A CBSSports.com report on the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks pursuing Kevin Love ahead of the NBA trade deadline got quite the reaction from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on Tuesday night: No, no, no.
"If you read about it, you know it's not true. I don't know if we got the Beach Boys booked, "Cuban said before Dallas lost to Miami 117-106, according to the Dallas Morning News in a post headlined "Mark Cuban squashes crazy Kevin Love speculation." The Beach Boys reference is to Kevin's uncle Mike, a founding member of the band.
Calling it laughable, ESPNDallas.com also pointed out all the obstacles:
"The first is that there is "no way" the Minnesota Timberwolves are dealing Love before Thursday's trade deadline, as a source told CBSSports.com, which makes the splashy headline about the Mavs and Los Angeles Lakers attempting to put together packages for Love pretty much pointless.
Another problem: Even if the Timberwolves were considering trading Love, what the heck could the Mavs offer to keep Minnesota GM Flip Saunders from hanging up and/or cracking up? The Mavs can't offer future first-round picks, the most valuable currency in today's trade market, because they owe Oklahoma City a top-20 protected first-rounder."
Ken Berger's report cites that "it is widely known around the league" that Love and his agent "are determined to get him to a major market." But even before Berger says that, he writes "the Timberwolves have given no indication they's consider moving the All-Star forward."
And four paragraphs later, Berger again throws cold water on his own report, citing "a person familiar" with Flip Saunders' strategy that there is "no way" the Wolves will trade ahead of the deadline.
