Are Danny & K Love basically forcing the Wolves hand to create the 'fireworks'?

[Smokeeye123]

the visit did seem rehearsed -- particularly the Fenway photo.

after the hype, I hope Love liked what he saw about Boston.  would suck if he didn't like the city. 

I still think Boston gets him, hopefully for nothing more than 1-2 young players and 1-2 draft picks (3 assets total) and non guaranteed contracts to balance salary.

I hope someone told Love the weather in Boston this weekend was what it's like all the time

[prov1ml34]

The rebuilding Timberwolves will not sign and trade for three years of a soon-to-be 34 year old Pau Gasol.

Nor is Pau Gasol at this stage in his career, going to pick Minnesota. He wants to go to a contender.

[MBunge]

I think they could make a fairly decent offer during free agency, something like Pau (s/t 3 yrs, 36 million or whatever), Sacre, and the rookie at #7 (and maybe Nash) for Love, Brewer, Budinger, Barea, and/or Martin (or any combination of players as LA is below the cap and can absorb a bunch of salary).

Trade clears a bunch of long term salary for Minnesota, gets them a high value rookie in #7 and a pretty nice PF replacement in Pau.  Pau gets to move back to PF next to a real center in Pekovic and play with his countryman in Rubio (plus get a decent contract which is why he might do it).  It wouldn't be a bad return at all for Minnesota and LA will need players so absorbing some salary makes a bit of sense for them as those guys would fill in nicely around Kobe and Love.

Besides the fact that Pau will NOT go to Minny, if Sacre, the #7 and cap relief is the crux of a deal for Love, I believe the state of Minnesota will go up in flames.

Mike

[wdleehi]

If nothing else, it sets up Boston as a landing spot for other free agents.   If it is a location a star like Love wants to go to, then it is a location other players and stars will want to go to.

[colincb]

You guys are getting way ahead of yourselves.  I don't think Love has all the leverage here as to where he goes or that he's narrowed it down to the Cs.  He can scare off teams by saying he won't re-sign, but Minnesota's going to have a fair amount to say about where he goes too.  We can conclude that we're now on his radar. Boston's a great sports town, the Cs are a premier franchise, and we have a strong offer (IF the T_Wolves try to step back and then move forward  to contend rather than reach for players that will get them a late seed in the playoffs next year. Not the brightest franchise historically).

It's very unlikely that he's going to LA though. They're in worse shape then we as far as returning to contention with Kobe's contract as an anchor and have little to offer the T-Wolves outside the 7th pick and expirings. We can give them a higher pick, more picks, immediate cap relief, promising players, and/or established players.

[hpantazo]

Although the lakers do have less to offer, they also have a history of getting big name players for less in trades

Once a star player says I will only consider resigning in LA then there is not much that the teams wih better offers can do.

[Irish Stew]

If Love gives the Wolves a Lakers only ultimatum, I would still offer Sullinger and only #6 pick this year and one future #1 without any guarantee. It's worth the risk. Once he's here and we have Rondo, Bradley, Green and Asik to surround him and we're a 3 or 4 seed this year, it may not be hard to convince him to stay. We can still give him more money and our future would be extremely bright to get that third all-star. However, I don't believe that this will be necessary as I think this is an acceptable destination for him.

[LooseCannon]

So, when is the first date that trades can be discussed/announced?  Apologies if this was already covered.

Trades can't be made between the trade deadline and a team's last game of the season.  Trades can't be made during the July moratorium before the kickoff of free agency.

Trades can always be discussed, they just can't be made official during those periods and teams aren't supposed to comment on trades that are not official.

[Fafnir]

I think they could make a fairly decent offer during free agency, something like Pau (s/t 3 yrs, 36 million or whatever), Sacre, and the rookie at #7 (and maybe Nash) for Love, Brewer, Budinger, Barea, and/or Martin (or any combination of players as LA is below the cap and can absorb a bunch of salary).

Trade clears a bunch of long term salary for Minnesota, gets them a high value rookie in #7 and a pretty nice PF replacement in Pau.  Pau gets to move back to PF next to a real center in Pekovic and play with his countryman in Rubio (plus get a decent contract which is why he might do it).  It wouldn't be a bad return at all for Minnesota and LA will need players so absorbing some salary makes a bit of sense for them as those guys would fill in nicely around Kobe and Love.

Besides the fact that Pau will NOT go to Minny, if Sacre, the #7 and cap relief is the crux of a deal for Love, I believe the state of Minnesota will go up in flames.

Mike

Yeah pretty much.

Wolves fans and many NBA analysts also poop on the C's potential bids too and its much better than the Lakers. It will be interesting to see how much the Wolves can actually get.

Carmelo got: Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Gallinari, Mozgov, 2 picks and dumped Billups/Carter on the Knicks.

But that was with Dolan pulling the strings and blinking horribly.

[D.o.s.]

So, when is the first date that trades can be discussed/announced?  Apologies if this was already covered.

Trades can't be made between the trade deadline and a team's last game of the season.  Trades can't be made during the July moratorium before the kickoff of free agency.

Trades can always be discussed, they just can't be made official during those periods and teams aren't supposed to comment on trades that are not official.

Right -- hence the 'sources familiar with the talks said, requesting anonymity because trades cannot be officially announced until July Xth' type disclaimers.

[TheFlex]

All I know is, this was a carefully planned media/pr event. That photo with Rondo was not taken by some random fan, that was professionally done. Love could have easily carried out his visit with barely anyone noticing and without his agent if he wanted too.

Now , is it to force Minnys hand for a Boston trade? Maybe. Is it to help Minny drive up the price for a trade with the lakers? Maybe.

Why would Love want to strip assets from an already asset- poor destination?  All this talk about the Lakers is ridiculous anyway.  They simply don't have a competitive offer.