If Minnesota is to do a re-build, the first thing I would do is talk to Love. If he doesn't want to sign an extension to stay here and logic indicates that he won't due to the wretched smell of Kahn's failure wreaking in the T-Wolves organization, I sit down and have a talk with him on where he'd like to sign an extension. That's the most important factor here considering that the Timberwolves need to know this and you have to do this in the off-season since if you wait longer, the value diminishes. Here's a list of rumoured and likely destinations he'd go to on the condition he signs an extension in a trade or just goes there in FA:
New York: The lure there is Melo and Phil Jackson trying to use his Midas touch on the Knicks and turn them around although I'm sure more likely than not unless they get a third star like a Rondo for instance this wouldn't work at all plus they don't have any valuable trade assets and Hardaway Jr. will not get it done.
LA Lakers: Love's connections to LA are primarily due to the fact he was born in Santa Monica and went to UCLA and still trains there in the off-season. Some people believe that he and Westbrook could re-ignite their connection with the Lakers although Love is certain to test FA in 2015 and RW's deal doesn't expire till 2017 and a lot can change. Plus he's on record saying that the T-wolves have a better base than the Lakers now due to their rebuilding phase and the fact that titles are very unlikely in the near future now due to Jim Buss and his unpredictability, especially his feuding with Jeannie. Sadly, these stupid connections hurt Minnesota in terms of what they could get although not offering Love the franchise tag KAAAAAHN!!
was their own doing sadly.
LA Clippers: This one obviously has no legs, but if they fail to reach the WCF, they may make some changes and Griffin could be sent to Minnesota for Love. This would be the prime return due to Blake having 4 more years left on his deal though his growing game and jaw-dropping athleticism would make the Clippers fools to even fathom about such an idea.
Portland: Love grew up in Oregon and even though Aldridge is already there being a top 5 PF just like Love, things could change if Aldridge decides to go elsewhere though due to the emergence of Lillard, I highly doubt Aldridge leaves and this one would be dead in the water.
Chicago: The Bulls have plenty of assets to play with including draft picks and Nikola Mirotic and expirings. The Bulls have some aces in their pocket in the form of Joakim Noah, Jimmy Butler and coach Thibodeau plus Derrick Rose assuming he will finally adjust his game for the sake of his career. His ability to spread the floor would be a huge weapon in Thibs' system and could lighten the load on Derrick Rose's shoulder and this should be an option to go for especially if Anthony's asking price ends up becoming too high plus Phil Jackson arriving may have been the checkmate in keeping Melo since Jackson has a winning resume as a player and a coach though the weary stench of Dolan may ruin it all.
Boston: The Celtics here are an interesting choice. Love arriving in Boston would send a message to Rondo that they are ready to play and go all out. With their mother load of assets in the form of picks and Sullinger as well as their pick assuming it's lower than 3-4 would be the centrepiece of a deal to bring Love to Boston. The deal could get somewhat complicated and could cost more than it did to bring Garnett to Boston but at least Love is entering his prime so the cost would be justified.
Houston: This would be a funny one, but knowing Morey and his ability to play and hustle everybody at a craps table, don't be surprised if he enters the room. He has assets and draft picks and expirings to work with, but I'm not sure they'd be what Saunders and Minnesota would be looking for as any deal will require Jones and Parsons whom Morey is high on with the latter.
Considering all the options, Boston and Chicago would be the best options to go for and here'd be my trades with each team starting with Chicago:
Chicago: Corey Brewer, Kevin Martin, Kevin Love
Minnesota: Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy, Kirk Hinrich, Nazr Mohammed, Erik Murphy, Tomike Shengalia, rights to Nikola Mirotic, higher of the 2 2014 first rounders, 2015 first rounder, SAC first rounder, 2017 first rounder, Portland second rounders, Chicago 2015 second rounder.
http://www.thebirdwrites.com/2013/6/3/4 ... he-nba-cbaThis deal would actually work well for all parties involved especially with the luxury tax rising, the Bulls would be a hairline under the tax. They would get their shooters in Martin and Love whom the latter would do so much from spreading the floor and rebounding as well. Thibs' defensive system would cover the weaknesses of the players coming in. It would suck giving away Dunleavy and Mirotic who could be something great, but getting a proven commodity in Love and a sharpshooter in Martin would allow Jimmy buckets to slide back to the 3 where he is best used as a Michael Finley ironman type of player minus the offense that Finley had. Brewer would be a great energy guy in the second unit and he went to Florida with Noah so the integration would be seamless. This overall would allow the Bulls to be less dependent on Rose and he wouldn't have to shoulder as much of the load with Noah creating, this would be a far better move than pursuing Melo. Cap wise, they'd be stuck until 2016 unless Love decides to for sure opt-in and sign an extension then it works great. Lineup:
Rose/Augustin or vet min/pick
Martin/Snell/D-league
Butler/Brewer/D-league
Love/Gibson
Noah/draft pick/vet min
For Minnesota, you get a bevy of expirings and you shed some long term salary in Martin and Brewer. I'd rather send Budinger, but his injury problems make it hard to move him. They get the rights to Mirotic who is a great player and his fellow countryman from Montenegro Nikola Pekovic will be around so the transition would be seamless plus Rubio being from Spain will help too since Mirotic has been in Spain for a while now and this could help. They could flip the expirings of Boozer and Dunleavy for dead weight and more picks. They also get a bevy of picks and can rebuild or retool. Plus their pick if not converted by 2016 will become two second rounders. And most of these players you can renounce their rights and only Boozer and Dunleavy are left really.
