, talented players who in a few years could be the makeup of the next OKC so to speak. It's not just Love, Rubio and Williams. They have Pekovic, Wesley Johnson, Randolph, Roy, and possibly Batum now. Some of those guys have the potential to be quasi-stars and if not, at least solid role players in the years to come. Stay patient Kevin! And if not, come to Boston!

Yes, but you say it like KD and OKC did it over night... no... they had to be bad with KD to get good. They had to get good picks and pick and trade correctly to be where they are. What is this, Love's 3rd-4th season? You are right, he needs to stay patient... he is only like 24... not even prime. Although Brinda bolted on Clev., he did at least give 7 seasons.

It didn't happen overnight no, but immediately after Durant came Westbrook and after that Harden. Granted they weren't exactly the players they are today right from the start but they certainly showed immediate promise. Love hasn't seen Westbrook/Harden type additions to the team until this year when Rubio finally came over. Flynn was decent for a year, they traded Lawson for a pick, Johnson is still developing but I don't think he'll ever be an All-Star or even close, Williams is nice but for every flash of greatness comes another question mark... at least Durant could see the team improving. It doesn't mean Love, Rubio, and Williams can't be the next trio of All-Stars, but the stars don't align quite as nicely as they did in OKC. Love saw a half season of improvement before Rubio went down. So it's understandable that he's frustrated.

And also, it took Durant two seasons to get to the playoffs and five to get to the NBA Finals. The 2012-13 campaign will be Love's fifth go-around and he hasn't even come close to the playoffs yet. If they're completely and 100% healthy this year they might snag a seventh or eighth seed. So yes, both Love and Durant are both still young and both have had to (one still is having to) go through some hardships to get jumpstarted, but there's no question that Durant didn't have to wait around long to get going.