Kevin Love Could Return to Timberwolves Twelve Years Later

Kevin Love remains without a team less than a month before the start of preseason, and the Minnesota Timberwolves have an open roster spot. Two circumstances that align and, twelve years after his departure, point to a reunion.

Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic already suggested a few days ago that both sides could be interested. Now Brett Siegel has reinforced this on the Clutch Scoops podcast, stating that it currently seems most likely.

The arguments in favor

Siegel enumerated three reasons. That Love knows what it takes to win a championship, that he is a franchise icon, and that he is a highly respected player in locker rooms. He added a fourth that sums up the idea: he would be the perfect veteran to accompany Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball just as both are entering the best moments of their careers.

The reasoning holds up. Minnesota has been making the playoffs for several seasons and performing well without quite making the leap, and a player who has appeared in four NBA Finals brings a type of experience that cannot be bought on the market. Love has already played that mentor role in his recent stints in Miami and Utah.

The 2025-26 numbers

That said, reducing it to a locker room role would be unfair to what he did last year. In his first season with the Jazz, he appeared in 37 games with averages of 6.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in just over 16 minutes, shooting 39.7 percent from the field and, most importantly, 37.3 percent from three.

That last stat is the relevant one. At 37 years old, Love remains a power forward who spaces the floor, rebounds well for his minutes, and reads the game. After the All-Star Game, he averaged 5.8 points and 5.7 rebounds in less than fifteen minutes with a 42.9 percent three-point clip. He is not a heavy rotation player, but he is not just a presence either.

The franchise's dilemma

There is an obvious counterargument and it is worth not hiding it. Minnesota does not stand out for its depth, especially in the frontcourt, and the front office may prefer to use the fifteenth roster spot on someone capable of providing more quality minutes than Love can offer at this stage.

Whether such a player exists on the market today is debatable. In any case, everything suggests that in Minneapolis they will wait some time before finalizing the roster.

What a return would mean

Love was selected 5th overall in the 2008 Draft by Memphis and traded that same night to Minnesota, where he spent six seasons and became the best player on a franchise that was not winning anything at the time. There he was a three-time All-Star, led the NBA in rebounds in 2011, and was the Most Improved Player that same year, before leaving for Cleveland in 2014 in the trade that brought LeBron James together with Kyrie Irving and ended with the 2016 championship.

Returning now, at 37 years old and to occupy the last spot on the roster, would be a full-circle moment that does not happen that often in the NBA.