The Chicago Bulls have intensified their pursuit of Kevin Love as multiple reports indicated that the team made an intriguing offer to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Chris Sheridan reported on Wednesday that Bulls offered Taj Gibson along with promising rookies Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic - a trade package the Timberwolves are considering as the best offer at this point.
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, citing sources close to the Timberwolves' thinking, reported that the Bulls indeed made an offer involving Gibson and McDermott along with "few other assets." But unlike other reports, Cowley's source did not mention Mirotic in the offer.
But whether or not Mirotic is included in the deal, reports said that the Timberwolves are now heavily considering Chicago's bid, which they believe is better than the offer of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are also making a strong push to acquire Love over the past several days.
However, McDermott or Mirotic's inclusion in the deal could put the Bulls at a disadvantage because both players just signed their rookie contracts on Tuesday, which means that they cannot be traded for the next 29 days, giving the Cavaliers more time to convince the Timberwolves.
"That could be good news for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who still have not signed Andrew Wiggins and may not do so until the end of this week," Sheridan said of the Bulls' inability to trade their rookies. "That will give them time to present Minnesota with an offer that can be acted upon immediately, bringing the Love trade talks to a quicker conclusion and giving the Cavs a superstar trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Love."
The Cavaliers are reportedly offering this year's first overall pick Andrew Wiggins, last year's first overall pick Anthony Bennett, and a future first-round pick. The Bulls' offer is better at this point, but Sheridan noted that the Cavaliers could overtake Chicago again if they add another first-round pick in the deal.
"If Cleveland is willing to include a second future first-round pick - it owns the rights to Miami's first-rounder as well as Memphis' in 2015 - that might be enough to trump Chicago's offer," Sheridan wrote.
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