The Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly are intrigued by the Chicago Bulls' trade offer of Doug McDermott, Nikola Mirotic and Taj Gibson. The Cleveland Cavaliers, meanwhile, still are considered the frontrunners to land the All-Star power forward.
ESPN reported earlier in the week Chicago had re-entered the Love sweepstakes, due to their failure to land Carmelo Anthony in free agency. Their late push for Love has Minnesota "extremely" intrigued, according to Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com, and could supplant Cleveland and the Golden State Warriors as the frontrunners to get Love.
Per Sheridan:
"The Chicago Bulls have offered a package of Taj Gibson and rookies Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic to the Minnesota Timberwolves for All-Star forward Kevin Love, a league source told SheridanHoops.com on Wednesday."
If Minnesota did accept Chicago's purported offer, the two teams would not be able to make the deal official until the end of next month. Per NBA rules, rookies cannot be traded until 30 days after the date their contracts were signed -- McDermott and Mirotic, both rookies, signed deals with Chicago on Tuesday.
Cleveland is believed to be the frontrunner to snag Love away from Minnesota, due to their purported trade package of rookie Andrew Wiggins, who hasn't yet signed a contract, and second-year pro Anthony Bennett.
For the Cavaliers' part, they appear to have a good chance of convincing Love to sign a long-term contract. Cavaliers superstar LeBron James reportedly is actively recruiting Love, who is said to be "intrigued" by the idea of playing beside the four-time league MVP.
Golden State is another option and, along with Chicago, was reported as one of Love's preferred destinations. The Warriors reportedly came close to completing a trade for Love last month, but their reluctance to include guard Klay Thompson in the trade package led to the deal stalling.
