Lots of Love To Go Around On Draft Day, But Only One Kevin

Predicting possible destinations for Kevin Love, along with other draft day deals

Now that the NBA Draft order has been determined and we are merely a month away from the big day, it’s time to start talking draft day deals.

This year’s draft is the most hyped since 2003, and with Kevin Love’s representatives having told Minnesota he will opt to become a free agent at the end of the 2014-15 season, the Cavaliers and Timberwolves are the two teams officially on the clock headed into the 2014 NBA Draft.

While the Wolves could decide to ignore Love’s threats to bolt after next season and try to continue to build around him (ala Lakers-Kobe situation years ago), that would likely end in disaster, as Minnesota has never been an attractive landing spot for free agents and they lack the assets to make a splash via trade.

With at least half of the league likely to be phoning Minnesota general manager Milt Newton, it’s undeniable they’ll have a lot of options if they do elect to trade him. However, if they’re going to trade away the second best player in franchise history (behind KG) they need to be getting something saucy in exchange. If not, that sets a pitiful precedent for the future of the franchise.

Newton has said that he won’t trade Love before the draft, which is cryptic enough that it very much leaves open the possibility that he will be dealt during the NBA Draft.

The Love Doctor’s Most Ready, Willing, and Able Suitors

Boston

If they did acquire Love via trade, they’d obviously be looking to pair him with Rondo while sending the 6^th pick in this year’s draft to Minnesota. A deal with Boston would probably look something like this:

Boston gets: Kevin Love, Shabazz Muhammad

Minnesota gets: 6^th pick in 2014 NBA Draft & some combination of the following first round picks (2014: 17^th, Brooklyn: 2016 and 2018; LAClippers: 2015); expiring contracts of Brandon Bass, Joel Anthony and perhaps Vitor Faverani; and potentially either Jared Sullinger or Kelly Olynyk, though with Nik Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng already holding it down at center they might not care for either.

Chicago

They’d likely have to send Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler and a couple of first round picks in order to have a shot at pairing two of the best passing big men in the NBA alongside Derrick Rose, but that’d leave them with hardly any spending money (even after they amnesty Carlos Boozer and clear his $16.8M off the books). The more likely option for the Bulls is they look to acquire Carmelo Anthony, as they’re more in need of a primetime perimeter scorer and could potentially steal him away from New York without giving up Gibson and/or Butler.

Cleveland

After winning the NBA Draft Lottery last night, the Cavaliers easily have the best chance to acquire Love. Minnesota doesn’t really want to trade Love, but a deal in which the Wolves are getting the top pick in the draft would surely be enough to convince Newton to part ways with their disgruntled double-double machine. Of course, just like any other team dealing for Love, the Cavs wouldn’t pull the trigger without Love agreeing to stick with the team long-term. However, unless LeBron James tells Love he’s going back to Ohio to form a new Big 3, I don’t think Kyrie Irving is enough to convince Love to make a long-term commitment to the Cavs. Cleveland has never been a popular landing spot for free agents, which is why it would have to be LeBron; but even if they could convince Carmelo Anthony to join Love and Irving I don’t see that team playing enough defense to win a championship. In order to match salaries in a trade with Minny, Cleveland would throw in the expiring contracts of Anderson Varejao ($9.7M) and Tristan Thompson ($5.1M).

Golden State

The recent rumblings are the Warriors prefer not to include Klay Thompson in any Love trade, which would pretty much be the deal-killer. It’s also unclear as to if/why Minny would have any interest in adding David Lee and Klay Thompson for Love, which combined with Nik Pekovic, Ricky Rubio and company would merely make them at best a fringe playoff contender in the loaded West. While watching Curry and Love would be undeniably enjoyable to watch, the other end would be even more of a disaster than the current—with Love in Lee’s place on the interior defensively next to the oft-injured Andrew Bogut, they wouldn’t be able to protect the rim at all.

Houston

The Rockets also might not be an ideal place for a defensively challenged power forward, but at least they’d have the best inside-outside big man tandem in the league in Love and Dwight Howard. The Rockets don’t have the quality first round picks to entice Minnesota, but they do have Chandler Parsons, Terrence Jones, and the expiring contract of Omer Asik. Still, I don’t think that’s enough to coax the Wolves to part with Love.

