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Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine
- Thread starter Jack Brickman
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CalBuckeyeRob
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Agree. I think Minnesota management decided they were not making the playoffs because Love really wasn't that good rather than admit they were not making the playoffs because the front office sucked at adding other legit players in the draft. Taylor is right, that now in Cleveland we will all see what Love can really do when it matters. You average 20+ a game in the regular season and no-show in the playoffs and your resume looks pretty thin. But I think Love is way more competitive than Taylor realizes. Watch the sports science segment when he tries to make a full court shot and it is hard to not see the drive to succeed. Combine that with 6 years of losing in Minnesota and I expect him to revel in the winning.
MirORich
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Wow. On one hand, given The Letter, maybe we shouldn't be ripping into Taylors comments today, but I can't help it and I would feel the same way if Love had been traded to another team and Taylor made the same comments.
It's beyond comical, he in essence puts 100% of the Timberwolves woes of the past 6 season solely on Kevin Love's shoulders, and essentially:
-Blames Kevin Love for Taylor's own role in hiring David Kahn, regarded as one of the worst GM's of all time
-Blames Kevin Love for a decade of lukewarm FA signings and trades
-Blames Kevin Love for the Wolves dismal draft record, failing to surround Love with any secondary or tertiary star talent.
This is an organization that:
-In 2006 did a draft day trade of Brandon Roy for Randy Foye,
-In 2007 Passed on J Noah for Corey Brewer,
-In 2009 Passed on Steph Curry and DeMar DeRozan in favor of Jonny Flynn
-In 2010 Passed on DeMarcus Cousins, Greg Monroe, Gordon Hayward, or Paul George in favor of Wesley Johnson,
-In 2011 Passed on Jonas, Klay Thompson, or Kawhi Leonard in favor of Derrick Williams and
-In 2012 didn't have a selection(#10) because of a 2005 trade for Marko Jaric.
We're talking about the literally the worst run franchise as far as drafting goes in the past decade and Glen Taylor wants to talk about Kevin Love's defense. He wants to say the Kevin Love puts up nice stats but they want to assemble a group of winning players? They had 6 years to do that around Love since 2008 and couldn't manage a single decent pick except Ricky Rubio(who has missed a combined 3 full seasons due to staying in Europe for two years and injuries) and Dieng last year.
Minnesota fans have every right to be bittersweet about this trade and even a bit salty at Love for demanding a trade out. We know what it feels like, but to a much more intense degree of our hearts being ripped out. But Glen Taylor has no one to blame but himself. But what Billionaire wants to blame himself.
So yeah, I get the irony in this. But at least Dan's letter was a heat of the moment reaction to our entire fanbase being shocked and obliterated. Taylor has known this was coming for months. Taylor is getting a sweet return on his departed star, but he still can't help but pass the buck and the blame down from the top where it belongs to Kevin Love.
And as for how Love will feel being "third banana" over the next 4-5 years while the Wolves are hoping the rebuild comes together right? He's going to be feeling like Bob Cousy did in the early 60's. Like James Worthy did in the 80's. Like Scottie Pippen did in the 90's. Like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, or KG did. He's going to get that feeling that you can only get from being a champion.
It's beyond comical, he in essence puts 100% of the Timberwolves woes of the past 6 season solely on Kevin Love's shoulders, and essentially:
-Blames Kevin Love for Taylor's own role in hiring David Kahn, regarded as one of the worst GM's of all time
-Blames Kevin Love for a decade of lukewarm FA signings and trades
-Blames Kevin Love for the Wolves dismal draft record, failing to surround Love with any secondary or tertiary star talent.
This is an organization that:
-In 2006 did a draft day trade of Brandon Roy for Randy Foye,
-In 2007 Passed on J Noah for Corey Brewer,
-In 2009 Passed on Steph Curry and DeMar DeRozan in favor of Jonny Flynn
-In 2010 Passed on DeMarcus Cousins, Greg Monroe, Gordon Hayward, or Paul George in favor of Wesley Johnson,
-In 2011 Passed on Jonas, Klay Thompson, or Kawhi Leonard in favor of Derrick Williams and
-In 2012 didn't have a selection(#10) because of a 2005 trade for Marko Jaric.
