Love rumoured to be available in trade talks this summer…
Minnesota Timberwolves part-owner and coach Flip Saunders has insisted that power forward Kevin Love ‘has no right to be frustrated’ over the lack of success in recent years.
Saunders was introduced as the Timberwolves’ new coach on Friday, a position he has previously held between 1995 and 2005 where he won 411 games in over ten seasons with the franchise.
Having built up a good relationship with Love since replacing David Kahn as Minnesota’s lead decision-maker, it is hoped that the Timberwolves will be able to persuade Love to continue to help build the organisation.
However, having missed out on the playoffs in each of his first six seasons in the NBA, it has been reported that Love is determined to play for a contender as he is concerned with the level of the roster.
As a result, it is expected that he will opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent in 2015, and although Saunders has reportedly been listening to trade offer, he shared some words of advice over why his star man shouldn’t be frustrated.
“Just like I told (Kevin) Garnett, he didn’t have a right to be frustrated,” Saunders said during an interview with KFAN 100.3 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, as reported by ESPN.
“Why does any player have a right to be frustrated? You’re either part of the problem or part of the solution.
“Should the team be frustrated? Yeah, the team can be frustrated. But I don’t think any one individual should be frustrated.”
Saunders went on to reveal a story regarding Garnett’s time in Minnesota after the team had lost a few games and he had told the bench that they needed to do more.
However, the response was that Garnett was making all the money and that it was his responsibility to lead the team forward.
Essentially, Saunders was perhaps sending a message to Love, and so it remains to be seen whether or not it is enough to persuade him to stay and improve.
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