OT - Kevin Love deal reached in principle

[Dynasty]

Love to the Cavs for Wiggins, Bennett, and a protected 1st round pick in 2015. Love also agrees to an extension with the Cavs. Since Wiggins can't be traded until August 23rd, the trade isn't official yet.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/sourc...ommits-to-staying-in-cleveland-054657392.html

Good trade for the Cavs, I say. Rumor has it that the Sixers like Bennett and it has been well documented that the T'Wolves like Thaddeus Young. This could develop into a 3-way trade.

 

[nomar]

That is a pretty nice haul for Minny, too.

 

[Excalibur]

LeBron, Irving, and Love, with Varejao, Thompson, Waiters and Miller as a supporting cast. That looks like the best team in the East by a wide margin.

 

[CallMeBruce]

LeBron, Irving, and Love, with Varejao, Thompson, Waiters and Miller as a supporting cast. That looks like the best team in the East by a wide margin.

They badly need defense, but if the Marion signing happens, they should be in better shape there.

 

[Excalibur]

They badly need defense, but if the Marion signing happens, they should be in better shape there.

They are lacking a bit on D, and I have no idea if Irving is decent defensively. LeBron can cover a lot of flaws on that end of the floor, though.

 

[aceboon]

They are lacking a bit on D, and I have no idea if Irving is decent defensively. LeBron can cover a lot of flaws on that end of the floor, though.

Irving is awful on D

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I think it's a pretty good trade for both teams. The Cavs go all in on a potentially very short championship window and Minnesota gets a couple really nice young pieces for a player who already had one foot out the door. As others have said though, there are some major defensive holes in that starting lineup, which need to be addressed with depth signings.

 

[CallMeBruce]

They are lacking a bit on D, and I have no idea if Irving is decent defensively. LeBron can cover a lot of flaws on that end of the floor, though.

Irving, Love, and Waiters are all pretty garbage on defense.

 

[Excalibur]

Irving, Love, and Waiters are all pretty garbage on defense.

I knew about Love and Waiters. Just had no clue re Irving . . .

 

[Dogdeacon]

That's too much for Love in my opinion. Remember Miami also gave away its first round picks immediately after getting LeBron & Bosh and that's at least part of why they ended up with a bare cupboard in year 4 = LeBron bolted. LeBron is more powerful than the Cavs owner or GM and that likely gave too much leverage to Minny. Considering the T-Wolves were getting very close to losing Love for nothing this is a great trade for them. I think the 'certainty' of the Chicago threat is BS spin put out to mitigate the 'Cleveland mortgaging its future' angle.

Changes Cavs from build towards a championship in 2-3yrs to win immediately. And maybe LeBron is sad about not being able to play with former Husky Shabazz. Can Emeka and Ray sign with the Cavs?

 

[WillMadsDad]

Report here from Cleveland - they are still talking about Ray signing with Cavs. Marion and Ray are the talk. If Ray doesn't come back, does he have any interest in joining UConn Staff? I think 4 - 5 years from now, Kevin could be off to the NBA - his heart is 80% UConn 20% NBA (preferring a past played in destination). Just wondering if Ray is desiring coaching.

Cleveland showed their hand - I think Waiters, Bennett, and 2 or 3 1st round picks in 2015 draft would have been enough.

 

[CallMeBruce]

'Mek pulled out of his workout with the Clips. He was previously linked with the Cavs; I wonder if something is brewing there.

 

[Strummer]

That's too much for Love in my opinion.

Really?

Cavs get - one of top 5 guys in the league and get him for multiple years. Guy who can create his own shot if need be, but whose scoring numbers are probably going to get even better with a guy like LeBron passing to this massive 6/10 target. He also is a very good rebounder. He is 25, which means he has at least 5 dominant years left, which happens to coincide with LBJ's shelf life.

Cavs give up - Wiggins - a guy who may be a top 5 prospect in the league, but who is, as yet, completely unproven in NBA space. They also give up a guy who averaged 4 and 3 last year. Oh yes, and they gave up a 1st round pick that I'm assuming is going to be one of the last 4 picks in the 1st round.

Sounds like a tremendous deal to me. An unknown commodity, an unknown player, and a future bench rider for a guy who is likely to be a great complement to LeBron and who is top 5 player in the league for the next 5 years.

The thing about the Cavs that is the real wild card is the new coach.

This is either going to come together and they're in the finals, or it's going to be an unrestrained disaster.

 

[UconnU]

They are lacking a bit on D, and I have no idea if Irving is decent defensively. LeBron can cover a lot of flaws on that end of the floor, though.

still the best team in the east by a wide margin though

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

David Blatt is a hell of a coach who's pretty widely respected. Even better, he's not above beefing with K. I don't think coaching is going to be an issue there.

Love is a very good player. I don't think he's a top 5 player but he's not too far off from that. I do wonder about those guys who dominate on horrendous teams and never get them anywhere, though, and I'm sure I'm in the minority but I don't see how a guy who hasn't played a meaningful NBA game in his career backs out of the USA gig this summer, business considerations or not.

 

[superjohn]

It's a good trade for both teams and an absolute no-brainer for Cleveland. Must be nice being Lebron, he gets to go home and his new team will be way more stacked than the Heat.

 

[Strummer]

. . . his new team will be way more stacked than the Heat.

Seriously. He exchanges Cole and the other do-nothing for Irving. Huge upgrade. He exchanges a severely faltering DWade with a peaking Kevin Love. Huge upgrade. What else was in Miami? Bosch?

Will be very interesting to see where LBJ can take this team. I'm interested.

 

[auror]

Really?

