Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 at 9:10 am  |  21 responses

Timberwolves: Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio Untouchable in Trades


Despite the rumors, Wolves President David Kahn claims that newcomer Ricky Rubio and star forward Kevin Love aren’t getting let out of Minny anytime soon. From the Star Tribune: “Recent unsourced Internet reports have suggested Love or the No. 2 pick in Thursday’s draft — or quite possibly both — could be headed to Los Angeles for Lakers veteran forward Pau Gasol. It’s a proposal that at first glance — and second and third — doesn’t make any sense for a rebuilding franchise. Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who’s long, athletic, only 23 and might be available for the pick and other pieces? Yes. But Gasol? Love is 22. Gasol, 31, and is owed $60 million over the next three seasons. ‘Absolutely not, no ifs ands or buts,’ Kahn said. ‘Kevin will be on this team next year and I expect Kevin, as I’ve said numerous times, to be on this team for many, many years. I see him as being a very important part of our future.’ He took the same stance on Rubio, even though it’s conceivable Cleveland could take Arizona’s Derrick Williams first in Thursday’s NBA draft. That would leave Duke point guard Kyrie Irving available two days after the Wolves welcomed Rubio to the franchise. ‘Ricky Rubio will not be traded by the Timberwolves,’ Kahn said. ‘You can go to sleep on it. He’s here for a long, long time.’”

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  • hushabomb

    Tradin for Gasol may be a great move now yet you’re only got 3 yrs to capitalise. And you might be in the playoffs yet this team won’t contend and I’m sure Gasol would want to al least be on a contender. And it may impact on the younger guys you want to develop (Johnson, Beasley, Rubio)

    If I’m the TWolves, I might risk it (perfect for the triangle and will definently be a 1/2 option). If I’m the Lakers I wouldn’t as there are other players I might want (Howard, DWill, Paul)

    Knowing Kahn and his brain he might attempt to make the trade. The best bet is to pick the player. Either Irving or Knight and trade em or pick Kanter or Williams and keep the pick. Then Beasley maybe on the trading block.

  • MikeC.

    @hushabomb – knowing Kahn’s brain, he’d be far more likely to trade Kevin Love straight up for Derek Fisher and then draft Kyrie Irving if he’s available at the 2 pick. If Irving is taken #1, I then expect Kahn to trade the 2 pick to Denver for Raymond Felton.

  • T-Money

    Gasol for Love doesn’t make sense for both teams. Minny is not ready to win now so they should try to let their core grow (Love, Rubio, Wes Johnson). Gasol is better than Love so it doesn’t help the Lakers right now and they’re only about right now.

  • http://sdkjflf.com Jukai

    My goodness, who cares if Irving is on the board. Kanter is a no brainer for Minny.

  • T-Money

    No, he’s not. He’s not a no brainer, period. Hasn’t played competitive basketball in 2 years and did not dominate work outs from what I read. He would be a good fit but 20-win teams should not look for fit. The reason why they draft early is because they lack talent. Draft Derrick Williams and trade Beasley if you don’t think they can play together.

  • Riggs

    KAHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

  • Abdo

    why is Beasley so expendable ? He’s infinitely more skilled then Wes Johnson. Beasely averaged 20 ppg this year, albeit on a bad team. Wesley averaged 9 ppg as a rookie on a bad team whereas Beasley averaged 14 on a playoff team in ’09. Why not just draft williams if available and have a starting 5 of rubio beasley williams love and milicic ? trade flynn for backups or vets and you have the potential for a really great team.

  • JL

    abdo… then who is the shooting G? Beasley? he’s slow to even guard SFs!

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    Dang, no first round pick for LA this year then

  • T-Money

    Abdo – I could easily write 1000+ words on why Beasley is expendable but I’ll be succinct: he’s a lazy, selfish idiot.

  • kev

    Ricky rubio untouchable? What a joke! no wonder this franchise continues to suck year after year

  • http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

    Only the L-Wolves would think of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio as “untouchable”.

  • T-Money

    you’re right on love – he’s is not untouchable, you have to listen to what’s being offered. but for rubio, to be fair, after two freaking years, it would be even more absurd to trade himnow before knowing what they really have. not to mention that his stock has considerably fallen since 08 olyimpics. teams were willing to give up multiple players or fringe all-stars for rubio’s rights back then.

  • http://twitter.com/BeezKneezy LA Huey

    It’s a bit silly to tag anyone that’s a not unanimous Top 10 player as “untouchable”. To me “untouchable” means I don’t even listen to offers. You think Minny wouldn’t listen if OKC and Chicago called offering Durant or Rose? Actually, Kahn is involved so nevermind.

  • bike

    Minny prefers white guys with a low percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers. This is to appeal to the massess of overweight white-male ice fishermen that attend T-wolves games.

  • tom.g012

    Am I the only one that sees a problem with a line up of Rubio/Flynn at the point, Johnson at the 2, Williams or Beasley at the 3 and the other at 4, with K Love at the 5? Its not gonna win a championship this year and it wouldn’t be very good defensively but unless they can get a good SF or center for the #2 pick or Beasley why wouldn’t they just go with this?

  • http://slamonline.com tealish

    No one is untouchable. Not one player. It’s just a feel-good word to throw around.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Johnny Flynn, Michael Beasley, & Darko to the Clippers for Chris Kaman and Al Farouq Aminu. Makes sense to me, do it.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    adam morrison is untouchable…….

    …no one wants him.

  • bdub

    Good trade^ NBK

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    @ T-Money: Talent-wise, Kanter might be the best pick in the draft. AND he fits, so why not? True, he didn’t play competitively for 2 years, but in that time he’s experienced professional-level coaching from Calipari and worked out with the team. He’s also dominated international ball in the past.

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