Sports Illustrated

The Bulls are making a push to trade for the Timberwolves' Kevin Love, according to a report from ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst.

Chicago's package for Love could include forwards Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, in addition to other assets.

Windhorst and Stein report that the Cleveland Cavaliers remain the leading contender in the Love sweepstakes, with the team 'increasingly optimistic' about coming to terms on a framework for a trade.

Cleveland's package would include Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 picks in the last two drafts, plus a future first-rounder and potentially one additional player to meet NBA trade requirements.

More: Report: Cavs close to signing Andrew Wiggins, would delay trade

Golden State has been rumored as another potential landing spot for Love, though reports indicate the Warriors' refusal to include shooting guard Klay Thompson in a potential package has stalled negotiations.

This offseason, the Bulls signed four-time All-Star center Pau Gasol and heralded European prospect Nikola Mirotic and acquired former Creighton forward Doug McDermott in a draft night trade.

Chicago won 48 games and finished in fourth place in the Eastern Conference last season before losing to the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs.

What Cleveland must sacrifice to gain Kevin Love

On Monday's SI Now, Sports Illustrated senior writer Chris Mannix and NBA writer Ben Golliver discuss the sacrifices Cleveland would have to make to acquire Kevin Love and who they would have to trade along with Andrew Wiggins.

- Chris Johnson

Reg

Knixkik wrote:The biggest problem here is for whatever reason the Bulls players are always sold by the media and fans as much more than they are, while it is assumed NY never has any assets. In this example, Butler and Gibson are being advertised as players worthy of being the center pieces of a package for Love, and this is always the case with Bulls players. Makes no sense to me.

Agreed. Looking at the numbers there is no reason shump + bargs + 2015 first rounder. Don't out match the bulls or cavs offer (wiggins not included)

We could add more players to the mix and still keep a core of

Love
Amare
Melo
Jr
Calderone

Thjr, Cleanthony, and others would be cool.

The more I look. I think bargs is going to produce in the triangle. He's better than pau gasol on paper (stats)

Knixkik wrote:The biggest problem here is for whatever reason the Bulls players are always sold by the media and fans as much more than they are, while it is assumed NY never has any assets. In this example, Butler and Gibson are being advertised as players worthy of being the center pieces of a package for Love, and this is always the case with Bulls players. Makes no sense to me.

VCoug wrote:We don't have anywhere near the assets Chicago or Cleveland has for a Love trade. Jimmy Butler is a better asset and Taj Gibson is a far better player than anyone we could include in a Love trade. Wiggins is a FAR better asset than anything we could possible give up in a Love trade.

Also Love has a de facto no trade clause since he's expiring and whatever team trades for him would want/need him to agree to a contract extension; I'd put the odds at less than 10% that he would agree to a contract extension with us. So then, we'd have to agree to give up assets in the hope that he'll sign an extension in the offseason.

Don't agree about Butler, but a package of Gibson, Mirotic, McDermott and a first trumps anything we can offer. It would give Minnesota a known quantity at PF, a solid prospect at PF and a player to address their shooting problems. But I think we've seen all summer that a package of Butler, Gibson and a first isn't getting the bulls anywhere.

BigDaddyG wrote:

Knixkik wrote:The biggest problem here is for whatever reason the Bulls players are always sold by the media and fans as much more than they are, while it is assumed NY never has any assets. In this example, Butler and Gibson are being advertised as players worthy of being the center pieces of a package for Love, and this is always the case with Bulls players. Makes no sense to me.

Yeah. I mean, I didn't want Butler in any packages for Melo. He's Landry Fields at this point. He had one good season shooting from three and an abysmal shooting % the following season. If the Bulls really want to get serious in these trade talks, they'll have to start including Mirotic and McDermott and Snell.

Only way I would do the Butler/Gibson/other assets trade that DID NOT include Mirotic and McDermott is if no other serious offers for Love were made, and Minny was about to lose him for nothing.

Surprised that Chicago would even make the reported offer with a straight face, to be honest, unless they were approached by the T Wolves first and asked what they might offer.

gunsnewing wrote:Guess we should've held on to that 2016 1st we gave up for Bargnani without second thought eh?

I'm not sure if Grunwald would do the trade again, even if he was rehired and promised not to be fired.

What an awful trade

VCoug wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

VCoug wrote:We don't have anywhere near the assets Chicago or Cleveland has for a Love trade. Jimmy Butler is a better asset and Taj Gibson is a far better player than anyone we could include in a Love trade. Wiggins is a FAR better asset than anything we could possible give up in a Love trade.

Also Love has a de facto no trade clause since he's expiring and whatever team trades for him would want/need him to agree to a contract extension; I'd put the odds at less than 10% that he would agree to a contract extension with us. So then, we'd have to agree to give up assets in the hope that he'll sign an extension in the offseason.

Don't agree about Butler, but a package of Gibson, Mirotic, McDermott and a first trumps anything we can offer. It would give Minnesota a known quantity at PF, a solid prospect at PF and a player to address their shooting problems. But I think we've seen all summer that a package of Butler, Gibson and a first isn't getting the bulls anywhere.

I think Butler's still considered a high-upside player around the league. Not as much as he was after 2012-13 but I think it's still there. He's still a better prospect than Shump, THJr, Larkin, or Early.