The Minnesota Timberwolves are preparing to lose Kevin Love at some point over the next year. It’s pretty clear that Love will leave the team as a free agent next offseason if they don’t trade him first.
While the T-Wolves no doubt would like to have him back, they probably recognize that their best course of action is trading him to get something in return. And even though they would like to keep him, that doesn’t mean they didn’t have some disappointment with him last season.
According to NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner, the T-Wolves felt Love withdrew during the team’s struggles.
In fact, near the end of the regular season, as the Wolves were eliminated practically first and mathematically second from the playoffs, Love withdrew and unplugged. Saunders and others within the team, several sources have said, were disappointed. Over the past two months, they became convinced that Love intended to leave.
Minnesota didn’t exactly have a terrible season — they went 40-42 — and it’s not like Love packed it in. He played in 77 games last season and only missed a few games down the stretch with an elbow issue.
If Minnesota should be mad at anyone over the Love situation, it’s former team GM David Kahn for playing hardball with the franchise player and not giving him a 5th year in the contract extension, allowing him to become a free agent in 2015. What a bunch of fools.
