As alluring as it might be to pull off a trade for Kevin Love that will cost the Chicago Bulls Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott not to mention future draft picks, the best power forward in the league is simply not worth the price the Minnesota Timberwolves are asking for him.
Some might think that the non-superstars players in this league, the role players and simple bench fillers, are a dime a dozen. That all you really need to succeed are stars, and the rest works out. That isn’t the case more often than not. It takes the right players around the key guys to make a team work, turning it from simply a playoff candidate into a championship contender.
So giving up three first round picks: Doug McDermott, Nikola Mirotic and Taj Gibson, not to mention possible future draft picks as well, for Kevin Love? That’s too much. Love is a great offensive player. A ‘4’ who can also play as a center. He can score from anywhere on the floor, has excellent vision and is an elite rebounder. But he’s also one huge gaping hole on defense. And he sometimes tries to do too much, with some bad decisions being made in crunch time.
The Bulls would have one hell of a starting five if Love does join them. They’ll have a trio of Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol and Kevin Love to roam the paint. However, they’ll be left empty and depleted on their bench. For a team that has its share of injury problems and misfortune when it comes to keeping players healthy, going into a season with such a low quality of backups is simply once again putting their faith in the knees of Derrick Rose.
The Spurs “formula” can’t be easily copied. It’s a rare case of circumstances and personalities come together. It takes luck to also make it true. But the approach and idea is what all NBA teams should consider: No longer bringing stars together at the expense of any kind of team growth or development, but trying to build something cohesive, that will last for more than one season, and has a chance for success even when things aren’t perfect.
Love is a unique player. In the prime of his career and maybe still getting better. Maybe the best power forward in the league, and certainly the best when it comes to offense. And yet sacrificing so much for his goods and bads doesn’t feel like a smart move. It reeks of desperation, and of lacking confidence in the coaching staff’s ability to turn the current group they have, relying on Derrick Rose to be healthy obviously, into champions.