It’s never to early to start planning your future.
Kevin Love, who is fourth in the league in scoring at 26.3 points per game and third in rebounding at 12.6 per game this season will miss playoffs for the sixth straight season.
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN LA, Love has a small list of potential landing spots when he leaves Minnesota in the summer of 2015, and the list doesn’t include any small market franchises.
While Love downplayed his interest, the Lakers clearly could use a player of Love’s caliber to jump-start their rebuilding process. Especially with Kobe Bryant recently putting the screws to management to turn things around as soon as possible so he can contend for another championship in the twilight of his career.
ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reported Friday the Lakers would be willing to trade their upcoming pick in the heralded NBA draft — likely to be in the top half of the lottery — to land Love.
While Minnesota could certainly decide to go that route and hit the restart button, there is no assurance that the Lakers are truly Love’s most desired destination.
A source familiar with Love’s thinking told ESPNLosAngeles.com that it’s not just L.A. that is appealing to Love; he’s enamored with the idea of being “big time in a big city,” and that list of potential places he’d seek includes New York and Chicago, as well.