Kevin Love has developed into one of the best players in the NBA, but the Timberwolves did not appear to view him that way when it came to their contract negotiations.
Love wanted a five-year contract extension from the team — the maximum they could have offered, but they offered him a four-year deal instead. They compromised on a four-year, $61 million contract agreed to in January that gives Love a player option for the fourth year.
Speaking to The Associated Press’ Jon Krawczynski, Love expressed his disappointment with the Timberwolves over their contract agreement.
“I wanted them to say, ‘When people think Minnesota Timberwolves, they think Kevin Love.’ And I felt with my contract we didn’t really do that.”
Minnesota wanted to maintain payroll flexibility, and that is why they did not give him a fifth year guaranteed.
“There’s a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people didn’t know about and they will never know about,” Love said. “A lot of people looked at me and said, ’Oh, he doesn’t want a four-year deal?’ No. I wanted to be the guy. I wanted to be THEIR guy. The fact that I worked as hard as I possibly could and made my mark in many different ways, even after last season, I felt I was a little bit slighted. At this point I’m past that now.”
While Love may be satisfied with some of the offseason moves the team made, it’s obvious some of these issue are still in his head. If he really were past being slighted by the contract situation, he wouldn’t be bringing it up now. He also vented in July that he had very little patience for losing in Minnesota.
You better believe that Love will leave the Timberwolves in three seasons if they don’t start winning. They will be an improved team, but can they really keep up with the Thunder or Lakers? That’s doubtful.
Chest bump to Matt Moore at Pro Basketball Talk
Photo credit: Steve Dykes/US Presswire
