Kevin Love Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Saunders, Meeks, Nuggets

April 13th, 2014 at 8:39am CST by Eddie Scarito

Flip Saunders would make himself the Timberwolves next coach if it was up to him, writes Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. Team owner Glen Taylor wants Saunders to focus on one job because he believes a coach lives in the present and a good manager must think for the future, writes Zgoda. He still could change Taylor’s mind, particularly if he convinces Taylor that his coaching system and style will help keep Kevin Love in Minnesota, opines Zgoda.

And-Ones: Knicks, Wolves, Silver

April 12th, 2014 at 10:18pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Carmelo Anthony was very complimentary when discussing Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Anthony said, “Thibs [Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau] is a great coach. His system kind of reminds me of [Spurs coach] Gregg Popovich’s system. You put anybody in that system and it’s going to work. And that’s what they’ve been doing. They had guys who have been sitting out all season long, guys [have] been in and out the lineup, and they seem to get it done.” The Bulls are one of the teams mentioned as a possible destination for Anthony if he leaves the Knicks this summer.

Northwest Rumors: Wolves, Love, Corbin

April 7th, 2014 at 10:34am CST by Chuck Myron

Blazers GM Neil Olshey would deserve the NBA’s Executive of the Year award based on his acquisition of Robin Lopez alone, opines Jason Quick of The Oregonian, who believes Olshey scored with upgrades to the team’s bench, too. Coach Terry Stotts is similarly pleased, as Quick notes.

“I’ve said it many times: Getting Robin Lopez was the perfect fit for our team,’’ Stotts said. “Getting Mo Williams was the perfect fit for our team. Dorell Wright gives us the ability to play [him at either forward position]. And the young guys have improved. But those three guys in particular, for what we needed coming into the season … Neil did a terrific job of addressing those needs.’’

I think there are several other deserving candidates for the award, but after recording their 50th win of the season on Sunday, it’s clear that the Blazers have taken a significant step forward after last season’s 33-win campaign. Here’s the latest from elsewhere in the Northwest Division:

Finding the proper successor to coach Rick Adelman will be critical for the Wolves, and some in the organization believe having the right coach in place will help convince Kevin Love to stay in Minnesota, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes in his NBA AM piece.
Kyler also suggests that it’s far from certain that Love would sign with the Lakers if he decides to opt out of his deal in 2015, and that other teams would be on his radar (Twitter link).
Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin and his staff will know by the end of the month if they’ll return to the team for 2014/15, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who includes the news in his latest NBA power rankings.

Knicks Notes: Love, Calipari, Stoudemire

March 30th, 2014 at 5:44pm CST by Cray Allred

Yesterday we learned that Kevin Love still considers the Knicks an appealing destination, and Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com looks ahead to the summer of 2015 to see what kind of fit Love might have within New York’s roster and salary cap. Here’s more from New York:

Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com wonders whether it would be worth it for new Knicks president Phil Jackson to commit to a full-on tanking effort next year, citing some Sixers fans’ patience with Philadelphia’s rebuilding process despite their ugly losing streak.
A friend of Kentucky coach John Calipari tells Steve Serby of The New York Post that Calipari hasn’t indicated that he’s looking for an NBA job, but Serby thinks the Knicks should pursue him anyway.
The Knicks didn’t expect much from Amar’e Stoudemire this season and acquired Andrea Bargnani as frontcourt insurance in a costly trade, but the former All-Star tells Al Iannazzone of Newsday that he’s had more hope about his long-term health than many of his doubters. “Last year was a very frustrating year. Knowing how much I trained and worked on being a dominant player and then receiving those injuries and coming off the bench, it was one of the hardest years I’ve endured in my career,” Stoudemire said. “I still stayed positive, I stayed optimistic about things and I’ve been an example for a lot of the youth out there that no matter what the situation might be, always continue to work. You have the goals in mind and you know what type of player you want to become; just keep working.”

