NBA AM: Are The Wolves Keeping Kevin Love?

Are You Ready For The Circus?:  With a small handful of games remaining for most of the NBA, several teams are heading into the offseason with looming doubts and daunting questions; none may be bigger than the Minnesota Timberwolves’ and their future with star forward Kevin Love.

Love’s name has been kicked around in trade rumors for most of the season and it’s expected that Love-mania will resume in full force this summer.

Minnesota unfortunately finds itself at a crossroads of sorts with head coach Rick Adelman, who is likely out at season’s end and needing to try and convince Love that his brightest future remains in Minnesota.

The popular opinion is that the Wolves have to move Love this summer while they can control the market in some ways and extract the most value out of a trade involving Love. However, the word around the team is that not only will the Wolves not move their star this summer, there are still some in the organization that believe the right coaching hire and the ability to offer him the most guaranteed money for his services could sway Love into a new long–term deal.

»In Related: The Timberwolves Salary Cap Chart.

There may be some delusions in that approach, but the logic that’s being laid out is simple. The Wolves won’t get nearly anything in return for Love in trade, so why not take their chances? If things are still uncertain at the trade deadline, the team would look to liquidate. The idea is that Minnesota, when healthy this year, looked like a playoff-caliber team, and with a few roster tweaks and the right coaching hire, the roster is talented enough to compete, even in the West. That, combined with a boat load of money, might be enough to sway Love into staying beyond his current contract.

If this sounds familiar, it’s exactly what the Orlando Magic did with Dwight Howard, conceding that six months of Howard and a possible playoff run was better than anything they could command in trade. A circus ensued and the rest is well documented history.

»In Related: The History Of The NBA Trades That Got Done.

The Atlanta Hawks did something similar with Josh Smith, only to find almost no market last year at the trade deadline for him and ultimately lost an All-Star caliber player for nothing in return this past summer.

The Wolves seem like they are more open to letting things play out with Love than trying to conduct a fire sale for him this summer, even though that might be the best return they can get.

As with all trades, the right combination of assets could turn a “no” into a “yes” fairly quickly, but if you are expecting Minnesota to open the trade hotline once their season comes to an end, it does not appear like that is their plan, in fact it seems like the Wolves are ready to hold on to Love, knowing full well they won’t get anything close to what he is, in return and that putting him in a winning situation might sway him into staying.

The Orlando Magic thought the same thing about Howard… Queue up the circus music it looks like the Wolves are ready to open the curtain for what is likely going to be a rumor filled summer.

Re-Drafting The 20102 Draft:  They say ‘hindsight is 20/20’, which means you can always accurately predict what just happened, but as we learn every year from the NBA Draft process, teams don’t always get the draft right. Admittedly some of a player’s success is directly tied to where he landed and the opportunities his team gave him, but if you look back at the 2012 NBA Draft, there are some players that would clearly get ranked and ultimately picked a little differently if the draft could be done again today.

Here is a look at how the 2012 NBA Draft would likely play out based on what we know today:

Don’t agree? Drop your Re-Draft in the comment section below.

»In Related: The Top 100 NBA Draft Prospects.

Six Things You Need To Know:  Every day we try and give you the six thing you may have missed. Here are the six things you need to know today:

• Former Pac-12 Star Carlon Brown Peaking in Israel.
• NBA Rumors: Faried Unsure of Future in Denver.
• 2014 NCAA Tournament Video Preview: (7) UConn vs. (8) Kentucky.
• Kevin Durant Is Already An All-Time Great Scorer.
• Which GMs Are On The Hot Seat?
• Is There A Team That Could Knock Off The Pacers or The HEAT?

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