I'm going out on a limb here, but given that he grew up here in L.O., perhaps he would like to come back to his roots and be a Center for the Blazers. I realize the Wolves could resign him to a max deal, but given the Blazers cap level next year, the Blazers could theoretically give him a max deal. I have to assume he's one of the few NBA players that would be willing to come here, (my dream scenerio being Derron Williams), I have to imagine he's a legitimate target. Minnesota hasn't signed him as of yet, could he be a potential blazer?
He will be a RFA and you can bet the Wolves match. If he takes the offer sheet and plays threw next year leaving him an UFA then we could have a shot if we had cap space that year. The only way Love is a blazer is if we trade for him and the Wolves would ask for a LOT.
Presumably he'd play power-forward and LaMarcus would become a full-time center. I'm not sure that's ideal, but I think it could work -- especially if the Blazers could somehow acquire a role-playing defensive type 5 who could give you some good post defense, shot-blocking and rebounding for those times when you don't have Aldridge and Love on the court at the same time. Personally I think it would be kind of a foolish signing to tie up so much of your cap in two front-court players that do overlap so much and don't particularly compliment each other defensively when there are probably greater holes to fill. My guess is that with them talking about bringing Joel Freeland over this summer, they will have zero interest in chasing love and instead they will probably try to sign or sign-and-trade for a point guard (if Felton doesn't work out) or shot creating 2 guard who can handle the ball in traffic and shoot over 45% and probably do something to try and get a center (either through the draft or trade).
Did anyone notice he is only shooting .413 this season and .454 for his career (Aldridge .494 career)? I know he gets a lot of his own misses, but if I was Minnesota I might be hesitant to sign him to a max contract.
My guess is that if Kevin Love did shoot 50% from the field his rebound numbers would probably go down by 3 per game. He's uncanny in his ability to do that "volley ball" thing where he puts it up and just keeps batting it until it goes in (racking up offensive rebounds and simultaneously killing his shooting percentages). I don't know if he's a true max money guy, but he is a really unique talent.
Am I mistaken or hasn't he had really shitty games against us? How do you find his career #'s vs the Blazers?
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/loveke01/splits/ Im sure there is a better way but if you scroll to the bottom you can see his averages against us.
This is probably the best way to do the query: http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=aldrila01&p2=loveke01
He might not want to play at home. I know that Terrell Brandon never wanted to play here. Too many distractions he said.
Jesus. I knew LMA owned that matchup, but that's downright embarrassing for Love. And it's one of the reasons I just don't see Love as a max contract player. He's got a limited low post offense and he's a bad defender (beyond defensive rebounding). I just don't see a team where he's the first or second best player winning a title. There are certain guys (Andre Miller being another one) who are good players whose talents can raise a bad team into mediocrity, but can't really easily help elevate a good team into a contender (at least as a starter.) Mostly because of one key flaw in their skill set that just can't be compensated for when you get to the very top-tier competition. With guards that critical flaw is usually either shooting (Andre Miller) or passing, with big men it seems like it's usually defense. It's tempting to say, "Yeah, but look at the other stats!", but that thinking is where a ton of the really bad NBA contracts come from.
OK, let's be somewhat fair to Kevin Love. LaMarcus has certainly gotten the better of him -- especially Love's first couple of seasons -- but the gap on offense has closed quite a bit the last couple of years.
It's just a little hard to watch. You mind panning that picture out a bit? I'm scared to let my kids even close to your avatar in fear that it will do something, CREEPY to them.
