Wendi Kaminski/NBAE/Getty Images
If you paid any attention to the Twitter accounts of Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, James Harden or Russell Westbrook during All-Star Weekend, you noticed a theme. They were always together.
Westbrook of course is already good friends with Love, having played with him at UCLA. But it was obvious that Love bonded well with the Thunder guys, as he was pretty much with them everywhere. They sat together, arrived together, ate together and in general, were all best friends the entire weekend. It got a lot of people talking and thinking, especially after the comment Love made after the World Championships.
And via David Aldridge’s column for NBA.com, Love says Thunder players recruited him pretty good in Los Angeles:
Love, who’ll be a restricted free agent in ’12 if he doesn’t sign an extension with Minnesota (OKC’s Westbrook is in a similar situation) got recruiting pitches from everyone during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
“A lot of it was (about) OKC,” Love said. “A lot of it was a few other teams that just need that one more guy. And a lot of it was circulating around the Lakers, ’cause we were out there as well. There was a lot of pressure and a lot of questions were circulating, and I almost felt like, ‘Damn, I have to take a step back and, not assess the situation, but kind of look at things from a broad horizon.’
“As far as right now, I love the city of Minneapolis. I like Minnesota as a state. I love the people here. Our team is very young. We have a lot of stuff going for us when you look past the win column. I think I just have to look at that come contract time.”
Tampering? Eh, in this world of the NBA, it’s hard to see how tampering even exists anymore. Players talk, they joke, they text. You can’t really stop this sort of thing unless you just cut off all communication between players on opposing teams.
More than likely, it’s nothing more than a dream for it to happen. With Westbrook’s extension coming and the Thunder committing to Kendrick Perkins long-term, then Serge Ibaka and James Harden’s situations, plus the new CBA that could roll back salaries and create a hard cap, it’s hard to see how the Thunder could possibly have room for Love.
Still, it’s pretty fun to think about. For both sides too.
I dunno. With Kahn at the helm we could probably get Love for say... some magic beans. Yeah that outta do it.
Kevin Love is not walking through that door, Thunder fans. We're Serging ahead without him.
Grolgar :Technical question: If KD can’t take a pay cut, could he just give Love some of his money on the side? What if KD just promised Love 2 mil a year? Could he do that?
Durant & Love can just have an annual rebounding wager. The one with the lower rebounds per game pays the winner 2 million. Problem solved, unless the NBA is sensitive to gambling.
The median team payroll this season is about $67 million.
The mean for the top 11 teams is $73 million.
The Thunderand Bulls spending this season is $7 and $10 million less respectively than any other contender and $15-18 million than the contender average but that will change quickly as rookie contracts get replaced.
The highest this ownership group has paid for a season (before luxury tax distributions) is $68 million. The 4 year average is just under $61 million. Will they spend $70-75 million in the near future? Will they go higher or stop short of $70 million? The CBA may change and affect the level of spending so it may be better to simply phrase it as will they spend as much as league average or average for top contenders?
Durant could help Love get a shoe contract and other marketing deals. Nothing illegal about that.
f5alcon :@Greg
the fact that any of them may have cried is bad for them, that means they have a confidence issue. Though hopefully they beat the blazers
hell na, i know we want the blazers to lose, but the only thing better than seeing the Lakers or Mavs get trashes is the Heat!!
If you are a true competitor,you might get emotional enough to let a few tears come out we are all human. Everyone then got that teary eye symdrome at one time or another.
justin :
It depends on the new CBA and what kind of money the ownership group is willing to spend. Teams like Utah and San Antonio have paid tax dollars when they felt they could have success. If OKC is willing to do that I’m guessing they could keep most of the players together for a little while, at least.
They might end up having to choose between Harden and Ibaka, though.
if it game down to it, we would more than likely give up Harden. its not easy finding a PF who can rebound, has pure athleticism, block shots, pick n pop, and post up at times. you either get one or the other. For instance David Lee, and Chris Bosh are mainly offensive PFs, as to Carl Landrey and Jason Thompson i know hey have an offensive game but they are good post defenders.
Ibakas IQ is growing everygame, and its no question that if he takes this Summer serious like he did with the last he will grow tremendously.
