Free Write Saturday: Where Is The Love?

This is a Free Write from my buddy Jordan, I enjoyed it immensely.

Minnesota Timberwolves O.J. Ma… Kevin Love? In one of many draft day trades made by the Timberwolves franchise in the past decade, this may be the best move in franchise history aside from drafting Kevin Garnett 5th overall in the 95’ draft. The Wolves sent the 3rd overall pick, O.J. Mayo, along with Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner, and Marko Jaric to Memphis. In return the Wolves received the 5th pick (Love), along with Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins, none of whom are currently wearing Wolves’ jerseys with the exception of Love. One could even argue this trade is one of the better trades in any sport within the last five years. (Best in the past decade: A.J Pierzynski for Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser, another article).


The primary measurement of the success of this trade and the most obvious - Love is an All-Star and Mayo is primarily a role player. Secondarily, and what I like to call the nuts and bolts of the trade (no pun intended); the Timberwolves were able to fill the roster with quality players, while obtaining miscellaneous draft picks and cash. Just as important as what the Wolves were able to obtain; the Wolves were able to jettison forward Antoine Walker, guard Greg Buckner, and former overpaid trade bust ($25.25 million over four years) guard Marko Jaric. (For what it’s worth, I loved the Jaric trade that brought him to Minnesota for no other reason than his capabilities in NBA Live 05’. I liked this trade so much that I purchased (aka “requested”) his jersey for Christmas...“Straight Cash Homey(dotnet)”!).

And finally; there is the “want” factor. Players “want” to play in Miami, L.A., Boston, New York, Dallas and Chicago. Other cities are less appealing. A locker room full of players that only “want” to play in the “big” markets can be a recipe for disaster. Being a fan of both the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, I’ve had the luxury of being on both sides of the market spectrum. Entering the 08’ draft, many draft junkies projected that the Wolves were going to take Mayo with the 3rd pick. Rumor on the streets, however was that Mayo wanted no part of playing in Minnesota (For all of you Bucks fans out there this hits home a la Brandon Jennings) so Minnesota made the best of the situation and traded Mayo minutes after drafting him. Now you have a player in Kevin Love that may not have Minnesota on the top of his list, but is willing to embrace the opportunity presented to him.

Kevin Love has brought Timberwolves fans a sign of hope, or has he simply tainted our vision with his point and rebound stat line? Attending his last game completed with a double double (March 11th against the Utah Jazz) fans, including myself, were cheering after every single Love rebound as if he hit a half court shot. Love’s point and rebound stat line became more important than the score itself. When Love reached the double-double mark at the free throw line the crowd gave a standing ovation and headed for the exits. But wait, the Wolves were blowing the Jazz out of the water, which is about as rare as women giving George Costanza the “it’s not you, it’s me routine!"

The argument that his impressive streak is tainted is both preposterous and naïve. Are Blake Griffin’s dunks less impressive because the Clippers aren’t winning or is Deron Williams not a top three point guard because he’s a Net? Nope. Alright, so the Wolves haven’t been winning games, all the more reason why 53 consecutive double-doubles is astonishing because the opponent’s primary goal will be to stop Kevin Love since a victory is highly probable. The mental toughness it takes to go out each night and play at the top of your game on a team that has been out of playoff contention for some time warrants some appreciation.

Kevin Love isn’t going to make SportsCenter’s Top Ten Plays every night like Blake Griffin, but he does all of the little things that we as fans take for granted. Could hundreds of players jump higher and run faster than Love? The answer is undoubtedly “yes”, but how many actually produce what the 6’ 10” (with three inch heels) Love does? The answer is very few. Kevin Love may not play in New York or L.A and is certainly not a member of a “Big Three”, but is every bit of an asset to this league as any other NBA player.

Perhaps Minneapolis will open a new club in his honor, titled 30/30 club?

-Jordan