FanPost

"Love" this trade idea

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/kevin-love-lashes-two-unnamed-teammates-supposed-team-190003930--nba.html

Ever competitive Kevin Love was verbally upset with his teammates following a recent gam (as you know). Now, he goes out of his way to basically say "let's not make a big deal of this", but anytime an NBA player calls out his teammates in such an apparent way, you know it's not really "not a big deal". This isn't the first time Kevin Love has expressed his displeasure with his teammates, and, when you consider he's already been frustrated in the past with management because of the talent around him (ala Lebron in Cleveland), you have to start wondering if he and Minnesota would part ways. Kevin signed an extension with them on the grounds that they would improve the team - unfortunately for Love and you Wolves fan, they have not.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pd2pxf4

Which brings me to this gem of a trade idea.

Charlotte trades Ben Gordon, Ramon Sessions, Cody Zeller, and 2 first round picks to Minnesota for Kevin Love and Alex Shved.

Why it works:

It's apparent why this works for the Bobcats. We're pretty much a middle of the pack NBA team at this point and may or may not make the playoffs. We've noticeably missed MKG and Jeffrey Taylor, which has cost us more than a few wins and put us in that precarious position to both miss the playoffs and lose our top 10 protected pick (to Chicago).

Minnesota, on the other hand, would instantly be in tank mode upon losing Love (without actually having to try to tank). You currently sit in a position we don't want to be in ourselves, in 11th place in the West, with the 14th pick in the lottery. Your pick next season is top 13 protected. If the Wolves finish anywhere from 11th to 9th, they'll be in the same situation as us: outside the playoffs with a lost draft pick. By making this trade, Minnesota is once again hitting refresh on their team (and God knows they need it). They net themselves 3 2014 draft picks as well as a young player in Zeller who has high potential. They also cut 15 million of the books next year (NBA rules allow teams to go over the cap to sign their rookies, so they could actually spend that money without penalty), to target a free agent or simply sign their rookies.

The Bobcats lose all of their first round picks for next season, but we also become a playoff team for the next three seasons. (We still would have a second rounder, as well, and both picks next season.) Shved is a tall (sometimes) pass first point guard that we need (and many of us over at rufus on fire have been clamoring for now for 3 seasons).

Obviously, I'm out of my mind if I think Minny trades Love to Charlotte, but at the same time, as I look around the league, only Charlotte has the means to land Minnesota three picks in the upcoming draft. The salaries work, the draft picks work, and if Minnesota wants to totally hit the reset switch (rather than landing a star for a star, for example), then this is a great way to do it that helps both teams (as much as a team losing Kevin Love can be helped, anyway)


What do you guys think? Would you as fans be willing to give up your (unhappy?) franchise star to bet on the future?