Timberwolves agree to send All-Star Kevin Love to Cleveland Cavaliers: reports

All you need is Love to form a new Big Three for LeBron James in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers’ whirlwind summer continued on Thursday amid reports that they have reached an agreement to acquire All-Star forward Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves to pair with James, who rejoined his hometown team last month as a free agent after four seasons in Miami.
The Cavs will send forwards Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins — the No. 1 overall picks in the past two NBA drafts, respectively — and a protected 2015 first round pick to Minnesota. According to Yahoo Sports, the Cavs also have received assurances that Love will opt out of his contract in 2015 and re-sign with Cleveland on a five-year contract extension worth at least $120 million.

The trade cannot be made official until Aug. 23 because Wiggins can’t be traded until 30 days after he signed his rookie contract on July 24, but the deal would make the Cavs — who also boast All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving — instant favorites in the revamped Eastern Conference.
Love, the 25-year-old son of former NBA player Stan Love and the nephew of Beach Boys vocalist Mike Love, is a three-time All-Star over his first six professional seasons. The 6-10 power forward averaged a career-best 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds for the T-Wolves last season. Like Irving, however, he has never appeared in the playoffs. That figures to change immediately with him playing alongside James. He reached the NBA Finals in all four seasons — winning two titles — after teaming with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

Mike Stobe/Getty Images Andrew Wiggins, the top pick in the 2014 NBA draft, will be dealt to Minnesota in this deal.

Love and James won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics, although Love withdrew from the American squad for the upcoming FIBA World Cup to avoid suffering a possible injury.
Love signing long-term with Cleveland also would remove a potential target next summer for Phil Jackson and the Knicks. They have been retooling their roster with a plan to create salary-cap space to add another star alongside Carmelo Anthony in 2015, when the contracts of Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani are set to expire.