Rubio and Howard admittedly wouldn't be a perfect pairing but you'd have to be crazy not to trade Love for Howard straight up.

Through the games thus far, I really might say Love's looking like the best PF. I didn't put much thought into this so it's likely not very accurate, but as of now, I know none of them are playing better than Love.

1. Love
2. Dirk
3. Amare
4. Pau
5. Randolph
6. Griffin
7. Aldridge
8. Josh Smith
9. Horford
10. Garnett
11. Duncan

110. Bosh

Bosh is straight up ballin tonight without D-Wade and LeBron.

He's a really good basketball player, just a douche of a human being.

College Wolf wrote:
Eh, he's a great role player, not a star. He's not being defended well at all. Great 3 though to bring it to overtime.

You would have to trade Love for Howard if Howard signed an extension (and really, why wouldn't he?). Griffin, sure. Aldridge? Meh. Amare? Meh. Pau? Meh. Randolph? Meh.

Get the point? I mean, are any of those guys going to make us more competitive than we are now? Arguably Pau, because he can play Center. But you lose so much consistency and so many possessions per game, I'd have a hard time justifying anyone besides Howard and Blake Griffin for Love right now. Assuming we don't miss the boat and fail to offer Love the max.

That's pretty intense if you think about it, but true.

Mea culpa... if contracts weren't a factor (i.e. he was staying), I would absolutely trade Love for Howard straight up.

I say no on Aldridge or Griffin, though. Love hasn't even reached his ceiling yet. He's a once-in-a-generation talent.

I would trade Love for Blake but none of those other guys when factoring in age and everything else.

None of the PFs really stand out from each other. I think the top 5 in no particular order are Love, Griffin, Aldridge, Bosh, and Amare. Dirk seems to be mailing it in this season or maybe he's just getting old. Z-Bo wasn't playing as well as last year even before he got hurt. Pau is Pau.

With that said I'll be ready to move Dirk back up to #1 if/when he gets back into top form.

Good Article I found for some Clarity


The truth about Kevin Love
BY KERRY EGGERS
The Portland Tribune, Jan 5, 2012, Updated 11.2 hours ago (1 Reader comment)

ADVERTISEMENTS

Thoughts rattling around my brain on a wet winter night. ...

• Peter Vecsey had it wrong when he wrote if Minnesota Timberwolves general manager David Kahn doesn’t offer Kevin Love a contract extension by Jan. 15 — 10 days before the NBA deadline for fourth-year players — “then don’t bother.”

According to the New York Post columnist, the 6-10 Love would then go into next season as a restricted free agent and refuse to re-sign, spending one more year with the Wolves before leaving as an unrestricted free agent.

Love and his agent, Jeff Schwartz, have imposed no such deadline and are waiting to hear from Kahn with what they hope is a maximum-salary contract offer of five years.

A team can sign only one player to a max contract through the length of the new collective-bargaining agreement (the team could sign a second max deal if it’s an opponent’s free agent). Vecsey’s theory is that Kahn is reluctant to sign Love to the full deal because promising rookies Ricky Rubio or Derrick Williams might merit the bump three years from now.

Owner Glen Taylor has just returned to Minneapolis after a two-week vacation. Once he meets with Kahn, I’m thinking an offer to Love — if it’s not a max contract, it will be lucrative — is coming.

Love is likely to accept it. The Lake Oswego High grad has enjoyed playing with Rubio and Williams and for new coach Rick Adelman. He likes the city of Minneapolis and sees light at the end of the tunnel after three brutally inept seasons with the Wolves.

If Kahn allows Love to walk, he’ll get buried by fans, who have taken to the team’s first superstar since Kevin Garnett. Kahn’s a smart guy. I can’t see it happening.

Agree w/ Roundhouse...would have to consider trading Love for Dwight straight up, even though it isn't an ideal fit. Also, great point on the lack of top tier PF's inflating Love's 'value' among the position. True and fair.