Harden on the other hand may be to good for our own good. SG is not a hard position to fill. No doubt Harden is better than Cook. But Cook just proves it as long as you can play average Defense and Shoot the ball when need to. Look at the Bulls, Denver, New Orleans, Memphis, and Dallas for example. All Playoff teams, a few of them are elite teams. Harden is better than the starting and backup SG's for those teams. Even then look at Boston, Ray Allen is just sure a good shooter, no one notices his D is a bit Eh, and he can't create his own shot anymore. I mean be honest Hardens overall game is better than Ray Allens, and Ray is one of my favorite players of all time.
@Grolgar
I'm with you about crying. Though, i do have to say too that these guys asked for all this attention, and its going to come with the consequence of having every a-hole in the world scrutinizing everything you do (that includes me of course).
I don't think crying is a big deal. In fact, it might be a good sign. It shows they still care passionately about their season and team success. D-Wade singlehandidly has led a team to an NBA championship. He can cry if he wants to...
@Greg
the fact that any of them may have cried is bad for them, that means they have a confidence issue. Though hopefully they beat the blazers
So obviously Wade was crying, because he failed to deny the claim. And evidently Bosh was as well - "almost" crying means you cried. So KD's "fake tough guy" assertion proves to be all the more true.
@justin
yeah presti showed he can turn his emotion chip off when making decisions
yeah, but in a few years Cole will be better than Varejao
@gr8ball83
I think it's a great sign that Green was traded and Perkins was extended. Remember when everyone worried that Presti was going to re-sign Green and Cole Aldrich was our center of the future? Phew.
ben gordon, didnt take the extension but that didnt work out for the pistons.
@Greg
http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/2011/03/07/which-heat-were-crying-in-the-locker-room/
Anyone ever find out who exactly was crying in the Heat locker room yesterday?
@andrew
I'd say not over paying Green, and paying to keep Perkins are the 2 signs that our FO knows what they're doing money-wise. Will be interesting to see what they do with Westbrook...
Predicting how much it will take to keep Harden is kinda hard. His progression won't stay a secret for long, I have a feeling we might have to end up low-balling him a bit and then match soemone else's offer when he is restricted.
Love will kinda be hard to afford
justin :
Grolgar :Technical question: If KD can’t take a pay cut, could he just give Love some of his money on the side? What if KD just promised Love 2 mil a year? Could he do that?
LOL. I’m guessing that would be against the rules.
This is oklahoma...just give Kevin Love a job at Big Red Sports and Imports to supplement any pay lost by coming to the Thunder.
The CBA is about to change, so all this talk about salaries will probably become irrelevant. Keeping that in mind, how much would Harden and Ibaka get in their next extension under current CBA rules?
Grolgar :
Technical question: If KD can’t take a pay cut, could he just give Love some of his money on the side? What if KD just promised Love 2 mil a year? Could he do that?
LOL. I'm guessing that would be against the rules.
@andrew
I'm talking about like, 2016.
Technical question: If KD can't take a pay cut, could he just give Love some of his money on the side? What if KD just promised Love 2 mil a year? Could he do that?
@Grolgar
It's feasible, but probably wishful thinking.
justin :
It depends on the new CBA and what kind of money the ownership group is willing to spend. Teams like Utah and San Antonio have paid tax dollars when they felt they could have success. If OKC is willing to do that I’m guessing they could keep most of the players together for a little while, at least.
They might end up having to choose between Harden and Ibaka, though.
If our ownership group is too cheap to pay both Harden and Ibaka I reserve the right to choose a new team.
Giving Perkins 9 million a year is a strong indicator to me that the ownership group is willing to spend money.
What if Love expressed to Minny he wouldn't re-sign so they signed him to a sign and trade for Ibaka and a couple draft picks (or other pieces). Would that be possible?
It's no probable but if it's possible, there are two things running in our favor: Kahn and Presti.
dstrimple :
TempBoy Brandon :Starters:RussHardenKDLovePerkinsBench:IbakaThaboCollisonMaynorCookAldrich*drool*
Would we really want to knock Ibaka out of the starting lineup. There really isn’t a place for Love anymore…
Uh. Obviously I would trade Ibaka and prospects/draft picks for Love. You wouldn't? That's a no brainer. Ibaka has potential. Love is already cashing it in...
