Kevin Love and Minnesota Timberwolves ink a 4-year deal, with a last year player option: NBA News
After weeks of uncertainty, the Minnesota Timberwolves and their ace player Kevin Love have eventually managed to ink a new agreement before Wednesday night’s early termination (ET) deadline.
The deal which is for 4 years, is worth around $ 61 million and gives Love the amenity of opting out in the last year, if he deems that the team is not going in the right direction.
As per the sources, Love was initially vying for a maximum $ 80 million contract, one that his UCLA team-mate and now Oklahoma City Thunder point guard, recently got. However, with Ricky Rubio and this year’s number two draft pick Derrick Williams showing good potential, the Wolves didn’t seem intent on giving Love a contract under the status of a designated player. Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, a designated player is one who is eligible to receive a five-year maximum extension on his rookie contract. The problem however is that there can only be one such player in a franchise.
With the Wolves taking a rigid stance on the matter, Love and his agent Jeff Schwartz proposed a four year contract but with a compulsory provision of a get-out clause for the final year. The Wolves set up a conference in Dallas after the deal was done and Love seemed quite satisfied at the final arrangement. In fact he revealed that as the deadline loomed nearer, the whole situation started to weigh on him;
"I'm glad this is out of the way. It was drawn out until 8 a.m., 9 a.m. this morning."
When asked about the option on the fourth year, by Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, Love said;
“Yeah, early-termination option after the third year is definitely keeping my options open,” Love said. “I want to see where this team is gonna head. I want to continue for us to keep getting better. I feel that we are and that we will get better. But at the same time, [with] the early-termination, I can still extend as well. So I can be a part of this team for a long time. I’m not really thinking about that too much. I’m looking at it as a four-year deal and we’ll go from there.”
The deal has once again showcased the Love’s commitment to a franchise, which he has more or less carried on his shoulders in the last three year much like Kevin Garnett did for nearly 15 years. On the surface, the pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together in Minnesota, especially after the meteoric emergence of Ricky Rubio, but the franchise still needs a quality perimeter shooter to become a wholesome threat and a genuine contender.
For now, Kevin still shoulders the major burden, but if David Kahn and Co. can put the right players beside him, the Wolves might just make it big.
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