USA Basketball will be without one of its top players this year at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Star power forward Kevin Love announced that he will not participate with the team, citing the uncertainty of his NBA future as the principle reason for this decision.
Love, who is entering the final year of his contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, has been involved in swirling trade talks around the league. It seems likely that he will get dealt before the end of the 2014-15 season, but it may be months before a deal is reached.
Some teams at the front of the line to get Love include the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers, who may include overall No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins in the deal, have to wait four weeks to ship Wiggins because he is in the first month of his contract, reports ESPN.
Love is not the only star to skip playing for USA Basketball this year. Others include Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard, according to The Associated Press.
"The fact is we can only look to the players we have available," Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo said in the statement. "Our job is to get the job done with our very, very deep roster, and we're anxious to get things started."
Training camp for USA Basketball begins Monday.
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