@ATH
Westbrook won TheBasketballJones's "whoa boy" award of the weekend today.
@ATH
The 60 million that the Lakers have committed in 2013/14 should quash any ideas of that.
@dstrimple
Yeah, I think the same thing: Ibaka is too good not to start, and his ceiling is way too high. Of course, we could always move KD back to SG (gasp!) and trot out a starting lineup of Russ/KD/Ibaka/Love/Perkins. Tallest starting lineup ever!
@Daniel
I'm the same way, honestly. I think we'll contend for the next decade if we can just keep Russ, KD, Serge, Harden and Perkins.
I'd put our chances at getting Love at about 1%. It isn't impossible, but it's so improbable that it's not worth seriously considering.
Love loses too much money to play here. If not, we have to shed several assets to afford him via a sign and trade.
But it is fun to think about.
It depends on the new CBA and what kind of money the ownership group is willing to spend. Teams like Utah and San Antonio have paid tax dollars when they felt they could have success. If OKC is willing to do that I'm guessing they could keep most of the players together for a little while, at least.
They might end up having to choose between Harden and Ibaka, though.
Love probably can't fit here, but I just hope he and Westbrook don't sign with the Lakers together when they become free agents. That would be quite a post-Kobe rebuild.
This'll be announced later today, but I'm calling Iguodala and Westbrook win Player of the Week.
There is no possible way we would every get love. Although if there's a guy that could get love in a thunder jersey it would be Sam
I've given up hope on Kevin Love. He's going to be too expensive and I don't think we'll need him. What I am concerned about is whether we will be able to keep all our players, specifically Harden and Ibaka. I'm assuming we lock Russell down with a max, or close to it, contract as soon as possible. How much would James and Serge cost us? Just looking at comparisons from around the league, I think both can be nailed down to 8-10m per year. As long as we keep the core 5 of KD, Russell, James, Perkins, and Ibaka I'll be happy. Maynor, Thabo, Cook, etc are nice but I consider them replaceable parts.
anonymous :When was the last time a non-bust lottery player didn’t take the extension after his 3rd year?
The closest I could come up with was LeBron, Bosh, and Wade signing a non-max extension. They signed an extension, but left a year on the table. At the time, Carmelo could have done the same and didn't saying he was sure he'd want to stay in Denver.
@TempBoy Brandon
It's unlikely, to say the least.
@anonymous
Joe Johnson forcing a sign and trade is the closest I can think of.
@justin
Ah, bummer. I mean, I guess that could change with the new CBA, but I doubt that's on the list of talking points. Plus, with the fight against the powers becoming more powerful, I don't see how that will happen.
So salary cap gurus, tell me this-- is there any possible way that we could have KD, Russ, Ibaka, Harden, Perkins, and Love on the same team? As much as I want Love, I wouldn't be willing to give up Harden or Ibaka for him.
Completely unrelated to anything, but I am really glad Nick Collison's contract is structured the way it is. I don't think he will be a rotation player by the final couple years.
Ibaka's extension will be at least 10 million per year imo. That is what makes any type of Love acquisition unreasonable.
TempBoy Brandon :
Starters:
Russ
Harden
KD
Love
Perkins
Bench:
Ibaka
Thabo
Collison
Maynor
Cook
Aldrich
*drool*
Would we really want to knock Ibaka out of the starting lineup. There really isn't a place for Love anymore...
When was the last time a non-bust lottery player didn't take the extension after his 3rd year?
@TempBoy Brandon
Under the current CBA contracts can't be re-negotiated downwards.
I have no idea how this works, but is it possible that KD could restructure his contract if he wanted to, so that we could free up some money for Love? I know that's happened in the NFL before, but didn't know the NBA rules. Just sayin', if KD and Russ want Love so badly, maybe they'd each be willing to take a little paycut. :)
Yeah, I know the whole thing is a pipedream, but with our guys loving him so much and with him seeming to love us so much, it makes it KINDA possible.
Starters:
Russ
Harden
KD
Love
Perkins
Bench:
Ibaka
Thabo
Collison
Maynor
Cook
Aldrich
*drool*
Come sign for the veteran's minimum, K-Love!