Kevin Love Has Interest In Bulls

March 29th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Cray Allred

A source familiar with Kevin Love‘s thinking tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com the All-Star is intrigued by the Bulls as a destination, adding to the forward’s known interests in the Lakers and Knicks. At this point, there has been no indication that the Bulls front office has made any preparations for a Love pursuit, which would have to occur via a trade before the 2014/15 season’s trade deadline, or in free agency before the 2015/16 season, when Love is expected by most to decline his $16.7MM player option.

The Lakers have been considered the favorite to land Love if he were to depart from the Timberwolves either as a free agent or in a pre-emptive trade if Minnesota looks to avoid losing him for nothing. However, Love’s public statements about the Lakers have been less than glowing in recent months. Last night, after scoring a triple double in a beatdown of the Lakers, Love blamed the Lakers speculation on his upbringing in Los Angeles and no more. In an earlier interview with GQ, Love rejected the notion that the Lakers roster is more attractive than the roster he’s surrounded by in Minnesota.

Depending on what the Bulls do this summer, they may not have enough cap flexibility to obtain Love by trade or by signing him if and when he becomes a free agent demanding a max salary. Carlos Boozer‘s contract runs through next season but could be amnestied, Nikola Mirotic could be bought out from his European team and brought to Chicago, and other free agents could be added for next year and beyond, including some improbable scenarios involving Carmelo Anthony. If Minnesota opened a bidding war for Love, the Lakers are set up to have better draft assets to deal over the next couple of years, but don’t have any young pieces as valuable as Chicago’s Taj Gibson or Jimmy Butler.

The speculation around Love’s future has heated up since the All-Star break, as the Wolves have slid further out of playoff contention. The team was built to break into the playoffs for the first time in Love’s six years with the franchise that drafted him, with expectations boosted by free agency acquisitions including Kevin Martin and full, healthy seasons from both Love and Ricky Rubio.

Western Notes: Love, Papanikolaou, Jazz

March 28th, 2014 at 7:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There are rumors circulating that the Lakers will attempt to use this year’s high lottery pick to assemble the sort of trade package that finally convinces the Timberwolves to part with Kevin Love and end the uncertainty that hangs over this franchise even before the 25-year-old enters the final year of his contract, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Many in NBA circles believe that Love will eventually end up in Los Angeles, either via trade or free agency. He grew up in California, attended UCLA and his father, Stan, played for the Lakers, notes Stein.

Wolves Rumors: Love, Adelman, Hoiberg, Rubio

March 28th, 2014 at 2:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

There’s more uncertainty surrounding the Timberwolves than with any other team in the league, Grantland’s Zach Lowe concludes. The future of Kevin Love is at the center of it, and Lowe and Marc Stein of ESPN.com examine that and other issues on which the franchise could pivot in the months ahead. We’ll highlight their pieces here:

The Wolves have already let some teams know that they’re uninterested in trading Love, who’s set for free agency in 2015, and Minnesota has indirectly given that signal to other teams, too, Lowe writes. Owner Glen Taylor is intent on convincing Love to stay and the Wolves are optimistic about their chances of keeping him, Stein reports, adding that Taylor is determined not to trade Love unless the time comes when he feels he must.
There are many close to the Wolves who are convinced Rick Adelman will retire after the season, Stein writes. The Wolves and Adelman each have two weeks to decide whether to exercise the mutual option on his contract, notes Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune suggests via Twitter that even if Adelman doesn’t opt out, the Wolves will.
There have been no signals that president of basketball operations Flip Saunders wants to take over on the bench, but Stein hears the Wolves will make a strong pursuit of Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg if Adelman isn’t coming back.
Ricky Rubio will be up for a rookie scale extension in the offseason, and the sense around the league is that agent Dan Fegan will ask for eight-figure salaries, according to Lowe. The point guard is undeserving of that much money, Lowe argues, noting that teams nonetheless have widely varying opinions of Rubio’s worth.

