Kevin Love is the hottest commodity on the NBA’s trading block, and this weekend he reportedly spent time in Boston checking out the digs of a potential landing spot.
The Boston Globe reported Love was spotted at a bar close to TD Garden, where the Boston Celtics call home, hanging out with New England Patriots players. He was also seen walking the streets of the city, but refused to comment about possibly being traded to the Celtics.
Love was seen in Boston Friday hanging out at bars near TD Garden and took a picture with the owner of “The Greatest Bar,” and he also was seen fraternizing with Patriots players. On Saturday, Love walked the streets of the city and took a picture with a thrilled Harvard graduate. A smiling Love was sporting a Team USA Olympic sweater and was holding a beverage cup.
When approached by the Globe at a local hotel, Love said: “I’m sorry man, I can’t do nothing [in terms of talking], I can’t.”
Love has one year remaining on his contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and has already informed the team he doesn’t plan on re-signing with them. He’s reportedly asked management to facilitate a trade.
The Celtics are among the top suitors for Love, along with the Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks.
Boston has a plethora of draft picks to spend on Love, including the sixth and 17th overall picks in the NBA Draft this year, and is about to enter the second year of their rebuilding phase. Love could be the team’s power forward of the future and the franchise’s cornerstone.
During All-Star Weekend in February, he told the Globe he was intrigued by Boston and the notion of playing for coach Brad Stevens.
“I’ve never really spent much time in Boston. I don’t know it too well,” Love said in February in New Orleans. “But I think as far as playing there, we love competing against those guys. I think they have a great coach and they have a ton of youngsters that are up-and-comers.
“Boston is a great city. I’m sure free agents would love to go there, especially with Stevens as a coach. He’s a guy that can win basketball games. He gets guys to play for him. They’ve been having good success there, even in his first year, and he has a lot of young players. The coach has a lot to do with it, but yeah, Boston is a great place.”
After spending the weekend in Boston, he can check that off his list.
Of course, Minnesota and Boston have a history of making trades, most notably the one that sent Kevin Garnett to the Celtics in 2008.
Two teams also known to covet Love are the Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Kings are reportedly willing to trade for Love now, without any assurance of the forward signing a long-term deal. Cleveland holds the top pick in the NBA Draft and is willing to move Tristan Thompson in order to make room for Love.
