Cavs for Love Trade
BigKahuna
Banned
Anybody else think the price is too high ?
Wiggins, Bennett, next year 1st round
That would be 3 first rounders .
Don't get me wrong I like Love but shit it's not like you are trading for Durant.
Wiggins, Bennett, next year 1st round
That would be 3 first rounders .
Don't get me wrong I like Love but shit it's not like you are trading for Durant.
Comments
Yep, but whatever LBJ wants they will try and accomodate.
So- a player they had a 1.7% chance of getting, plus an unproven project, plus a low 1st rounder next year for Love. I think I would do that.
That's the gist of it....get to championship as soon as possible, and don't worry about later and what if's is the way they are looking at it...if you have the opportunity to get a top complimenting player like Love who is mid 20's and proven to commit to a non major market team you take advantage of it. Can Wiggins be the next big star absolutely but it is not a given....can Bennett be the most improved rookie year over year possibly but still a bigger gamble...I would obtain Love and be an instant contender, that's just the nature of the business aspect of it these days...and Lebron is obviously telling them he doesn't want to be a teacher and mentor at this point.
If Love/James combo wins a championship in Cleveland, then the price was not too high, because that's the ultimate goal. It's when the combo doesn't win a championship that you can compare numbers, what coulda, shoulda etc etc. But that's all speculation.
Putting myself in Cleveland's GM's shoes (which are basically LeBron's shoes) I'd look at it this way:
With LeBron and Love as the 2 biggest contracts and Kyrie also on the roster, Cleveland becomes the spot where proven veterans want to go. They can basically pick who they want, because almost everybody with a championship on their mind would want to join. So it shouldn't be a problem to build the kind of roster they'd want. Now if they go the other way, where they keep Bennett and Wiggins, and they perform up to the level of 1st round picks, you'd be looking at another 2 big contracts (3 or 4 years) down the road, which simply is not going to fit.
Imo, Kevin Love is the way to go. And Minnesota knows that.
Batman can't win without Robin. Jordan didn't win until Pippin. Great trade for Cleveland. It's a now world.
Never said it wasn't a good trade. It is, at least for the short term.
Pippen was drafted by the Bulls and developed along side of MJ. That's an apples to oranges comparison. And why can't Irving be his Pippen? He needs multiple Pippen's? That's why he will never ever be as great as MJ.
IMO comparing LeBron to Jordan is apples and oranges two different type players. I could be mistaken but didn't Pippin come in after Jordan. K. Irving is going to have to grow up a little which is going to be difficult in the beginning.
Yea and Cleveland runs the risk of him being terrible and then that trade looks like crap to Minnesota. I'd do it right now if I was Cleveland.
The Cavs sucked last year, the idea that if they get Love and Lebron they become some type of unfair super team is wrong IMO. Jordan isn't winning a title by joining this years Cavs team without some additional help either.
that said, i think the issue here is that even with love, their defense is likely to be atrocious. they'd still have no rim protector, lebron can't play d nearly the way that he did a few years ago, kyrie/dion are absolute sieves, etc. love's only real skill on defense is rebounding, and they already have defensive rebounding. he's an awful defender in transition, doesn't make 2nd/3rd rotations, etc. i guess he's a bit of an underrated post defender, but that's not that important in the modern nba anyway.
it won't matter if they score 120 pts per game though, and i'd definitely still make the trade.
from your experience (or numbers),
Which skill is easier to add to your repertoire as a player, playing good defense or 3-point shooting?
Just wondering whether Cavs should take their time with Bennet and Wiggins, who have the defensive potential and could develop a reliable 3-point shot.
If the Cavs can't defend with Love on board as you say, I'm pretty sure the likes of Carlisle or Popovich/ Messina can design a strategy in 1 or 2 years to exploit that to the point where the Cavs model falls apart.
Another question: Do you believe David Blatt can handle the jump to an NBA contender? Or will it be LeBron James player/coach?
There is no skill set harder to develop than to play defense in basketball. IMO Lebron, Kyrie and Love are individually completely un-guardable and are probably more deadly as a tandem.
i'm not sure if 3pt shooting or D is harder to add. but, one problem with wiggins is that his undervalued skill (the potential to be a lockdown wing defender) is something that is very undervalued throughout the league. therefore, it's easier to acquire on the cheap (guys like demarre carroll, sefolosha, etc).
one thing re: bennett - he has less defensive potential than my 7 year old daughter does. the kid got a bad rap due to being picked #1 and showing up to camp in awful shape (and covering that up with silly excuses), and he looked nice in summer league, and has a chance to be quite a good offensive player. but id be shocked if hes ever an above average defender.
im pretty confident that blatt is going to be a solid coach. atvl hes going to run some sort of structured offense (unlike last season under brown).
You have the best player in basketball.
You add Love now because it gives you a 25%+ percent chance of winning the title each of the next 5 years. You don't wait and hope someone develops in 4 years. You might get greatness but you have greatness now. He's not likely to be better than Lebron
I would definitely make the trade for Love. Bennett last year did not look like a 1st rounder, let alone a 1st overall pick.. Next years 1st round pick is not going to be all too valuable since Cleveland will go fairly deep in the Playoffs. Wiggins is at least 6-7 years away from his prime. LeBron will be past his prime at that point and Cleveland has a real shot to win right now. Wiggins may end up being a better player than Love but that's purely speculation. What we know for sure is that Love is already the best scoring/passing big in the NBA and one of the best rebounders. He's also just 25 years old and still getting better. Playing along side LeBron will only help him in his development as a player. I would still wager on the West taking down the championship no matter what Cleveland does.
Atleast now we will have games in the 120's again, cuz there isn't much D going to be played on the Cavs team.