The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly are engaged in new trade talks for star Kevin Love. Cavaliers rookie Andrew Wiggins is now "in play" in the discussions, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN and Dan Finnan of the Morning Journal.
Cleveland's signing of LeBron James purportedly piqued Love's interest in potentially signing a long-term contract with the Cavaliers, if they were able to entice Minnesota into a trade.
Although the teams were believed to have discussed a possible trade, the talks stalled at Cleveland's unwillingness to part with Wiggins.
That may have changed now.
"New talks. (Timberwolves) have reason to believe he's in play. Not imminent yet," Wolfson tweeted Thursday.
Wolfson also indicated James is the Cavaliers' "de facto" general manager, and James appears to want Love in Cleveland.
The report of Cleveland being willing to trade Wiggins was independently confirmed Thursday by the Morning Journal.
"A league source said on July 17 that the Cavs are now willing to trade the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft [Wiggins]," Finnan wrote.
Finnan, like Wolfson, also reported James wants Love on the Cavaliers' roster.
"...A source said James wants the 6-10, 250-pound Love on the roster," Finnan wrote. "And, what James wants, he normally gets."
Love, to nobody's surprise, has drawn interest from a number of teams. Minnesota and the Golden State Warriors were reportedly close to completing a deal last month, and talks purportedly could reopen if Golden State agrees to include guard Klay Thompson in the trade.
The Boston Celtics are another contender for Love, given the number of tradable assets - draft picks, namely - they have to offer Minnesota. Failing to land Love could reportedly effect the future of Celtics star Rajon Rondo - Celtics president Danny Ainge reportedly will try to trade the point guard if the team is unable to get Love.
The Houston Rockets also reportedly are pursuing Love, but the team is short on assets.
