With the blockbuster three-way trade that sent Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Minnesota Timberwolves completed this weekend there seems to be some bad blood lingering between Love and T-Wolves owner Glen Taylor.
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The three-way deal was completed on Saturday and saw Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett of the Cavs and Thaddeus Young of the Philadelphia 76ers go to the Timberwolves while Love was sent to Cleveland and the 76ers netted Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved from Minnesota and a 2015 first-round draft pick from the Cavs.
Love appeared on ESPN Radio Wednesday and responded to comments by Taylor, who said the All-Star forward may get exposed for his play in the defensive end and could cause the Cavaliers to struggle.
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"I think emotions are definitely running high right now," Love said per ESPN" "For Glen to say that, I just think that he should be focusing on the players that he just received. I mean, he has two of the No. 1 picks in the last two drafts: Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. He has another guy who can really play in Thaddeus Young."
He added: "I think he got a lot for me. So I'd be focusing even more on that. More than anything, I'm just excited to start my time in Cleveland, get to work with my new teammates, and start with this new family here."
Some of Love's new teammates include former Team U.S.A. teammate LeBron James, who came back to the Cavaliers after spending four seasons and winning two NBA championships with the Miami Heat.
Taylor, who didn't want to trade Love at first until his hand was forced with Love openly saying he wouldn't re-sign with the team in 2015 once his contract was up due to the fact that he was sick of the losing culture, was highly critical of his former player after the trade.
Not wanting to lose Love for nothing, Taylor opted to move Love this weekend and got a king's ransom in return.
Still, that doesn't mean there are no hard feelings as Taylor was critical of Love on the radio.
"I think where maybe he got away with some stuff not playing defense on our team, I'm not sure that's how it's going to work in Cleveland," Taylor said on ESPN Radio in Minnesota. "I would guess they're going to ask him to play more defense, and he's foul-prone."
He added: "I question Kevin if this is going to be the best deal for him, because I think he's going to be the third player on the team. I don't think he's going to get a lot of credit if they do really well. I think he'll get blame if they don't do well. He's around a couple guys that are awful good."
Taylor also mentioned Love's health and said he "questioned" it after he suffered a broken hand twice.
Love, 25, is a three-time All-Star and was drafted by the Timberwolves with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Love spent all six of his NBA seasons in Minnesota and averaged 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game last season.
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