The team held a press conference this afternoon to introduce Kevin Love to the media. The Timberwolves site has a transcript. KFAN has the audio here.
Kevin touched on a lot, obviously I am very excited. I was at dinner
last night actually as a Memphis Grizzly for awhile but my brother got
a call from my agent Jeff Schwartz, he came down from upstairs and told
me, ‘hey you’re a Minnesota Timberwolf,’ and that changed my whole
night, I was so happy. I get to work with Kevin (McHale) – maybe my
favorite player of all-time, get to have a great fan base, I’m happy to
be here in the city – it’s almost like a colder Portland, so I’m happy
to almost be back home here, it’s going to be my new favorite city. As
far as the team goes, acquiring Mike Miller, I think he’s going to be
great. I do a lot of the intangible stuff, I pass the ball, I’ll be
able to play off Al Jefferson in the post when he’s double-teamed a lot
of the time, I can space the floor, I can knock down some jump shots. I
feel like we have a pretty young nucleus … (with) all the intangible
stuff to be a great team.
last night actually as a Memphis Grizzly for awhile but my brother got
a call from my agent Jeff Schwartz, he came down from upstairs and told
me, ‘hey you’re a Minnesota Timberwolf,’ and that changed my whole
night, I was so happy. I get to work with Kevin (McHale) – maybe my
favorite player of all-time, get to have a great fan base, I’m happy to
be here in the city – it’s almost like a colder Portland, so I’m happy
to almost be back home here, it’s going to be my new favorite city. As
far as the team goes, acquiring Mike Miller, I think he’s going to be
great. I do a lot of the intangible stuff, I pass the ball, I’ll be
able to play off Al Jefferson in the post when he’s double-teamed a lot
of the time, I can space the floor, I can knock down some jump shots. I
feel like we have a pretty young nucleus … (with) all the intangible
stuff to be a great team.
According to McHale…
The Wolves cleared more salary cap space down the road, enough that
general manager Jim Stack predicted they will become “a major player”
in the free agent market in 2010.
general manager Jim Stack predicted they will become “a major player”
in the free agent market in 2010.
“It really set us up on so many levels,” Stack said. “This was a deal we couldn’t pass up.”
Stack also said of Love: "This guy is not getting his just due as an athlete."
From Kare 11:
McHale said the Wolves front office intended all along to trade the
third pick if it would lead to "adding more pieces" to the team’s
puzzle.
third pick if it would lead to "adding more pieces" to the team’s
puzzle.
McHale says he’s thrilled to be able to make the move, even though they
highly valued the skills of guard O.J. Mayo, who they drafted with the
third pick, then traded to Memphis.
highly valued the skills of guard O.J. Mayo, who they drafted with the
third pick, then traded to Memphis.