Northwest Notes: Rubio, Love, Nuggets, Crabbe

March 25th, 2014 at 7:03pm CST by Charlie Adams

With the Timberwolves’ loss to Memphis last night, Minnesota appears to be all but officially eliminated from playoff contention. Hollinger’s Playoff Odds at ESPN.com now have the team making the postseason 0% of the time in 5,000 simulations of 2013/14’s remaining schedule. Here’s more on the Wolves and the rest of the NBA’s Northwest Division:

Ricky Rubio wants to remain in Minnesota, but he also wants to take part in the playoffs, as he tells Nacho Albarran of As.com (translation via HoopsHype). Rubio, who’ll become eligible to sign an extension in the offseason, predicts that 2015 free agent Kevin Love will stay with the Timberwolves.
The Nuggets are another Northwest club set to miss the postseason, but coach Brian Shaw is excited for what his squad will be capable of next season now that they understand the system he’s putting in place, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. “Everybody now has an understanding of exactly what I expect of them, how we want to play and what we want to do going forward,” said Shaw. “I’ve said that this is going to be a year of discovery to really understand what it is that we have to work with“
The Blazers have assigned Allen Crabbe to the D-League, the team announced. It will be Crabbe’s second such assignment this season. The rookie has averaged 2.1 points in a meager 5.1 minutes per contest this season for Portland, but he’ll be in line to see more playing time for the D-League’s Idaho Stampede.
Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune thinks that Jazz fans should blame coach Tyrone Corbin for Utah’s lack of overall enthusiasm in recent weeks. The club has won just four of its last 19 games and figures to finish the season near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Lakers, Faried, Butler, Ledo

March 13th, 2014 at 7:32pm CST by Alex Lee

After Kobe Bryant‘s news conference on Wednesday, the Lakers may have to abandon any strategy not aimed at an immediate turnaround, writes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Pincus has an intricate plan in mind for the purple-and-gold that entails trading their 2014 first rounder for Kevin Love, waiving Steve Nash, re-signing Pau Gasol and much more, all designed at arming the aging Bryant with running mates capable of staging one last run at a title.

Let’s take a look at what is going on elsewhere in the Western Conference:

Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried is happy that the trade speculation is behind him, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Faried is having an impressive March, scoring 21.1 points per game and grabbing 10.1 rebounds on 64.5% shooting from the field. Teammate Ty Lawson also believes that the trade talk was hurting his play somewhat, noting that he has been more aggressive since the trade deadline came and went.
Thunder trainer Joe Sharpe had a lot to do with Caron Butler‘s decision to sign with Oklahoma City this season, Jeff Caplan of NBA.com writes. Sharpe held a similar position at UConn when Butler was there.
While we pointed out a pair of D-League success stories earlier tonight, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram opines (via Twitter) that Ricky Ledo may have become a high lottery pick with the proper collegiate seasoning. Ledo, who has bounced between the Mavericks and the Texas Legends in his rookie season, attended Providence College though he never played for the Friars. He was selected 43rd overall by the Bucks last June.

Knicks Rumors: Anthony, Noah, Love

March 7th, 2014 at 2:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Carmelo Anthony isn’t changing his mind about his desire to opt out of his contract this summer, a source tells Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who adds that the Knicks, long confident about keeping their star, are starting to worry. Windhorst nonetheless believes Anthony would be better served opting in for 2014/15 and testing free agency next year, when a more attractive list of teams will have cap flexibility. Here’s more on a Knicks franchise producing more news than victories these days:

Joakim Noah calls the report that he attempted to recruit Anthony to the Bulls “gossip,” but when asked whether it’s accurate, he said the answer doesn’t matter, observes Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com. Sam hears that Anthony also had a conversation with Kevin Love, though Sam doesn’t make it entirely clear if they spoke about teaming up.
The Knicks will place their D-League affiliate in Westchester, New York, Jonah Ballow of Knicks.com confirms via Twitter. A formal announcement is due Monday. A report late last month indicated a Knicks-owned affiliate in Westchester was in the works to replace New York’s relationship with the Erie BayHawks, who will remain but have a different NBA affiliation next season.
The “general consensus” when the Knicks hired GM Steve Mills was that they would eventually seek a talent evaluator to complement him, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who wonders if that’s the role the team is considering for Phil Jackson.