Report: Minnesota would take Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh in Kevin Love deal


So, I've got some good news and some really good news.

First, the good news from Darren Wolfson at 1500ESPN.com:



Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh you say? Well, if we're talking draft picks, Boston may just be in prime position to get either one of those guys with the sixth pick. If you are in the "trade for Kevin Love" camp, this is awesome. If the reports were they'd only take one of Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins or Joel Embiid, then Boston would be screwed. But for one of two guys who are absolutely attainable for the Celtics? Sweet deal.

If you are in the "keep the picks" camp, this news is still pretty nice, as it shows the guys available for Boston have real value and are still somewhat coveted, although not quite as much as the top guys.

"What's the really good news?" you may be asking. Well, it turns out L.A. Lakers fans are completely delusional. "I already knew that." Fine, but here is irrefutable proof.

From the Lakers blog Lakerholicz.com:

When the Los Angeles Lakers failed to jump into the top three of the NBA Draft last week, many people felt that their chances of trading for Kevin Love died instantly.

Let's just hold up right here. Whoever these "many people" are, they must be operating in a different reality than this one. To reiterate, the Lakers have ZERO assets. They can't even trade their top draft pick until July since they traded all of there other ones away. They have no young players to deal and can only offer cap space.

Continuing to the meat of the article.

So, does this mean the Lakers have a shot at landing Love via trade? Possibly, though a few things need to be taken into consideration here.

The Kings pick directly after the Lakers at eight, so there’s a chance that both teams could end with Randle and Vonleh, and seeing as Sacramento would also be able to offer players in a trade for Love, they’d likely have the upper hand on the Lakers who currently only have four players under contract (Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Robert Sacre and Kendall Marshall).

Although, this could also work in the Lakers’ favor, too: If the Kings don’t offer any players to the Timberwolves of any real value, the purple and gold could elect to absorb Love’s contract thanks to their upcoming cap space, which would help the Wolves rebuild by providing them with salary cap relief of their own.

I don't even know where to begin. Possibly? Who? What? When? I want to make it clear that I have nothing against the writer of this piece. It can't be too fun right now for the Lakers with nothing to build with, a supremely overpaid Kobe Bryant coming off yet another injury and the Clippers looking like title threats for years to come. That being said, you have to squint pretty hard to even consider the Lakers a potential landing spot for Love in any trade.

The absolute most the Lakers could offer is their top pick, a first in 2019, the corpse of Steve Nash and any bad contracts Minnesota wants to include. That doesn't seem too enticing for me, I don't know about you. We're talking about a top-10 guy in the league here. While Boston isn't a lock to land Love (alliteration anyone?), they can blow the Lakers deal straight out of the water. Boston picks one spot ahead of the Lakers, so any guy L.A. drafts, Boston will have passed over. Want more picks? How about a first next year, and the year after, and the year after. Of course four firsts may be too much, but I'm just trying to make a point. Young players? Boston has a couple with Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk, although their value certainly takes a hit if Minnesota is targeting Randle and Vonleh. Cap space? May I introduce you to Keith Bogans?

If you want to worry about Love becoming a Laker, save it until Love can become a free agent in 2015. There's about as much chance of Love ending up in purple and gold this summer as the Lakers making the right coaching hire in the next couple months. Slim to none.

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