muhammedboehm Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 #3 totally sounds like a 19th century Supreme Court justice WestbroookGriffebHowardAnthonyPaulBryant the third 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrag Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Hell, there is a case to be made that Love isn't even a top 4 PF! I think I would stick him right behind Davis and Griffin in the 3 spot, but Aldridge is right there. Then there are also a few dudes in San Antonio, Dallas and Miami who, you know, have won playoff games and such... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 The key is that LeBron is at his absolute peak right now. Barring injury/illness and with modification to his playing time, he'll be there for 3-4 more years. And while he's a human tank, LeBron won't defeat Father Time and Mother Nature. No one does. Even with superstar talent--and no one is sure about that concerning Wiggins at the moment--it can take a rookie 3-5 years to get everything going. Would you be willing to ask LeBron to spend what's left of his prime waiting for Wiggins to fully develop? It's a gamble that Cleveland can't really take. Love has reached his ceiling and it's not nearly as high as Wiggins, but he's no chump. And he rebounds better than Bosh, if nothing else. At this time, Love helps LeBron more. Giving up Wiggins isn't a desired outcome. But he's not the teammate LeBron needs at this stage of his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiller Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 You guys misread what he posted: I still think this is a dumb trade for Cleveland if it involves Wiggins. Kevin Love is no more proven as a winner than Wiggins is. Love is basically going to Cleveland to be Bosh 2.0, except even worse as a defender. I think for a team that doesn't already have a championship, you can't think in terms of hypotheticals, especially with Lebron already 30 and with a ton of miles. Barring a major surprise or catastrophe, Love will be better than Wiggins this year, and if they sign him, probably for at least the next two. Wiggins' greatest strength is going to be his defense on wing players, which is a skill that takes at least a year or two to adjust to an NBA level. I know it's a different position, but look at Anthony Davis. He was one of the greatest college defenders of a generation, and during his rookie year he looked like a deer on rollerskates while trying to defend a pick and roll. I think anyone who thinks that Wiggins was going to come in and be able to guard the best player every night so that Lebron could take it easy was fooling themselves a little bit. I also think that calling Love Bosh 2.0 is underselling him a little bit. By multiple advanced metrics, Love is a top 4 player in the NBA, something Bosh was never close to. Also, many stats point to Love being an average defender, and probably an under appreciated one on one defender (although an admittedly poor help defender, due to him always looking to rebound). I think trading two players with very high ceilings and a draft pick is something I would do every time for a player like Love. I think Love will play alongside LeBron very well. He's a much better outside shooter than Bosh, and he's one of the best rebounders in the league. Yeah, he's not the best on-ball defender, but defensive rebounding is also part of having a good team defense. So, in a lot of respects, he fits with LeBron better than Bosh ever did. Not to mention the fact that Kyrie will be on the wing as well. With LeBron kicking the ball out to Love and Kyrie, the Cavs could make a lot of 3's this year, and probably at a very efficient clip. I really want to see how good Love could be playing with someone like James, though. I just keep remembering a couple of years ago when he was having 20-20 games all the time and he even had a 30-30 game one night. He's still very capable of being that kind of player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Love has moment of being great, but I'm also curious if he can sustain it on a winning team. I remember he damn near by himself stretched OKC to triple OT a couple of years ago, so he can have his moments for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Love is a better shooter, better passer, better ball-handler, and better rebounder than Bosh. He fills a stat-line better than anybody in the NBA except James and Durant, really. Him playing on a good team might dial his numbers back... Or it might free him up to step to the next level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Kevin Love is the 4th best player in the NBA according to WS/48 minutes, which is what I was referring to. Obviously I don't think he is the 4th best player in the NBA because I'm not an insane person. I would say that Love is pretty clearly a top 20 player by basically any standard, and you could make a solid case for top 15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Love is an absolute beast saddled on an ass team. Trade him for Blake straight up and Minnesota will have the same record. It's the same with LaMarcus. That team maxed out at being the 10th best team in an awesome basketball conference. Every team better than Minnesota in the West has at least two All-Star type players and/or a great coaching staff. Love didn't have the horses to run with.But that dude is great and, once in the hands of a good coach, will be even more monstrous. He's probably the best rebounder in the league and closes possessions out and keeps possessions alive. He's also an incredible passer and can also shoot it lights out. He definitely can step up more on defense but it's not like he's a low post Harden. Give him a defensive wizard like Blatt and a guy