Grantland's Zach Lowe has a pair of new pieces up today, publishing a Q&A with Kevin Love to go along with his usual Tuesday column. Both pieces are heavy on Timberwolves items, so let's round up the highlights….
- Love agrees with Lowe that the current T-Wolves roster "definitely looks good on paper," and suggests that getting as many players back and healthy for the last few weeks of the season would be advantageous. "We just have to see if this is the foundation for the future, and hopefully we can keep all of this team together," Love said. "This is another big summer, even though we’ve been hearing that same tone every year from the front office about every summer. But we have to see what we have right now."
- Love believes that Nikola Pekovic is "familiar with something, he kind of sticks with it," so he's optimistic about the Wolves' chances of re-signing the big man this summer.
- Andrei Kirilenko has a player option for next season, but Lowe thinks Kirilenko is likely to opt out in search of a longer-term deal. Something in the neighborhood of three years and $27MM could work for both Kirilenko and the Wolves, according to Lowe.
- If the Wolves re-sign Kirilenko to a multiyear deal and bring back Pekovic at an eight-figure annual salary, the team will be capped out until Love's contract expires, writes Lowe. That means the club will essentially have to decide this summer whether or not the current core is the long-term answer.