Although trade talks regarding Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love appear to be at a standstill, teams such as the Houston Rockets, the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly are still trying to put together trade packages to acquire the All-Star.
Love, who purportedly told Minnesota he would opt out of his contract next season, is unlikely to be on the Timberwolves roster after the February trade deadline. It's a question of when, and although rumors involving him have seemingly died down, a number of teams reportedly are still in play to trade for him.
The Rockets, now with an abundance of salary cap space, are the latest team to toss their hat again into the Love sweepstakes.
"So look for Rockets to re-enter trade game for longtime Houston target Rajon Rondo as well as try to work their way into (the) mix for Kevin Love," ESPN's Marc Stein tweeted Monday.
Houston, though, is limited in terms of the assets they could offer Minnesota. They already traded center Omer Asik and guard Jeremy Lin, and they elected not to match the Dallas Mavericks' $43 million offer sheet to forward Chandler Parsons.
Boston, by contrast, has the assets -- a bevy of future draft picks, namely -- to entice Minnesota into a trade. Celtics president Danny Ainge was reported last week as still determined to acquire Love. Failing to get Love, however, reportedly is likely to lead to Ainge putting Rondo on the trade block.
Cleveland also has the assets to pique Minnesota's interest and are arguably the frontrunners for any trade involving Love. The Cavaliers have the No. 1 pick of the NBA draft, Andrew Wiggins, future draft picks and a number of young prospects -- such as Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson -- to package together for Love, who's reportedly interested in playing alongside Cavaliers star LeBron James.
The Golden State Warriors are another possibility, and reports last month indicated they came close to completing a trade for Love with a package that included guard Klay Thompson and forward David Lee.
