Report of dispute, trade offer refuted

DENVER - Well, you don't hear this around an NBA team every day:

Timberwolves center Al Jefferson walked past teammate Kevin Love after Monday's morning shootaround, shouted out "Love you, Kevin," to which Love replied, "Love you, too, man."

It was their playful response to a Yahoo! Sports report that Indiana refused a Wolves' Jefferson-for-Danny Granger trade offer, presented partly because Jefferson and Love are at odds with each other.

Wolves boss David Kahn called the report "totally without merit" and said he will not offer any of his "core" players in trade until next summer. Kahn last week told Jefferson, through his agent, that he will not trade him this season, and Kahn met with Jefferson for about 20 minutes Monday to reassure him.

"He made me comfortable to know what I heard last night was rumors," Jefferson said Monday morning. "It's part of the NBA life. It's not the first time my name has been attached to rumors before. I've been in this league long enough to know this time of year, every year, there's going to be trade rumor before the trade deadline.

"You see stuff like this come on TV and coming out of the woodwork, that's why it went in one ear and went out the other."

Taking their time

Kahn said he and Rambis will use all 82 games to evaluate a team whose season, Kahn contends, didn't really begin until Dec. 4, when Love played his first game. The Yahoo! report said Kahn already has decided he won't build the Wolves around Jefferson. Kahn has contended Jefferson is probably the second- or third-best player on a contending team.

"I have no desire to do anything with our core pieces this season," Kahn said. "We don't know who we are yet. You can make some terrible mistakes by making decisions too quickly."

Kahn said he talked with Pacers GM Larry Bird for about 20 minutes after shootaround Friday at Target Center. He said he is constantly talking to other teams in what he calls a "feeling-out process" about what his players might be worth in a trade. "But we're not making deals or concrete offers," he said.

Feeling the Love

The Yahoo! report, quoting an unnamed NBA source, said the Wolves have "jealous stuff" going on between Jefferson and Love. Jefferson called that nonsense, but he used a very no-nonsense word to do so.

"Kevin is like a son to me in this league," Jefferson said. "I believe in tough love with him. ... I don't know where that came from or who made it up."

As Jefferson sat on a chair and spoke to reporters Monday, Love approached, threw himself down on top of Jefferson and gave him a big, heavy body hug.

"Al and I haven't had any problems since I got here," Love said. "It's kind of laughable to me. He has been helping me out all along. I took my biggest steps last year because of him, and this summer because of him."

Etc.

• Center Ryan Hollins missed his fourth game in a row because of an upper respiratory infection and is not expected to re-join the team until it returns from this four-game trip late Friday.

• Forward Ryan Gomes had dental work done Sunday in Denver to repair a fake tooth damaged Saturday by Chicago center Joakim Noah's elbow.