Minny breakup looms as forward seeks max deal

Peter Vecsey
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HOOP DU JOUR

As Kenny Rogers sings, “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em...”

Especially when folding a winning hand means cashing in chips for years to come.

That’s what Timberwolves owner Glen Davis does not seem to be taking into account in his above-ground resistant movement to deny Kevin Love a fifth season to his four-year maximum offer that’s there for the (un-ripened?) plucking until the Jan. 25 deadline for extending rookie contracts expiring after four years.

How can Taylor not realize an extra $17 million (roughly $78M total) is wholly worth the investment to maintain the electrically charged concurrence the infinitely improved T’wolves have going for them?

AP

DOWN TO WIRE: Kevin Love’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer lifted the Timberwolves past the Clippers Friday night, but Minnesota owner Glen Davis continues to take a hard line with the restricted free-agent forward as contract talk deadlines approach.

Why would Taylor not want to lock up Love as long as possible (to keep or trade) when an insurance policy is readily available to protect him against a career-ending injury?

Surely Taylor must understand better than most (Kevin Garnett’s history with the team comes to mind) how rare it is to luck into a fixated forward that flexes for double-doubles as fluently as Charles Barkley articulates two straight prepositions.

As Hubie Brown stressed during Friday night’s Clippers-Wolves ESPN telecast, “Where is Minnesota going to find another guy who’s second in the league in rebounding (14.5) and fifth (24.7) in scoring?”

Particularly a leader teammates appear to like a lot, who influences positively and, oh yeah, casually drains long-distance pressure points — nothing but macramé from 25 feet to settle the Clippers’ dispute.

Brown didn’t have to diagram his implication on a blackboard. His meaning was clear: The T’wolves cannot attract elite free agents. The very best they can accomplish is to recruit middling players like Jose Barea and Luke Ridnour.

If anybody knows the limited appeal of a small-market franchise, it’s Taylor.

Love is the paramount player on Taylor’s display case. Think he might feel distantly disrespected not being offered the same five-year, $78M max deal just signed by former UCLA teammate Russell Westbrook, who rides shotgun alongside Kevin Durant, the Thunder’s wheel man?

Yes, you’re correct: Westbrook made All-League second team and helped earn Oklahoma City beaucoup bucks in the playoffs, whereas Minny Ha Ha won 17 games last season. But Westbrook and Love both are All-Stars, and, as far as I know, Love didn’t assemble the T’wolves’ roster.

In view of Taylor’s hardcore stance as chairman of the owners’ collective bargaining agreement negotiating committee, I’m sensitively conscious he probably feels coerced to somewhat regulate spending, as well as safeguard his team’s salary cap in case Love were to injure himself and continue to play yet never be the same.