Report: Timberwolves to Re-Sign Kevin Love at 5 Years, Over $78 Million

According to the Star Tribune, despite all of the consternation and thinly-veiled frustrations caused by these contract negotiations, Kevin Love will get the max from the Minnesota Timberwolves when the dust settles this week: “We’re now not much more than a day away and counting on the NBA deadline for the Wolves to sign Kevin Love and the Wolves have yet to reach a deal on a contract extension with him. One team source told me [last night] that the Wolves are closing in on a five-year maximum contract deal that would pay him more than $78 million and despite such a forthcoming deal, David Kahn hasn’t won any brownie points with Love in this negotiation. Another said that as of Monday afternoon, the team still hadn’t moved off its four-year, $61 million offer. I still believe the Wolves will reach a deal with Love by 11 p.m. Wednesday and it will be that five-year ‘designated player’ deal with Love. An agreement could come as soon as Tuesday morning or considering the unnecessary wait so far, it could stretch toward that deadline, just like the Al Jefferson contract four years wasn’t finalized until just minutes before the deadline. Yes, the Wolves very well can argue that $61 million is still better than Love can do elsewhere as a restrictred free agent next summer and try to call his bluff on it. But anyone who watched Love’s deliver a 39-point, 12-rebound night despite playing ill in Monday’s 107-92 loss to the Kevin McHale-coached Rockets knows where the franchise would be without him: Pretty much right back to 2007, when McHale traded Kevin Garnett away in a package that brought Jefferson from Boston to Minnesota.”