The sky is blue. Grass is green. Kevin Love will not be traded before the 2014 NBA draft.
All of these statements have exceptions, but generally they can be made with a fair amount of confidence. So although it might sound like news that Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor says Kevin Love will not be traded before draft day, the more fitting response to Taylor’s remarks is a resounding, “Well, yeah.”
Love is widely believed to be on the trade market as the Wolves become increasingly convinced he will opt out of his contract after next season. The Boston Celtics reportedly are among several realistic suitors, including the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Love’s hometown Los Angeles Lakers.
A move involving Love is not imminent, however, according to Taylor.
“Not by the draft,” Taylor told the Star Tribune on Sunday.
Some fans might be disappointed at having to wait another month before being able to buy a new Love jersey, but many informed observers expected this to be the case, anyway. Trades before the draft are allowed, but big moves are uncommon. Last year, there was a grand total of one “trade” between the end of the playoffs and the draft: the Los Angeles Clippers sending a 2015 first-round pick to Boston as compensation for hiring coach Doc Rivers.
Draft-night trades are far more common, even those — like last year’s blockbuster deal that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets — that cannot be officially consummated until weeks later.
In other words, it would have been big news if Taylor had said Love would be traded before the draft, not the other way around. All Taylor did in reality is confirm what was largely assumed in the first place.
Photo via Twitter/@Darrylxxl