We're talking about the literally the worst run franchise as far as drafting goes in the past decade and Glen Taylor wants to talk about Kevin Love's defense. He wants to say the Kevin Love puts up nice stats but they want to assemble a group of winning players? They had 6 years to do that around Love since 2008 and couldn't manage a single decent pick except Ricky Rubio(who has missed a combined 3 full seasons due to staying in Europe for two years and injuries) and Dieng last year.
Minnesota fans have every right to be bittersweet about this trade and even a bit salty at Love for demanding a trade out. We know what it feels like, but to a much more intense degree of our hearts being ripped out. But Glen Taylor has no one to blame but himself. But what Billionaire wants to blame himself.
So yeah, I get the irony in this. But at least Dan's letter was a heat of the moment reaction to our entire fanbase being shocked and obliterated. Taylor has known this was coming for months. Taylor is getting a sweet return on his departed star, but he still can't help but pass the buck and the blame down from the top where it belongs to Kevin Love.
And as for how Love will feel being "third banana" over the next 4-5 years while the Wolves are hoping the rebuild comes together right? He's going to be feeling like Bob Cousy did in the early 60's. Like James Worthy did in the 80's. Like Scottie Pippen did in the 90's. Like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, or KG did. He's going to get that feeling that you can only get from being a champion.
Cavsfan161
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seriously sometimes owners should just keep quiet.
Meticode
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Agreed. I firmly still believe Gilbert should've never written that letter. It doesn't matter now in hind sight, but those 4 years didn't help his image either.
kovanovich
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Taylor lives in some alternative universe if he believes what he is saying. He rambles and doesn't make any sense. Plus the bit about Love being foul prone is just wrong...3.3 fouls/48 minutes over the course of his career. He and LeBron together have two of the lowest foul rates in the NBA.
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It's one the one thing that's often shared between the filthy rich, homeless people, and mental patients----
Except this guy is chairman of the Board of Governors for the NBA, and the only owner other than Stirling who has been suspended.
The Process God
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rome8180
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Personally, I think he should spend a season rocking the Gettysburg:
Damn it. I was just coming here to point out how very Civil War-era he looks. Either that or like a member of Mumford and Sons (kind of the same thing).
It's not just his facial hair, but his head hair and his suit, etc.
Lyst
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Watching the press conference now. I can't believe this all is happening. When K-love said the past 6 years was all leading up to this, I got shivers down my spine. Someone as talented as him actually said that about playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. We truly are lucky as fuck Lebron was born in Akron and not somewhere else.
Jack Brickman
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It's Minnesota. No big free agents were going there any way just like none would come here unless they're from here and missed home.
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http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Wolves_owner_Glen_Taylor_open_up_about_the_Kevin_Love_trade082614
Falcon Heights, Minn. -- Wolves owner Glen Taylor watched a special gathering Tuesday, as the team introduced four its newest members at the State Fair. Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Thaddeus Young and Zach LaVine waved to a crowd and spoke to the press for the first time as new teammates.
Afterward, Taylor spoke freely about the blockbuster Kevin Love trade that landed the Wolves this year's No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young. He said that his preference would have been to keep Love, but after it became clear that would not happen, the Wolves accommodated the disgruntled star and got a nice haul in return.
Still, if he could do it all over again, Taylor said he would have signed Love to the five-year maximum contract in 2012. That way Love would have three seasons left on his contract and the team's outlook would be considerably different. With the benefit of hindsight, it appears safe to say the contract was a mistake. Love made it known that he wanted out and would exercise the opt-out clause that would make him a free agent following this season. So the Wolves once again have hit the reset button.
