The quick turnaround many Boston Celtics fans hope for this offseason would not come without its risks.
A trade for Kevin Love, for instance, would put the Celtics in the tough spot of having two marquee players heading into walk years. Rajon Rondo becomes a free agent next summer, and there is no way for the Celtics to guarantee Love would exercise his player option for 2015-16 at the end of the season if they traded for him.
Such a danger does not scare away Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, though.
“I would contemplate that, yes,” Ainge said Wednesday on Toucher and Rich. “It would depend on the player and the risk, but sometimes you need to take some risks.”
Love will make $15.7 million next season in the third year of a four-year contract he signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2012. The Wolves had a chance to lock up Love for five years as their “designated player” at the time, but instead offered him just the four-year deal, which included the option for the fourth year.
The Wolves’ ill-advised offer has forced them to scramble to put short-term pieces around Love, rather than slowly build a more complete roster. The strategy has not worked; Minnesota has never made the playoffs in Love’s six-year career.
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