The future of Kevin Love with the Minnesota Timberwolves is still up in the air as recent reports suggested that the All-Star power forward is slowly losing his patience.
Veteran NBA analysts Sam Smith reported that Love, who has yet to make the playoffs in his first five seasons in the NBA, will likely opt out of the final year of his contract to become a free agent in 2015.
Recent rumors suggested that the 25-year-old forward will likely sign either with the Los Angeles Lakers or the New York Knicks when he hits the market in the summer of 2015. The talks about his eventual exit intensified after he expressed disgust to some of his teammates after one of their recent defeats.
Several teams are also expected to chase Love, who is averaging 25.5 points and 13.1 rebounds per game this season for the Timberwolves.
"Love, in the top four this season in scoring and rebounding, is said to be favoring the Lakers or the Knicks in free agency in 2015 when both will have money for perhaps two free agents," Smith reported.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders recently said that they have a plan in place to keep Love happy in Minnesota. But with his uncertain future with the team, several league executives believe that the Timberwolves should trade the former UCLA standout than running risk of losing him via free agency.
"They should trade him," one rival Eastern Conference executive told CBS Sports. "No one thinks he's staying. Everyone knows he wants to go to the Lakers."
Cleveland Cavaliers team owner Dan Gilbert previously said that he would also trade an unhappy superstar instead of losing him through free agency -- similar to what LeBron James did when the four-time Most Valuable Player decided to bolt out of Cleveland and sign with the Miami Heat.
The Denver Nuggets were also in the same situation before when Carmelo Anthony, who was about to become a free agent back then, wanted out of his team. The Nuggets eventually trade the superstar forward to the Knicks.
All-Star center Dwight Howard did the same thing during his final years in Orlando, forcing the Magic to trade him to his preferred destinations, which led to a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers.