The next move I'd make would involve another team say Toronto who'd probably look to upgrade their bench. Here'd be my deal:
Toronto: Mike Dunleavy jr., Alexey Shved
Minnesota: Landry Fields, 2 second rounders, one in 2015 and 2017 via Toronto
Raptors upgrade at the 3 and get a nice piece in Shved whom are both expiring while shedding a dead weight in Fields while the T-Wolves eat his deal and add more picks in the process.
Final move would be this:
Boston: Carlos Boozer, J.J. Barea, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Minnesota: Gerald Wallace, Brandon Bass, Joel Anthony, 2015 first rounder via LAC and 2 second rounders via Philadelphia/Boston and Miami.
Celtics take on Boozer and a bunch of expirings that will open up a lot of cap space for them in the 2015 FA saga while sending a low value first and a couple of seconds to dump Wallace while Minnesota eats up more deadweight for picks to help with the rebuild. I honestly don't know where you could send Budinger due to his injury problems, maybe a team looking for scoring on their bench would be interested. In total, they would have accumulated about 4-5 first rounders and about 7-8 second rounders. Plus they would buy out Wallace to avoid having him poison the locker room. Potential line-up:
Rubio/pick/pick
Muhammad/Budinger
pick/Fields/pick
Mirotic/Bass
Pekovic/Dieng/Turiaf/Anthony
Or if you don't like that scenario and you want to see what Boston could offer, here'd be the scenario in this case:
Boston: J.J. Barea, Kevin Love, LRAMM, Chase Budinger/Brewer
Minnesota: Gerald Wallace, Keith Bogans, Joel Anthony, Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger, Boston #1, LAC 2015 #1, Brooklyn 2016 #1, Miami second rounder in 2016 and Boston second rounder in 2016.
Celtics may feel it's a big overpay for Love and it could be, but asides from Sullinger, a lot of those picks could very well flop and are question marks at this point. Budinger/Brewer could take Wallace's spot and at half the cost and can still produce while Wallace is a dead weight who has extreme negative value at this point. Love is a proven commodity while LRAMM and Barea are expirings who won't mean much and could be used as filler for other trades.
Minnesota gets a good piece in Sullinger who will be a downgrade from Love, but he has a growing game and getting a lottery pick in this year's draft could turn well depending on how they use the pick. Bogans can be waived since his deal isn't guaranteed while Bass could be flipped to a contender for a pick. Wallace can be bought out and Anthony is a good locker room presence who is overpaid but he will expire at the end though he will likely be waived in order to make room on the roster. The picks help out a lot plus Love entering his prime is a bonus.
Next move I would make is calling Charlotte since they are looking for an upgrade at the 2 or more scoring since MKG, their younger Tony Allen has a jump shot that makes Noah and Marion's jump shot look like Durant/Anthony's shot. Here'd be my deal:
Charlotte: Kevin Martin
Minnesota: Gary Neal, Portland first rounder and 2014 second rounder via Charlotte.
The Hornets get a sharpshooter in Martin who would be an upgrade at the 2 while sliding Henderson to the second unit while parting with Neal. Martin's deal will expire a year after MKG, Big Al and the rest of their core's deal does plus at 6.5 million, there's not much to hate. Plus Neal is sent out since he's expendable due to there being no room for him if this were to happen. Plus he's expiring.
Minnesota gets a good boost on the bench while adding more picks for this year to help with their quest to retool around Rubio and Pek. In total, they get around 4 first rounders and 3 second rounders. Potential lineup:
Rubio/pick
Muhammad/Neal/pick
pick/Budinger or Brewer/pick
Sullinger/Bass/pick
Pekovic/Dieng/Turiaf
Oh and in either scenario regarding Pekovic, I don't think you can get much for him without underselling him due to the length of his deal and the proneness to injury that he is developing. He should shed at least 10-20 pounds even though he is built like an ox and you could get something more, though most likely he will be staying for now. So I'm not sure what would be a fair deal for Pek.
Thoughts?
Sorry if this post is too long but had to get the idea out there.