Phoenix

The Suns are another team that has a plethora of first-round picks they could offer to Minnesota (2014: 13^th, 18^th, 27^th; 2015 Lakers top-5 protected). While a core of Dragic, Bledsoe and Love would be a lot of fun, I doubt the Wolves and/or Love would be intrigued by a deal with Phoenix.

Other Potential Draft Day Deals

Rajon Rondo—Magician On the Move

If Boston misses out on Love or simply doesn’t believe a core of Rondo, Love, Jeff Green and Avery Bradley (if they re-sign him) is enough to compete for a championship during Rondo’s remaining window of his prime, I won’t be the least bit surprised to see them trade their All-Star illusionist and current face of the franchise. And as far as I can tell, there’s really only one landing space that really makes a whole of sense—Houston.

The Rockets have long been rumored to have interest in Rondo, and if the Celtics don’t believe a Rondo and Love-led unit is good enough to win a championship, it’s hard to believe that they’re planning on being relevant enough to warrant keeping the 28-year-old Rondo around when they’d clearly be in rebuilding mode. The Rockets have plenty of assets at their disposal to get a deal done. It’ll come down to how much Houston is willing to let go of and how much Boston demands in return. A trade could very well look something like this:

Boston gets: Chandler Parsons; Expiring contracts of Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik

Houston gets: Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green and Gerald Wallace

Maybe Boston likes Parsons as a young building block at a thin position to whom they’d like to offer an extension. Meanwhile, Jeff Green is likely to be involved in any Rondo trade, and the Celtics would love to get rid of Gerald Wallace (under contract for $10.1M per year through 2015-16).

Sam Hinkie—Wolf of Broad St.

When 76ers GM Sam Hinkie made it his first issue of business to trade Jrue Holiday, the youngest All-Star in the heralded franchise’s history, he made one thing clear. No one is untouchable. And that same thing can still be said today. If you think Hinkie won’t listen to offers for MCW, reigning Rookie of the Year, you’re sadly mistaken.

It’s also possible the 76ers could try to package the 3^rd and 10^th picks to Cleveland for the top pick. The possibilities are pretty much endless for the Sixers in this draft, as they also own five second-round picks, a solid veteran known for turning garbage into gold in Thaddeus Young, and a decent sized expiring contract in Jason Richardson ($6.6M).

With the Jazz dropping to 5, they might be calling the Sixers to negotiate a deal to move up if Jabari Parker is still available once Philly is on the clock. One deal that could go down would be Thad Young and the 3^rd pick for Derrick Favors and the 5^th.

Other Teams To Look Out For On the Trade Front

Orlando Magic—own 4^th, 12^th picks, highly coveted veteran Arron Afflalo

Charlotte Hornets—own 9^th, 24^th picks

Los Angeles Lakers—own 7^th pick

Sacramento Kings—own 8^th pick

Denver Nuggets—own 11^th pick, have a huge logjam down low—Javale McGee, Kenneth Faried, JJ Hickson, Timofey Mozgov, Darrell Arthur, Anthony Randolph)

Phoenix Suns—own 14^th, 18^th, 27^th picks

Chicago Bulls—own 16^th and 19^th picks

The Decision: Part 2

While we had to wait until July for LeBron to change the entire landscape of the NBA in the summer of 2010, a Love-Cavs draft day deal could signal the beginning of James’ road to redemption in his home state.

There are still plenty of reasons to believe that LeBron James will elect to return to Miami win or lose in this year’s playoffs, and that Pat Riley and the Heat will reload for another championship run; but the door has been left wide open for LBJ to take his talents back to Cleveland to take care of some unfinished business.

While Dwyane Wade has been nothing short of spectacular so far in the Eastern Conference Finals, and shot a career-high 54.5 percent from the field during the regular season, James might consider cashing in on joining the crew of Uncle Drew’s, who frankly might be a better big 3 to get buckets with going forward in his career (James turns 30 just before the New Year).

James might not be interested in carrying Miami all season while Wade sits out one out of every three games; and not unlike most of us, it’s evident that LeBron cares what people think of him; when he said he would consider going back to Cleveland one day, it seemed crazy, but not anymore; while the NBA may not have rigged the lottery for Cleveland, I’m certainly not going to take on the task of convincing the skeptics.