Rumors.
Since we were young, we were told rumors are bad. "Rumors, rumors are no fun, rumors, rumors hurt someone."
Well, if that was the case, the Minnesota Timberwolves would have relocated to Mexico City already.
(Note to Mexico City: How are the generators doing? Daily tests? Good.)
The Kevin Love rumors heated up today as Pro Basketball Talk reported that Flip Saunders was convinced he wouldn't get a better offer than Boston's offer of the No. 6 and 17 pick of this year's draft, along with future No. 1s, Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger.
That was at 9:05 a.m.
At 1:45 p.m. you ask?
Well, the rumor was quite the opposite. Steve Bullpet of the Boston Herald reported that Boston wasn't close with its offer and teams like Denver and Golden State had taken the lead.
Huh?
The Denver Nuggets? The team that has the No. 11 pick this season and really, not a whole lot of future to throw at the Wolves?
Our boy Flip Saunders has himself a dilemma, or an opportunity, depending on how you want to look at it. Do you trade the franchise player for picks, hoping that one could eventually turn into an All-Star? Or do you make the trade with Denver for players like Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari and J.J. Hickson, hoping you can put together something in the near future to make a run at the playoffs?
(By the way, I would love Gallinari in Minnesota. Let's just put that on the record. I've heard from a few basketball folks that Faried is a mess in the locker room. Not a bad guy, just a very, very difficult person to work with.)
We can sit here and speculate, but I'm not sure if there's a right answer. Saunders has compromised the future now that he's a coach. If things get bad, he'll want off the bench, right? So would he fire himself? Eh. Interesting dynamics here, folks. Very interesting indeed.
Rebuild or... well, rebuild I guess.
Update: Early this morning, Bullpet was back at it again. He reported that the Nuggets have offered, or will offer, the Wolves Farried, Wilson Chandler and Arron Afflalo, whom Denver would have to acquire from Orlando. I like Afflalo, but I don't love this deal... I'm still on the "try to acquire Klay Thompson No Matter What, Even If Means Throwing Kevin Martin In The Deal As Well" Train. Also, the Nuggets have like 30 players who can play point guard. How would J.J. Barea fit in there?
The Boys Are Back In Town
We covered this a bit yesterday, but Saunders has surrounded himself with Sam Mitchell and Sidney Lowe as assistant coaches. While assistant coaches aren't exactly crucial pieces to the puzzle, it shows a bit where Saunders' mind was at.
Loyalty.
That's normally a positive, but the Wolves haven't made the playoffs in a decade. Are we sure that getting two guys familiar with the team is the best choice?
(Cough, David Blatt, cough.)
Loyalty means a lot... But I'm not sure if it's always the right way to go, especially in business. My best friend is awesome. I would do anything for Lox. But he's a crappy fantasy football owner and we've split a team for 10 years now. I'm going to be loyal and join back up with him. I know that it's probably a bad team move.
My league is a $50 league. Not a $70 million dollar league.
The Lynx Fall Again
Last season, the Phoenix Mercury was supposed to be Minnesota's biggest obstacle getting out of the Western Conference and back to the WNBA Finals. Well, it didn't exactly end up like that. Mercury simply didn't have enough depth.
This season has proven to be different. The Mercury have now taken down the Lynx twice after last night's 91-79 win in Phoenix.
It's worth noting that this game was a back-to-back for the Lynx and Seimone Augustus, Lindsey Moore and Rebekkah Brunson did not play. Maya Moore led the Lynx (what's new?) with 36 points and five steals. Lindsay Whalen added 22. After that? Damiris Dantas was the next leading scorer with six points. Ouch.
Phoenix had four members hit double figures, including Brittney Griner's 27 points and game-high 18 rebounds. To put that into perspective, Minnesota had just 22 rebounds as a team.
There's no reason to panic here. The Lynx are still loaded will most likely advance to the Western Conference Finals again. Remember the team slipped up a bit last season, although it was later in the season.
King Kershaw
LA Dodger golden boy Clayton Kershaw pitched a no-hitter last night against the Colorado Rockies. He compiled 15 strikeouts and was an error away (damn you, Hanley Ramirez!) from a perfect game.
We've had Phil Hughes in Minnesota this year, and he's been great, but man do I miss the glory days of Johan Santanta... I thought aces came around every five or six years. So young. So stupid.
Congrats, Clayton.
We could get into the World Cup, but eh. It's not that I HATE soccer, I just don't like watching it. I'm sick of people telling me I have some sort of disease simply because I don't love every second of it. Here's what I'll say: It's the world's sport. But it's not even close to America's sport. I'm from America. That's my excuse.
Spain is out, though, so there's that.
Music Time
Because rumors.
Have a great Thursday. Try not to switch to Adele on your Spotify too many times today.
Editor's note: Kyle is our other new writer here at Canis Hoopus. This is his first article, so be nice. Kyle worked for the Wolves helping out on their website until recently. --EiM