Kevin Love will almost certainly be traded by the Timberwolves, if not sometime this summer than before the mid-season trade deadline for sure.
As the Cavaliers remain in the lead to land Love, both due to the package they can offer as well as Love’s willingness to re-up with a team that has LeBron James firmly in place, other teams are scrambling to make last-ditch pitches to try to get in on a sweepstakes to land one of the league’s premier offensive players.
The Bulls have made a push or two to get into the mix, and their offers were worth considering. The Knicks, however, lack the assets to be taken seriously when entering the conversation -- which is something they apparently tried to do pretty recently.
From Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal:The Knicks recently attempted to make a trade for Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love, offering forward Amar’e Stoudemire and his enormous expiring contract, second-year guard Tim Hardaway, Jr. and swingman Iman Shumpert, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
But the longshot offer, made in the past week, was declined and never stood much of a chance, particularly since the Timberwolves could potentially strike a richer deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers involving No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins. The Chicago Bulls, who have a bevy of intriguing assets to trade, have reportedly had conversations with Minnesota about Love in recent weeks since failing to sign Knicks star Carmelo Anthony in free agency. ...
Team president Phil Jackson and the Knicks were likely aware that they had little to no chance of landing Love with their proposal, which might have been more of a formality since several teams have called Minnesota to gauge what it would take for the Timberwolves to pull the trigger. But knowing that Love has quietly expressed an interest in playing in New York, the Knicks went ahead with an offer.
Phil Jackson is aged, but he’s not yet delusional.
He knew that New York had little chance of appealing to the Timberwolves here, and nothing would make the Knicks more immediately ready to build some semblance of a decent team than to unload the uninsurable final year of Stoudemire’s deal in trade; getting an All-Star back in exchange for doing so is so far beyond the realm of possibility that Jackson likely couldn’t get through pitching such a proposal with a straight face.
New York’s market size will always have the Knicks at least initially in the conversation to land All-Stars like Love. But until the team can assemble some legitimate assets, most stars are going to pass up the bright lights for a more readily available winning situation.