Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

All-Star power forward Kevin Love has not been offered a contract extension by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and if one isn’t submitted by Jan. 15, ten days before the deadline for fourth-year players to sign new deals with their current clubs, then he’ll refuse to re-sign with the team this summer, The New York Post’s Peter Vecsey reports.

The Timberwolves are willing to offer Love a four-year deal in the neighborhood of $60 million, according to Vecsey. They’re hesitant to offer a fifth year because, under the new collective-bargaining agreement, they’d lose flexibility after the fourth year with rookies Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams, or a top free agent, by doing so.

The Timberwolves could have the makings of a competitive team. Sure, they had an NBA-worst record of 17-65 last season, but with Rubio and Williams added to a cast that includes Love, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, Anthony Tolliver, Anthony Randolph, Wesley Johnson and Luke Ridnour—plus new coach Rick Adelman—there’s some hope in Minnesota. Timberwolves brass, Vecsey surmises, are hoping that Love will be willing to sacrifice some money—like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did for the Heat to sign Chris Bosh—to keep the team together well into the future.

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