like LeBron and he'll start nailing rotations.This trade's an absolute no-brainer. LBJ/Kyrie/Love is a fantastic first-three.GSW is absolutely dumb for not wanting to get rid of Klay. I love the Splash Brothers and Klay's a really good defensive player. But a Curry/Love pick'n'roll combo is possibly the best in NBA history. That's not hyperbole, either. How do you possibly begin to defend that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Only way you can possibly defend a Curry/Love pick and roll is to have a third defender blitz it as soon as it happens, and hope to god that Curry doesn't make the pass cleanly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiller Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I don't think Love is a top 4 player either. But there is such a dearth of really good big men in the league right now that I think he becomes more important to a team than guards and wings that are better than him. Like in a fantasy draft I would rather take Love in the first round and end up with Irving or Lowry as my guard than take CP3 first and end up with Gortat or a Lopez or Plumlee brother as my big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Love is awesome. How could you turn down one of the best players in the NBA and it being a guy that most people think is a perfect complement to LeBron's game for a rookie who may never turn out as good as Love is right now. Sure Wiggins could be great, he could also flame out. The most likely scenario is that neither of those things happen in Wiggins first few years meanwhile Love is still a great player in that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Honestly I think people just don't want to see a potentially great player go to Minnesota. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Oh yeah - Minnesota could very well ruin Wiggins future. That's what's so frustrating about it. If you are Cleveland you have to pull the trigger on this though. A LeBron/Love/Kyrie team would be ready to win NOW and that's what you want. Also, I do agree that Love is more valuable than he might seem. There's a ton of great point guards so if you have Westbrook or Lillard or Curry.. they kind of cancel one another out. There's not too many Kevin Loves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 A Kyrie/Love/LeBron team wins now and their ages are also scattered enough that they have a few years in them. Kyrie has been SO GOOD at times but saddled with garbage. He's really good late at games.When LBJ starts to hit the mid-30s wall, Love will be 29-30. Kyrie will be 26. That's masterful long-term roster building. The Cavs are going to have All-NBA caliber players on their roster possibly for the next 12 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 The Team USA tryouts seem completely bonkers, particularly among the guards. Curry/Kyrie/Dame/Wall/Rose are competing for two spots. And Rose is supposedly absolutely tearing it up. I'd assume Curry might grab the other spot since he's the best shooter in the world and also the best passer of the lot. But Dame went up another few levels this year and might not be a finished product.Since they're so thin up front, I kind of want them to go super small ball and just run with four point guards and Anthony Davis to see what would happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Also, the main reason I came to this thread is to inform everyone O.J. Mayo has a brother named Todd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Also, the main reason I came to this thread is to inform everyone O.J. Mayo has a brother named Todd. Does he have a sister named Patty? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 From what it sounds like they're going to want to play fast, so they'll probably keep 3 point guards. Rose/Curry and either Irving or Wall. They're also looking at using Curry at two more so you'll probably see more tough cuts at that position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I'm pretty sure Coach K's dream scenario would be 5 guys, all three point shooters, don't even think about anything but long range bombs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrag Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 So there is a rumor going around that Mason Plumlee could be kept over Boogie Cousins?! What? Blue and White Scrimmage tonight on espn! AKA Derrick Rose's return to televised basketball AKA the night Boogie takes Plumlee's lunch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Plumlee over Boogie might have to do w/ Boogie's reputation as a total jerk. And, also, Plumlee went to Duke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrag Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 It would be a horrible move for a team that is going to eventually play Spain, and who knows if it's true, but you just know Boogie is thinking about it. Tonight is going to be quite the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I remember from the Olympic scrimmages a couple years ago a reporter asked Carmelo about how Boogie played and he started laughing and said 'He just came in and fouled the shit out of everyone. I don't know what he was doing.' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Also, supposedly.. it's Kyrie vs. Wall for the last PG spot. I wonder who Coach K will take. smh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 So which team you got: White Team (Thibs Coaching) Durant Harden Beal Cousins Drummond Irving Lillard Millsap Parsons Thomspon Blue Team (Monty Brown coaching) Rose Curry Davis DeRozan Faried George Hayward Korver Plumlee Wall Maybe I'm biased, but I'm feelin' Blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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