"I spoke the truth when I said if Kevin [Love] would stay here then we would have the best season. Inside I knew Kevin wasn't giving us that alternative even though it's what I wanted," Taylor said Tuesday. "So now you have the thing where Kevin kind of said, 'trade me or you're going to pay the fine next year if you don't trade me.' I think once we got going on that, we had about four teams that came to us with significant offers. But this one truly had the biggest upside. Flip [Saunders] pushed it and negotiated it the best he could so I'm really happy with it."
Taylor said Love never told him directly that he wanted to be traded. Later, he told a story about how Al Jefferson once called Taylor personally to share his wish to be traded if there would be a minutes crunch at power forward, which Taylor said was a classy move. Love's agent, though, made it clear to Wolves brass that it was his preference not only to be traded, but to be traded to a marquee destination where he could have success. That limited the Wolves' options, but they got one of the best hauls ever for a superstar player.
Taylor said he underestimated Love's ability to develop a lethal offensive game. But the reason Taylor didn't push for the five-year max, he said, was heath concerns about Love.
"I think Kevin, his offensive skills got better than I think we estimated. The only thing that I still have a question mark about will be his health. I had that concern then, I still have that concern and I think Cleveland should have that concern, too," Taylor said. "If they sign him to a five-year contract like they're thinking about, I mean that's a big contract in a guy that's had sometimes where he's missed games."
Taylor said his relationship with Love remains good, but that he has not talked to him since the season ended. He also said he doesn't plan to talk to him until they run into each other, which presumably would be January 31, when the Wolves host Love's Cavaliers.
"Kevin and I have always had a good relationship. Kevin always said, 'I want to win.' I said, 'I do, too. Stay here, let's win together.'"
In the end, that didn't happen of course, and the Wolves settled on a backup plan that may end up working out for the team. That's yet to be determind. As for Love, Taylor said he questions if Cleveland is the right landing spot for him, where he'll play alongside the best player in the world, LeBron James, and point guard Kyrie Irving. Taylor also nitpicked portions of Love's game.
"I question Kevin if this is going to be the best deal for him because I think he's going to be the third player on a team. I don't think he's going to get a lot of credit if they do really well. I think he'll get the blame if they don't do well. He's going to have to learn to handle that.
"I think he's around a couple guys are awful good. Now I'm not saying that Kevin's not good, but I think where maybe he got away with some stuff, not playing defense on our team, I'm not sure how that's going to work in Cleveland. So I would guess they're going to ask him to play more defense. And he's foul-prone," Taylor said.
Falcon Heights, Minn. -- Wolves owner Glen Taylor watched a special gathering Tuesday, as the team introduced four its newest members at the State Fair. Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Thaddeus Young and Zach LaVine waved to a crowd and spoke to the press for the first time as new teammates.
Afterward, Taylor spoke freely about the blockbuster Kevin Love trade that landed the Wolves this year's No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young. He said that his preference would have been to keep Love, but after it became clear that would not happen, the Wolves accommodated the disgruntled star and got a nice haul in return.
Still, if he could do it all over again, Taylor said he would have signed Love to the five-year maximum contract in 2012. That way Love would have three seasons left on his contract and the team's outlook would be considerably different. With the benefit of hindsight, it appears safe to say the contract was a mistake. Love made it known that he wanted out and would exercise the opt-out clause that would make him a free agent following this season. So the Wolves once again have hit the reset button.
"I spoke the truth when I said if Kevin [Love] would stay here then we would have the best season. Inside I knew Kevin wasn't giving us that alternative even though it's what I wanted," Taylor said Tuesday. "So now you have the thing where Kevin kind of said, 'trade me or you're going to pay the fine next year if you don't trade me.' I think once we got going on that, we had about four teams that came to us with significant offers. But this one truly had the biggest upside. Flip [Saunders] pushed it and negotiated it the best he could so I'm really happy with it."