In looking down the lists of top 15-20 players in the L, we are definitely seeing a 'changing of the guard' in terms of top tier talent. A new era. Even the LeBron/Wade crew are about halfway through their NBA elite run (even more so for Wade, he turns 30 in about a week and is going to have to change his game a LOT as he ages, same perhaps for LeBron). Durant is about to lead the charge. Love could truly be right behind him as the unlikely elite NBA star/perennial all-star. In the wake of the Garnett trade, we should all be rejoicing we were able to acquire, thanks to McHale, a top, top NBA player so quickly. This just doesn't happen.

Murphs - Most staggering line in the article you posted; GT being on vacation! Is the guy going to be able to contain his excitement when he sees the absolute polarizing difference in the Target Center environment vs last year? Place is a super fun, loud place to watch a game.

So... if I am hearing you guys right, the list of big men who, contract issues aside, you would move Love straight up for consists of Howard and Griffin.

That was my conclusion as well. Besides those 2 guys, I just don't see anyone else as good, as young, as consistent, and unflappable as Love. You put Aldridge on the Wolves and I'm not sure we win as many games, and I'm not sure he is the type of positive energy source that Love is.

Think of the number of times you've actually heard Love bitch about the team over the last 3 years... hasn't been much. That in itself is pretty freaking amazing.

Probably would do Dwight if he was happy to come here and we extended and traded. How could you not? Lob City 2.0 with D Will up front. Hurts that we would have to come up with about 10 mil in extra salary to get him, and Orl wouldn't want dead weight.

As for Blake, I mean... I really don't know. I don't think it makes the team any better or worse...both are similar-impact and have strengths/weaknesses that outweigh the other. Would kind of be pointless outside of adding more excitement to the roster vs. continuiity. Quake having knee surgery awhile back would be kind of in the back of my mind but he seems to be over it. I don't know...I'll pull a DFS and suggest we revisit it in 5-7 weeks.

Yea, not much to add. After looking at my list and trying to put them in a real order, I really can't say it would turn me on to trade him for anyone other than Griffin or Howard. My point about the kind of big man talent not being quite the same still stands when two of the top three don't change the game defensively at all but are still 2 of the top 3.

The Daddy suffers from a case of Presentism. You remember Malone and Barkley being great defenders? How about Amare Senior Shawn Kemp? The early 90s saw a solid core of Defensive Centers, but the D at the 4 spot was always pretty blah. KG sets the standard for D as a PF.

The biggest story right now is that beside Bynum (awful person) and Howard, your next best crew of Centers includes M Gasol and Spencer Hawes. Tyson Chandler is a deep 5th on that list next to guys like Nene who just think they play Center.

wolfenstein wrote:
NO, NO, NO. You misread (or I miswrote).

Sheed, KG, Duncan, were amazing defenders.

Malone, Kemp, Barkley, Amare were/are not.

My bad. I assumed you meant early 90s when you said not as good as in the old days or something like that. I just assumed we weren't talking about the complete boring lack of good big men era that was the early 2000s that produced some good defensive big men.

Maybe my idea of nostalgia about big guys is different from yours. I would never consider waxing nostalgic about the Tim Duncan years, maybe the KG years sure, but besides TD who else was there to raise the level of KG's game? I would argue the NBA in KG's era was about the same as it is now as far as dominant big men go, only you have someone who's a less ruthless and less blatantly fouling and stupid version of Shaq (Howard), we've exchanged Netherlands (Smits) for Spain (Gasol), and fading Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone have been replaced by fading Duncan and KG.

The level of play in the early 90s was SOOO much better in my recollection than the 2000s, with the exception of KG and Duncan. I mean, Robinson, Malone, Barkley, Olajuwon, Ewing, Mutombo, all in their primes. Even caught the tail end of McHale and Robert Parrish. So many epic matchups.

In closing, I hate Shaq's stupid, travelling, offensive fouling, shoulder and hip checking face.

The end.