Woj confirms Love visit was for basketball reasons on Fox Sports

[chambers]

Fox Sports TV last night from the show:

"Through my sources, I reported recently that Minnesota All-Star Kevin Love had a significant interest in the Boston Celtics when he becomes a free agent next summer. That's the reason he spent this weekend with his agent and personal trainer in the city getting a great sense of the sporting landscape."

"Love continues to maintain to Minnesota management that he wants a trade before next season or he's going to opt out and the organization will get nothing for him".

Good to hear. Just need Woj to add '..to the Celtics' on that 'wants a trade before next season'. 

Very good news indeed.

[j804]

This is all but confirmed now just awesome. He would welcome coming here even as a free agent. Wow

[Donoghus]

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

[D.o.s.]

[LooseCannon]

Aren't there a bunch of people on this forum who claim that a top free agent would never be interested in coming to Boston?

[Evantime34]

If Love really wants to sign here next year, would anyone on this board be willing to build our team this year so that we have cap space for him next year instead of trading for him? Keeping all of our assets and adding Love would make it a lot easier to build a team around him.

[BigAlTheFuture]

I could wait a year...

[D.o.s.]

If Love really wants to sign here next year, would anyone on this board be willing to build our team this year so that we have cap space for him next year instead of trading for him? Keeping all of our assets and adding Love would make it a lot easier to build a team around him.

I agree with your second sentence, but Love will make more money by being traded this season, opting in, and extending with whatever team he lands on -- so not only will he and his agent push for that, I doubt he'll be willing to take a pay cut on what will be the largest contract of his career.

[manl_lui]

If Love really wants to sign here next year, would anyone on this board be willing to build our team this year so that we have cap space for him next year instead of trading for him? Keeping all of our assets and adding Love would make it a lot easier to build a team around him.

if we can confirm he is coming here as a FA, we can still keep the 6th pick, draft Smart/Gordon, and keep gutting the roster to make roster spots

heck, we can attempt to trade Sully for other role players or use him and pieces to trade for another star

[moiso]

Aren't there a bunch of people on this forum who claim that a top free agent would never be interested in coming to Boston?

There are because it has never happened.  This would be a dream scenario if he just came to Boston after next season.

[fairweatherfan]

Gotta say, I still have mixed feelings on Love coming here, but I respect the guy undermining Minnesota's trade leverage by doing this so publicly.  A good price would go a long way towards making me more optimistic about him coming here.

[Lucky17]

Would there even be enough cap space to land Love in free agency?

Would Bradley be on the roster?
Would Jeff Green exercise his player option?
Are unguaranteed contracts like Bogans and Faverani still with the team, or have they been used to acquire a rotational player?
Has the Nets TE been used?
What about this year's MLE?
Cap hold for Rondo, who's expiring next year?
What about using Humphries' and Bayless' Bird Rights in sign and trades to acquire a rotational player/assets?
Do we have rookie deals for Sullinger and Olynyk, plus the incoming 2014 class, on the books?

If Ainge addresses all of these questions with a priority of maintaining enough cap space next year for a free agent, the Celtics are probably heading for another year in the tank. How might that affect Love's interest in signing as a free agent? How might that affect Rondo's interest in re-upping in Boston?

[LooseCannon]

If Love really wants to sign here next year, would anyone on this board be willing to build our team this year so that we have cap space for him next year instead of trading for him? Keeping all of our assets and adding Love would make it a lot easier to build a team around him.

It might make it harder.

Do a trade now and you can use Bird rights to bring back Avery Bradley, use the TPE to acquire a starting center such as Asik, and possibly fill out your bench with guys like Kris Humphries and Jerryd Bayless, plus someone you sign with the full MLE.  Try to have things align to create cap space a year from now and you might have a very thin roster behind Rondo and Love, so you probably don't have the depth necessary to compete until 2016-2017.

If your goal is to make a move in the summer of 2015, you'd want to go after Asik and other guys who will be free agents in 2015.

[D Dub]

Not me, I want him now.   
Trade all the rookies, don't care to develop them if option#2 gives Celts the leagues best passing PG + the leagues best 3pt shooting & rebounding big.   

And we'd already have some nice defensive role playing vets around in Bradley & Wallace.  Sounds like Asik is also well within reach.   

Imagine somehow Pierce wiggles free from BKN as well and signs for the MLE? 
#18

[IlCapitano]

I just want him in Boston right away.

First reason is that we take too much risk with waiting for him to hit FA. He could get traded somewhere else out of the blue, but also, if he is interested in coming to Boston in FA next summer, that doesn't mean he actually will come. If it's clear after the draft that in some crazy scenario he's staying in Minnesota until FA, many teams will try to clear cap space just for him and we will have even more competition than now.

And the second reason is: I just want to watch Boston win ASAP. This season sucked. This postseason sucks without Boston.