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2014 NBA OFFSEASON


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I still think Cleveland needs to try and throw every possible non Lebron/Wiggins/Irving offer they can at the Wolves first, but, man, from Grantland's "should they make this deal" article, this bit about Love last year put my jaw on the floor:

 

 

Last season, Love scored 2,010 points, pulled down 963 rebounds, and dished out 341 assists.

 

The list of players who have scored more than 2,000 points, grabbed more than 950 rebounds, and dished more than 300 assists in one season is as follows: Kareem six times (1969-70, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1975-76, 1976-77), Wilt Chamberlain twice (1963-64, 1965-66), Elgin Baylor twice (1960-61, 1962-63), Oscar Robertson (1961-62), Bob McAdoo (1975-76), Billy Cunningham (1969-70), Charles Barkley (1988-89), and Tim Duncan (2001-02).

 

I’d call that good company.

 

Something tells me that this trade(assuming it goes down), will be under the category of "God hates Cleveland". Not disputing anything about Kevin Love, but trading Wiggins without even seeing what you have in him in not smart. . . 

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Minnesota is sitting there with a pair of 2s hoping it holds up..  Love is 100% leaving.  Why give them Wiggins when they can't even get Klay Thompson?

 

The Dubs not giving up Klay for Love isn't the barometer of what Love is worth because Golden State is overvaluing Klay like crazy. The worst part of the trade would be the Warriors including Lee which would deprive us of seeing one of the worst defensive front courts of all time in him and Love.

 

Minnesota needs to try and play Cleveland and Golden State against each other because if they move Love without getting a guy like Wiggins the fans will riot..well maybe not riot but they'll bitch and complain endlessly about it on Twitter.

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Love is worth a ton. GREAT player.  That's not the point.  

 

 

I don't understand the Melo-ish deal where you give up assets for a guy you could outright sign next year.  Let alone THE asset.

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Sure, but so does CLE.  Who doesn't want to play with Lebron?

 

Let's assume Wiggins doesn't develop at all offensively.  He will still be one of the best perimeter defenders in the league on opening night.  Barring injury, I can't imagine a situation where Wiggins loses enough value to kill that deal.  Love would be great with Lebron, but how ridiculous would Lebron be if he didn't have to guard the other teams best every night?  That's not even considering Wiggins upside.  That's an immediate thing.

 

Trading this guy before ever seeing him play just doesn't sit right with me.  You're pretty much begging to be a trivia punchline 30 years from now.  The dude could maximize his potential in Cleveland by playing with the best mentor of all time, but that mentor would rather win this year apparently.

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Boozer can put up points and rebounds, in a fairly loud manner, so I do think he's a decent pickup for them.  However, on paper, the Lakers' defensive potential does not look any better than it was last season, and it was awful last season.  Things will get interesting in their games if this holds up.

 

Plus, I know they signed a couple of PFs now, but who are their centers?

 

I would guess Jordan Hill's moving over to center, which he'll probably give the same production that he did at PF and the same lack of defense too (which Pau and Kaman provided little of as well).  Robert Sacre's the other center. He's well....um...a good cheerleader. Works hard, but he's not very good.

 

I really like Randle and I don't think having Boozer is going to hurt his development. If you've seen him play he's got quite the motor and the Z-Bo comparisons were way off on him. He's a face-the-basket, ball-handling forward which I don't think he showed as much at Kentucky.

 

Lakers still don't have a head coach OR a small forward.  I'm guessing Xavier Henry returns to play SF and had he not been injured all the time last season, someone would have paid him well this summer.  Wesley Johnson still available, but he was way to inconsistent. I'd pass on him, which probably means he'll be back. :(

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Sure, but so does CLE.  Who doesn't want to play with Lebron?

 

Let's assume Wiggins doesn't develop at all offensively.  He will still be one of the best perimeter defenders in the league on opening night.  Barring injury, I can't imagine a situation where Wiggins loses enough value to kill that deal.  Love would be great with Lebron, but how ridiculous would Lebron be if he didn't have to guard the other teams best every night?  That's not even considering Wiggins upside.  That's an immediate thing.

 

Cleveland doesn't exist anymore.  It's basically LeBron running the show and if LeBron wants Kevin Love, he'll get Kevin Love even if it costs Wiggins.

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For sure.  There is no doubt about that.  If this cost Wiggins then I think Lebron is being very short sighted.

 

Love is a great stats guy, but he is basically a Boozer/Lee hybrid on defense.  I don't understand giving up the defensive talent when you already have Kyrie (and a bunch of shooters who will play for peanuts) to help you on the other end.

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Love very clearly offers no rim protection, but advanced defensive statistics pegged him as basically an exactly league average defender last year, and his defensive worth has improved every year.

I wouldn't be happy about losing Wiggins, but I would be happy with the end result. My major concern would be a line up with Irving, Love and Varajao is basically made from fine china and glass held together with scotch tape and bubble gum.

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I am Cleveland's GM in the following scenario:

ME: "Hey, Kevin! I was wondering, what would it take for us to get Kevin Love?"

KM: "Oh, geez. I'm thinking Wiggins?"

ME: "DONE! THANKS!"

Seriously. Could Wiggins be terrific? Yes. Certainly. Will he? Who knows. It's impossible to tell.

What we do know: LBJ is on a two-year contract. And while he said he's in Cleveland for life, that can change in a heartbeat. Kevin Love is an All-NBA player. He's an incredible rebounder. He's an insanely talented scorer and stretches the floor. And he's also one of the best passing big men going. He does all of those things at an elite level right now. He's a 20-10 guy who is really efficient and versatile.

