As we mentioned last week, we are only at the cusp of speculation about Kevin Love's future. The latest round comes from Grantland's Bill Simmons, who takes a peek at four possible Love destinations and -- SURPRISE -- concludes that his beloved Celtics just might be a player in the sweepstakes.
Shocking. Arrogant. But not altogether wrong, either, because Simmons knows a lot about hoops even if his green goggles get in the way sometimes.
Simmons is convinced that the time to trade Love is this coming offseason if the Wolves are going to do it. We agree with that. You don't take something like that up to next year's trading deadline. You take the temperature on Love this offseason, and you find out where he really stands. If he makes it clear that he is opting out, you seek out the best deal.
Simmons concludes that four possible trade partners are: the Suns, Bulls, Lakers and Celtics. And he concludes that the Celtics potentially have the most to offer. The problem with all the deals is that they are mostly about future assets and not existing ones. Selling a Wolves fan base on another rebuilding project is going to be tough. Very tough.
That said, here is what he says about the Celtics:
Let's say the Celtics lose the 2014 lottery and end up with a pick between no. 3 and no. 5. They could send that pick to Minny along with Atlanta's first-rounder (probably ending up in the 13-to-18 range) and their 2015 Clippers pick for Love. And they could throw in Brandon Bass and Keith Bogans's immediately waivable deal to make the contracts work. Oh, and if Minnesota were more interested in one or more of those future Brooklyn picks that Boston owns (unprotected in 2016 and 2018, pick swap in 2017), the Celts could discuss that, too. Remember, they have a WAR CHEST of picks: 10 in five years.
STOP CALLING IT MINNY. NOBODY REASONABLE CALLS IT MINNY.
/end rant.
