The race to acquire Kevin Love is expected to intensify as the 2014 NBA Draft nears, and this early, the Phoenix Suns are being considered as an intriguing destination for the Minnesota Timberwolves forward.
Several teams, including the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, are reportedly planning to make a strong push to get Love, but Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders is convinced that the Suns are the strongest candidate for the 25-year-old power forward.
According to Brigham, the Suns have the assets to create an attractive package to convince the Timberwolves to trade Love, who averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds this season.
The Suns have three first-round picks in the stacked 2014 NBA Draft, which they are reportedly willing to package alongside Goran Dragic or Eric Bledsoe.
Dragic had an excellent season as he posted a career-high 20.3 points on a remarkable 50.5 percent shooting from the field, while also tallying 5.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game.
The 28-year-old point guard is an attractive trade piece, but the Wolves already have Ricky Rubio as the point guard of their future, which means that Minnesota will likely reject a trade package centered on Dragic.
On the other hand, Bledsoe could draw the interest of the Timberwolves as analysts believe that the 24-year-old point guard could co-exist with Rubio.
Brigham also added that Bledsoe, who averaged 17.7 points to go along with 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game this season, could produce big numbers to fill in the gap Love will leave.
"Bledsoe, for example, would look really nice next to Ricky Rubio in that Minnesota backcourt, and as a restricted free agent the Wolves would have a really good chance of locking him up for the long-term," Brigham noted. "Even if he costs the max, he'd be a star player to partially replace Love's production, locked up for the foreseeable future."
However, any trade involving Love will only be completed if the All-Star power forward expresses desire to sign a long-term deal with the interested team.
Recent reports indicated that the Cleveland Cavaliers tried to lure Love via a trade package involving their first-overall pick in June 26, but the former UCLA standout is reportedly not interested in moving to Cleveland.
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