10:58pm: Earlier today, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst told ESPN Radio New York (audio link) that a “handshake” deal is in place between the Wolves and Cavs.
8:49pm: A deal that would involve Kevin Love being shipped to the Cavs and Andrew Wiggins going to the Wolves has been in play for weeks, but there is no deal in place yet because there are many other smaller parts of the deal that have yet to be agreed upon, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, the other suitors for Love – including the Warriors, Bulls, and Celtics – took a backseat once it was learned that Cleveland was making the No. 1 pick in June’s draft available (link). Still, while it’s clear that the Cavs are far and away the frontrunners for a deal, there’s still lots of work to be done before Love can be routed to Cleveland.
The core package that has been mentioned often would have the Cavs sending Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and a future first round choice to the Wolves for Love. It has also been said that a third team would likely be brought in to help facilitate the trade and the Sixers appear to be very willing partners. After checking in with a source tonight, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter) believes that Bennett would wind up in Philadelphia if the 76ers are the third team in the transaction. The Wolves instead would prefer to have Thaddeus Young and, apparently, it’s not even close in their minds (link).
Minnesota’s interest in Young was noted late last month, though their interest had apparently been there for quite some time. Young is set to make more than $9.4MM this coming season and has an early termination option he can exercise to hit free agency next summer.