By Vincent Paul Hidalgo | July 21, 2014 11:08 PM EST
There will be no Kevin Love trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers—at least for the next 30 days or so as the LeBron James-led franchise will sign Andrew Wiggins to a deal anytime.
According to sources by Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.COM, the Cavs “plan to sign the No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins to a contract in the coming week.”
The move will mean Cleveland will stick with the 19-year-old Canadian for a month’s time after he’s formally signed to roughly $5.5 million contract allotted for the first pick overall in the annual rookie selection.
The signing will also signify the end of Love-to-Cleveland talks for the meantime as the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rules that a draft rookie can only be included in a trade 30 days after the signing.
The Cavs were in constant pursuit of Love ever since they re-acquired James via free agency. There were also reports that the latter even called up Love and talked about the possibility of playing together in Ohio.
The hold-up in the deal is that Love’s team, the Minnesota Timberwolves have already thwarted a pair of offers from the Cavs. The initial offer was the combination of Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett and a future first round pick and last week, the Cavs’ trade offer was upgraded to Wiggins, Bennett and a future first—both times the Timberwolves balked at the proposals.
Minnesota is most likely waiting for the best possible offer for their franchise player, who has previously stated that he will opt out of his final year of his contract. The Timberwolves are treading dangerous grounds however, as they are losing all the leverage on any Love deal as the trade deadline approaches.
No team will want to acquire Love on a one-year or half-year rental and that could happen if Love doesn’t commit to the team that eventually will land him. The Cavaliers are in a different situation as the star power forward has showed intention in extending his contract if he is shipped to Cleveland.
Others still in play for Love’s services are the Golden State Warriors, who has reportedly offered David Lee, Harrison Barnes and others but isn’t willing to include young shooter Klay Thompson.
Will Kevin Love eventually join LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers? The promise of an Andrew Wiggins may be too much to give up for the Cavs front office But then again, The King wants to win now so choosing Love over potential may be the right way to go in this offseason.
To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com
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