They won't make him their designated player. That's why it's for 3 years + a player option rather than 5.
No, it's because Love doesn't want to lock himself in from now on with a piece of shit franchise. Otherwise, it would be a team option for the 4th year and not a player option. That's what virtually every single analyst and NBA guy on ESPN has said. It is most definitely not a case of the Wolves not wanting him as their main guy; it's Love that's not sure if he wants to stay there from now on.
Because in addition to being a terrible defender, he can't score efficiently from anywhere. FG% wise he's below average from the rim to the three point line. If a big man gets 18 shots per night, he better be scoring that much. Love sucks on defense because he's limited athletically; Griffin doesn't have that problem. When a 6'3 guard is shooting a better percentage at the rim than a 6'9 PF, that says a lot about the big guy no matter how you spin it. Love is at the rim as much as Westbrook, has 6 inches on him, and still scores less when he gets there... Again, any rational NBA exec would take Griffin over Love. Not sure why you're expecting him to be "complete" after a year and a half, but he'll be fine.
Love said Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and president of basketball operations David Kahn did not want to offer the five-year deal to the All-Star power forward. "Did I want the five years? Of course," Love said on a conference call from Dallas, where the Timberwolves were scheduled to play the Mavericks on Wednesday night. "It was something I felt strongly about, but at the end of the day, a four-year deal is still great." ... "I was willing to make a commitment for five years. They thought otherwise," he said. "I'm glad this is out of the way. It was drawn out until 8 a.m., 9 a.m. this morning."
I stand corrected. I wasn't just making that up though about the ESPN guys saying that. Obviously, they were wrong, but Broussard was saying that just the other day on ESPN.
Right, because NBA executives are always always leaping at the chance to take a worse player over a better player.
Effective field goal percentage. Are you familiar? Clearly you aren't, so let me help you out. EFG% Effective Field Goal Percentage; the formula is (FG + 0.5 * 3P) / FGA. This statistic adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal. For example, suppose Player A goes 4 for 10 with 2 threes, while Player B goes 5 for 10 with 0 threes. Each player would have 10 points from field goals, and thus would have the same effective field goal percentage (50%). See how useful that is? Aldridge: By FG. FGA FG% eFG% Ast'd Blk'd FTM Pts Game 9.1 18.3 .497 .499 66% 4% 4.3 22.5 Love By FG. FGA FG% eFG% Ast'd Blk'd FTM Pts Game 7.8 17.9 .437 .493 52% 8% 7.2 24.9 Oh my, would you look at that. .006 difference. Judges can we get a ruling? The judges have ruled that these two percentages are not appreciably different. So your whole argument against Love was based on field goal percentage, right? What's the next step? Explain how the rebounds aren't really rebounds?
Bill Simmons on Kevin Love. (The 2011-12 NBA season has more than its share of relevant storylines. - Grantland) 5. Why didn't Minnesota just sign Kevin Love for five years? I can't resist … KAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, David Kahn gets immense amounts of credit for pulling off the 2009 trade for Washington's pick, drafting Rubio and — eventually — bringing him over. Getting credit for someone that magical trumps every other dumb move he made. And there were plenty. You know, like drafting Jonny Flynn over Stephen Curry. Trading Ty Lawson. Blowing the fourth pick of the 2010 draft on Wesley Johnson (who, unfortunately, stinks). Overpaying for a slew of mediocre players (Darko Milicic, Ramon Sessions, Nikola Pekovic, Martell Webster, etc.). Hiring Kurt Rambis and trying to run the triangle with the youngest/dumbest team in the league. It's a long list. Picking Rubio, then resisting the urge to trade him for two years — even with Rubio floundering in Europe — made up for everything. When you have Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio on your team, the other 10 guys don't matter as much. Eventually, you'll find them. Did Kahn decide to risk that last point almost immediately? Of course he did! Instead of giving Love their "designated max extension" slot (five years, $80 million), the Wolves decided to save that slot for Rubio and played hardball with Love … who's only one of the stubborn athletes of the league, and someone who once pissed off the entire state of Oregon (where he grew up) by signing with UCLA. Let's walk through this debacle quickly … 1. You're Minnesota. 2. You stink. 3. You have a 0.0 percent chance of ever in a million years luring a marquee free agent. 4. You have one of the best 10 players in the league. [If you don't think Love is one of the 10 best players in basketball right now, then you don't watch basketball.] 5. You have a chance to lock up this player for five years and team him up with your other marquee player. How does that lead to … 6. You sign that player for three years, then give him an opt-out clause for Year 4? Is there any chance Love stays after 2015 now? The team just told him, "Yeah, we know Oklahoma City took care of Russell Westbrook for five years, but you're not as good, so screw you." Massive mistake. We're getting three and a half years of the Minnesota Rubio Loves, and then Kevin Love will sign somewhere else. It shouldn't have played out that way. And before you say that Bill Simmons is a hack, he's actually not. When it comes to NBA hoops, guy is above reproach. Amazon.com: The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy (9780345511768): Bill Simmons, Malcolm Gladwell: Books
Last full season: Love: 0.4 blocks per game 0.6 steals per game Griffin: 0.5 blocks per game 0.8 steals per game So Griffin got one extra block over the span of every ten games, and one extra steal over the span of every five games. Huge difference. Crazy athleticism. Just two more blocks per game and he'll be a regular Marcus Camby.
Dirk is a career 47% shooter, with 37% from three. Love is currently 46% and 37%. Love is only 23, he will continue to develop his game, if the Timberwolves ever get a few decent perimeter players, Love could see himself playing more inside. I think both he ( Love ) and Griffin could develop into good pick and roll players, Paul is the best pick and roll guard in the world and I could see Rubio developing into a solid pick and roll player himself. It would greatly benefit both players by developing a solid 15 foot shot, Griffin in partcular.
