Kevin Love is entering the last year of his contract in Minnesota.
Apparently the Phoenix Suns took a last minute shot at getting Kevin Love in a sign and trade for their disgruntled guard Eric Bledsoe.
According to ESPN's Derrick Windhurst, The Suns, who have had a tenuous relationship with Bledsoe, and who have been rumored to be looking for a deal to trade him, reached out to the Timberwolves one last time to try and get Love before a planned mega-deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the All-Star power forward goes down on Saturday.
The Cavaliers, T'Wolves, and the Philadelphia 76ers have had an agreement in place to move Love for some time now, and according to ESPN sources, that deal remains a go. The mega-deal trade will send 76er Thaddeus Young to Minnesota, along with Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, while shooting guard Alexey Shved, Forward Luc Mbah a Moute and a 2015 first round pick to the 76ers, is expected to be completed on Saturday.
Contract negotiations between the Suns and Bledsoe, who is a restricted free agent, have been bad for weeks, and the team seems to be flailing at this point to find a trade partner. According to sources, that includes sign-and-trade talks with teams besides Minnesota.
Bledsoe's negotiations with the Suns have stalled out.
Bledsoe wants a five-year, $85 million maximum contract from the Suns, but they have only offered him a one year extension offer for $3.7 million, or another full contract for four years at $48 million. If Bledsoe, who has remained firm in his salary position all summer, does not get a max deal, he says intends to sign the Suns' one-year qualifying offer for $3.7 million and become an unrestricted free agent next year.
Bledsoe averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 assists in 43 games, 40 of them starts, for the Suns last season. He missed 39 games because of a knee injury that required surgery.
