Love's Minnesota Timberwolves took it to the Lakers, rocketing out of the gates to take a 47-23 lead before coasting to a comfortable 113-90 victory. Perhaps in an effort to impress his hometown fans, Love, an L.A. native, pumped in 18 points and grabbed eight boards in the opening period.
Despite optimistic projections, he'd finish with "just" 25 and 13.
As odd as it sounds, Minnesota's thrashing of the Purple and Gold—and Love's clear desire to impress, in particular—should have given fans in Los Angeles a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dismal season. That's because those same Lakers fans have to be entertaining far-fetched wishes that Love will soon wind up playing his home games in the Staples Center.
Ready for caveats? Good, here they come.
Any potential move that would land Love in Los Angeles is almost certainly a long way off. He's technically under contract with the 'Wolves for two more seasons, plus he has a player option in 2015-16.
Yet his potential relocation to L.A. is far from impossible.
Old Wounds Lingering
Love seems likely to opt out of his contract after the 2014-15 season for a number of reasons.
Chief among those is the pattern of disrespect the Timberwolves have visited on Love since he signed his contract. In fact, Love's deal itself is a sore subject for the Minnesota big man (insofar as a four-year, $60 million contract can ever be a sore subject).
The 'Wolves could have offered Love a fifth year on that contract, but they didn't, apparently unconvinced that the forward was worthy of franchise-cornerstone status. That perceived slight has stuck with the 25-year-old ever since. And Love's discontent has only grown over the past year, as the 'Wol...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