Kyrie/Love/LBJ is pretty much going to the finals, barring injuries and Derrick Rose returning to MVP form immediately or some team making a gigantic leap. You can make a case that you'll have three of the ten best players in the league on that team. That gives you two years at chasing the title and makes LeBron happy.

How quickly could Wiggins get you to the finals? That's an unanswerable question. Will Wiggins ever contribute as much to a team that Love does? Maybe. But I know what Love contributes already, and I know that gets a team really close to a potential championship.

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Boozer can put up points and rebounds, in a fairly loud manner, so I do think he's a decent pickup for them.  However, on paper, the Lakers' defensive potential does not look any better than it was last season, and it was awful last season.  Things will get interesting in their games if this holds up.

 

Plus, I know they signed a couple of PFs now, but who are their centers?

 

I would guess Jordan Hill's moving over to center, which he'll probably give the same production that he did at PF and the same lack of defense too (which Pau and Kaman provided little of as well).  Robert Sacre's the other center. He's well....um...a good cheerleader. Works hard, but he's not very good.

 

I really like Randle and I don't think having Boozer is going to hurt his development. If you've seen him play he's got quite the motor and the Z-Bo comparisons were way off on him. He's a face-the-basket, ball-handling forward which I don't think he showed as much at Kentucky.

 

Lakers still don't have a head coach OR a small forward.  I'm guessing Xavier Henry returns to play SF and had he not been injured all the time last season, someone would have paid him well this summer.  Wesley Johnson still available, but he was way to inconsistent. I'd pass on him, which probably means he'll be back. :(

 

 

I bet Kobe is going to log in some minutes at SF this year.

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Minnesota is sitting there with a pair of 2s hoping it holds up..  Love is 100% leaving.  Why give them Wiggins when they can't even get Klay Thompson?

 

The Dubs not giving up Klay for Love isn't the barometer of what Love is worth because Golden State is overvaluing Klay like crazy. The worst part of the trade would be the Warriors including Lee which would deprive us of seeing one of the worst defensive front courts of all time in him and Love.

 

Minnesota needs to try and play Cleveland and Golden State against each other because if they move Love without getting a guy like Wiggins the fans will riot..well maybe not riot but they'll bitch and complain endlessly about it on Twitter.

 

 

Man, I should really pay attention to twitter. I had no idea that the Timberwolves had fans. 

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For sure.  There is no doubt about that.  If this cost Wiggins then I think Lebron is being very short sighted.

 

Love is a great stats guy, but he is basically a Boozer/Lee hybrid on defense.  I don't understand giving up the defensive talent when you already have Kyrie (and a bunch of shooters who will play for peanuts) to help you on the other end.

 

There's reason to believe that he's an adequate defender who looks worse than he actually is because he has to compensate for having incredibly bad teammates.  He's not a shot blocker, but I'd say he is better than other big men he has played with, such as Al Jefferson and Nikola Pekovic.  My impression of watching him is that he can stay in front of his man when he's not rotating to cover for a teammate who blew an assignment, but that he often fails to put a hand in the face of his opponent. 

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You can make a case that you'll have three of the ten best players in the league on that team.

The rest of your post is well reasoned, more well reasoned than my Wiggins optimism surely, but LOL at the idea of there being a case for Kyrie in the top 10.

It's hard enough to make a case for him as a top 5 PG. Paul, Parker, Curry, Wall, Lillard, Rondo, Rose, Westbrook. Yeah, even if we throw out my boy D Rose until we see him healthy, there is no way in hell I could find room for Kryie on a top 5 PG list.

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LeBron turns 30 this year. It might take Wiggins 5 or 6 years to reach his potential. Trading for Kevin Love to win a title as soon as possible is absolutely the right call, because by the time Wiggins could contribute at an All-Star level LeBron could be 36 years old.

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Remember all the elite players who ran to Cleveland to play with LeBron in the past? Yeah, I don't either. Its still not an attractive destination. LeBron makes it more attractive but it is still not going to top anyone's list. If Love wants to go and play with LeBron then you should probably pull the trigger.

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Love isn't a perfect player by any means, but neither is Wiggins.  Wiggins can't dribble and can barely shoot.  He's skinny as a bean pole and will get pushed around for a couple of seasons until he bulks up. He can dunk and pay defense, true.  He could be the next Scottie Pippen.  He could be the next Andre Iguodala--good but not a game changer. 

 

At least with Love, you know what you'll get.  Wiggins is still a prospect and therefore suspect.  Do you waste the next 3-4 years of LeBron's career, while still in his prime, on a prospect who needs that time to reach a higher level?  No, Cleveland can't afford that.  If Love is willing to sign for 4-5 seasons, Cleveland needs to go for it.

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I don't think I would trade Wiggins for Love unless I knew for a fact that I couldn't get Love any other way.  Even then, I'd have some trepidations.  Love is a great player who is very close to his ceiling, Wiggins is 19 and currently doesn't have a ceiling.  Wiggins could literally turn into anything, and on a team where he is playing next to a quality point guard and the best player in the league he can develop all of his skills without ever having to be the responsibility of being the #1 option.  Why would you give up a player with the potential to be a Scottie Pippen level defensive destroyer and an overwhelming athlete who could turn into a Westbrook level matchup problem on offense. 

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I hope this followed by Tracy McGrady faxing management with two words "I'm Back."

 

But no one knows about it because no one uses fax any more.

 

Duuuuuude...What was your reaction like when news broke of that? I still remember where I was.

 

Shit, if Twitter were around back then, that tweet alone would have blown up Twitter forever.

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