How much does Love cost? Do the C’s have enough?

Earlier today, Chuck posted on some media created trade scenarios for Kevin Love.

Whether you support both or either scenario, there are three important considerations to make when being concerned about “giving up too much” for Kevin Love: Age, total minutes played (including playoff minutes) and injury history.

When the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett from Minnesota in 2007, KG was 30, had played 36,538 total minutes (including 2003 playoff minutes) and had essentially no major injuries.  The Celtics gave them Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff’s expiring contract and a first round pick that turned into Johnny Flynn.  I distinctly remember at the time that there were several fans and media members in Boston that felt the C’s gave up way too much.  So, factoring in all of that, what is too much for Love?  Do the C’s even have enough?  Let’s look at two other superstars that were recently dealt: Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.

• Chris Paul – Age: 28 | MP: 16,698 (937 playoff MP) |  Injury History: knee issues including surgery
• Dwight Howard – Age: 30 | MP: 24,717 ( 2246 playoff MP) |  Injury History: Major back surgery and shoulder concerns
  

As for Kevin Love – Age: 25 | MP: 11,933 (0 playoff MP) | Injury History: Broken hand and surgery for scar tissue on knee

Now depending on how you feel about his injury-riddled season in 2013, it should be a little easier to send such a huge package to Minnesota.  He’s only 25, only two WEEKS older than Kevin Durant and seven months YOUNGER than Stephen Curry.  Does that make you feel any better?  Since the Celtics don’t have the NBA ready talent that say the Warriors have, then maybe the C’s would have to agree to take back Kevin Martin’s albatrossian contract.  While that might make you shiver a bit, he can be useful since the C’s don’t have many consistent and reliable three-point shooters.  One Idea I thought of would be: Sullinger, Bass, Bogans’ expiring deal, the Pierce TPE, both picks this year and one more pick (all unprotected) for Love and Martin.  Then, you’d assume that both Love and Rondo re-up here for max or near max deals.  The problem would be having both Martin and Gerald Wallace’s bloated contracts on the books, making it tough to add quality players.  Obviously this is just a starting point and the real offer might be closer to what Harper’s was at the beginning of this post.

But the point is to GET those big pieces because when constructing the NBA contender puzzle those are the most difficult to find.  They have the ownership, front office, coach and one of those players.  Giving up a lot of picks isn’t as bad as you might think it is, considering how good Love is and how young he is in both age and mileage.  So what do you think?  How much are you willing to give up for Love?