Cavs get - one of top 5 guys in the league and get him for multiple years. Guy who can create his own shot if need be, but whose scoring numbers are probably going to get even better with a guy like LeBron passing to this massive 6/10 target. He also is a very good rebounder. He is 25, which means he has at least 5 dominant years left, which happens to coincide with LBJ's shelf life.

Cavs give up - Wiggins - a guy who may be a top 5 prospect in the league, but who is, as yet, completely unproven in NBA space. They also give up a guy who averaged 4 and 3 last year. Oh yes, and they gave up a 1st round pick that I'm assuming is going to be one of the last 4 picks in the 1st round.

Sounds like a tremendous deal to me. An unknown commodity, an unknown player, and a future bench rider for a guy who is likely to be a great complement to LeBron and who is top 5 player in the league for the next 5 years.

The trade itself is fine value-wise, but could they have gotten Love for less? Minny had no leverage. If Kevin Love says I'm only signing with the Cavs now or next year, Cavs just wait a year and get him for free in FA, and they get to keep all those assets. And if Love didn't work out, they'd have gotten someone else. Wiggins on a rookie scale is going to be one of the best assets in the whole NBA in a few years.

 

[champs99and04]

David Blatt is a hell of a coach who's pretty widely respected. Even better, he's not above beefing with K. I don't think coaching is going to be an issue there.

Love is a very good player. I don't think he's a top 5 player but he's not too far off from that. I do wonder about those guys who dominate on horrendous teams and never get them anywhere, though, and I'm sure I'm in the minority but I don't see how a guy who hasn't played a meaningful NBA game in his career backs out of the USA gig this summer, business considerations or not.

To be fair, Minnesota was far from a horrendous team. They won 40 games in a loaded western conference and had a +2.7 point differential. I'm guessing you were referring to his entire tenure in Minnesota, though.

As for pulling out of Team USA, I'm inclined to agree with you, but I can see where he's coming from. If he gets hurt, he's unable to be traded and it compromises his ability to sign an extension with the Cavs.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

Seriously. He exchanges Cole and the other do-nothing for Irving. Huge upgrade. He exchanges a severely faltering DWade with a peaking Kevin Love. Huge upgrade. What else was in Miami? Bosch?

Will be very interesting to see where LBJ can take this team. I'm interested.

Which is why the Lebron homecoming because he loves Cleveland is utter BS. ESPN and SI essentially work as Lebron's personal PR team. He leaves an old, beat up team in Miami with zero cap space and not a single good young player, for Cleveland which has cap space and oh btw also has three of the last 4 number one overall picks plus two other top five picks in the last 4 years. That's 5 top 5 picks (Wiggins, Bennett, Irving, Waiters, Thompson). Irving is already on the US national team. Varejao is a great glue, dirty work guy.

What a selfless move by Lebron. Surely he's doing this out of pure love for the city of Cleveland because he's matured and realized how much it means to him and blah blah blah. Its all utter garbage and BS. ESPN literally couldn't try any harder to pump up Lebron. The second his prospects decline in Cleveland, he will be out of there. Its a smart move to go to there, but give me a break he's doing this for his love of Cleveland.

 

[CallMeBruce]

As for pulling out of Team USA, I'm inclined to agree with you, but I can see where he's coming from. If he gets hurt, he's unable to be traded and it compromises his ability to sign an extension with the Cavs.

More importantly, why does he owe it to USA Basketball, FIBA, or anyone else to risk his health for nothing in an off-year tournament?

 

[Horatio]

Cleveland should've kept Bennett or at least brought back another descent player with love. This deal is good right now but out of all the recent NBA trades/ deals made over the last couple of years this one could easily go south. For every year that Cleveland doesnt win an NBA title with K Love their gonna see Wiggins get better and better. He also has a chip on his shoulder now.

 

[Strummer]

[they're] gonna see Wiggins get better and better. He also has a chip on his shoulder now.

Chips on shoulder are nice, but I'm not convinced Wiggins has the skills to dominate in the NBA. Huge hops and athleticism don't get you even most of the way to "franchise player." Time will tell, but I think many people got caught up in the "parker, wiggins, randle" great 1 and done hype machine.
Will be very interesting to see.

 

[superjohn]

Which is why the Lebron homecoming because he loves Cleveland is utter BS. ESPN and SI essentially work as Lebron's personal PR team. He leaves an old, beat up team in Miami with zero cap space and not a single good young player, for Cleveland which has cap space and oh btw also has three of the last 4 number one overall picks plus two other top five picks in the last 4 years. That's 5 top 5 picks (Wiggins, Bennett, Irving, Waiters, Thompson). Irving is already on the US national team. Varejao is a great glue, dirty work guy.

What a selfless move by Lebron. Surely he's doing this out of pure love for the city of Cleveland because he's matured and realized how much it means to him and blah blah blah. Its all utter garbage and BS. ESPN literally couldn't try any harder to pump up Lebron. The second his prospects decline in Cleveland, he will be out of there. Its a smart move to go to there, but give me a break he's doing this for his love of Cleveland.

Oh yeah that was an absolute joke. Lebron went back to Cleveland because he knew it would be a much better situation than Miami. The Heat team was done and Lebron knew it was time for a new big three, his decision was strictly what situation gave him the best chance of winning it all. Cleveland is going to have an embarrassment of riches. Lebron, Love, Irving, Verajo, Waiters, Thompson, Marion, Mike Miller, Ray Allen. I give Lebron credit for what he did with those Cleveland teams years ago but since then he has been spoiled rotten.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

More importantly, why does he owe it to USA Basketball, FIBA, or anyone else to risk his health for nothing in an off-year tournament?

I never said he owed anyone anything. He's got every right to prioritize ensuring a new deal over getting meaningful minutes against high-level competition. It's not crazy to suggest he might want some big game reps though.