Taylor said Love never told him directly that he wanted to be traded. Later, he told a story about how Al Jefferson once called Taylor personally to share his wish to be traded if there would be a minutes crunch at power forward, which Taylor said was a classy move. Love's agent, though, made it clear to Wolves brass that it was his preference not only to be traded, but to be traded to a marquee destination where he could have success. That limited the Wolves' options, but they got one of the best hauls ever for a superstar player.
Taylor said he underestimated Love's ability to develop a lethal offensive game. But the reason Taylor didn't push for the five-year max, he said, was heath concerns about Love.
"I think Kevin, his offensive skills got better than I think we estimated. The only thing that I still have a question mark about will be his health. I had that concern then, I still have that concern and I think Cleveland should have that concern, too," Taylor said. "If they sign him to a five-year contract like they're thinking about, I mean that's a big contract in a guy that's had sometimes where he's missed games."
Taylor said his relationship with Love remains good, but that he has not talked to him since the season ended. He also said he doesn't plan to talk to him until they run into each other, which presumably would be January 31, when the Wolves host Love's Cavaliers.
"Kevin and I have always had a good relationship. Kevin always said, 'I want to win.' I said, 'I do, too. Stay here, let's win together.'"
In the end, that didn't happen of course, and the Wolves settled on a backup plan that may end up working out for the team. That's yet to be determind. As for Love, Taylor said he questions if Cleveland is the right landing spot for him, where he'll play alongside the best player in the world, LeBron James, and point guard Kyrie Irving. Taylor also nitpicked portions of Love's game.
"I question Kevin if this is going to be the best deal for him because I think he's going to be the third player on a team. I don't think he's going to get a lot of credit if they do really well. I think he'll get the blame if they don't do well. He's going to have to learn to handle that.
"I think he's around a couple guys are awful good. Now I'm not saying that Kevin's not good, but I think where maybe he got away with some stuff, not playing defense on our team, I'm not sure how that's going to work in Cleveland. So I would guess they're going to ask him to play more defense. And he's foul-prone," Taylor said.
Kizzle
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Wow he was so butthurt lol
Not as bad as Gilbert's letter though. Gilbert basically said eff LeBron and he quit and him and his mama can kick rocks.
But this whole thing is Glen's fault for not giving Love the 5 year max all those years ago. I don't see how a team so starved of talent could possibly not lock up its one star for 5 years. And then his reasoning was so crap. "We didn't expect him to get so good". That's such a smack in the face to Love, im not surprised he forced his way out.
Bad teams lock up talent and they don't do it cheaply. Gordon Hayward got a max deal in Utah. Is he worth the max, hell no but hes worth one in Utah. You just don't let talent slide as a small market team, and a bad one at that. Like cmon man
Not as bad as Gilbert's letter though. Gilbert basically said eff LeBron and he quit and him and his mama can kick rocks.
But this whole thing is Glen's fault for not giving Love the 5 year max all those years ago. I don't see how a team so starved of talent could possibly not lock up its one star for 5 years. And then his reasoning was so crap. "We didn't expect him to get so good". That's such a smack in the face to Love, im not surprised he forced his way out.
Bad teams lock up talent and they don't do it cheaply. Gordon Hayward got a max deal in Utah. Is he worth the max, hell no but hes worth one in Utah. You just don't let talent slide as a small market team, and a bad one at that. Like cmon man
Mdog1
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I just have a hard time imagining why he would be mad at Love. The guy gave him over a year heads up that he was out, he wasn't talking to the media making a big stink like Dwight Howard, or Melo. You got one of the best packages of all time for a star that was leaving. I would have loved if LeBron had been traded, think of the assets we would have gotten then.
I think he should just be happy he got something in return.
I do understand it sucks losing your player, but at least they got something of pretty great potential in return. They should think about what they would have got at the deadline...
I think he should just be happy he got something in return.
I do understand it sucks losing your player, but at least they got something of pretty great potential in return. They should think about what they would have got at the deadline...
KilgoreTrout
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