Trading Kevin Love

I think it's simply an issue of giving LeBron what he wants/needs so they can win now. I would not be surprised if Wiggins becomes a better overall player than Love, but I think it will take him a few years and Cleveland doesn't have time to wait.

 

No, Love isn't a good defender, but he can rebound and start a fast break, or start a fast break even off a made shot. Plus, on offense he can spread the floor and take a lot of pressure off LeBron to score every time out, or have to take on a double-team. Love can certainly do a lot more now than Wiggins can. Maybe Wiggins will turn out to be great, but, again, if you've taken the trouble to get James, you want to win now -- especially with him having such a short contract.

 

The rebound thing - ehh, who cares. The majority of the rebounds Love gets, someone else on the cavs would get anyway. Don't know how much value he adds as a rebounder but probably not a lot. The improved spacing is huge. But the scoring - again, there's only so many shots to go around and LeBron will get his shots, and they have Kyrie (a very good shooter in his own rights) to take shots. There just won't be nearly as many shots for Love in CLE as there are in Minn, which takes away form his value some.
Also - Love apparently can't play center. He's a great stretch 4, but you know who else is a great stretch 4? LeBron! He'd keep LeBron from having to bang against bigger PFs on D, which is definitely a big win. But you know who else can save LeBron on D? Wiggins! He can handle a lot of the same defensive duties as LeBron. You wouldn't put him (instead of LeBron) on KD during the final shot of the Finals. But during the regular season? Yeah, he's lightening that load a lot!
Would Love make the Cavs better? Absolutely. Is he such a great fit that he's worth giving up Wiggins and signing to a max deal? Probably not.

 

Who cares about rebounding? Intersting philosophy, ridiculous but interesting.

I can see the case to keep Wiggins but underestimating Love's rebounding skills shouldn't be part of it.

 

It's not who cares about rebounding, as I tried to say, maybe poorly, in my following sentence: It's that "the people who would be playing in the scenario where the Cavs don't trade for Love" would like pull down most if not all the rebounds he'd be pulling down anyway. Earl Boykins isn't in this scenario. Wiggins/Thompson/Bennett are all grabbing boards. With Love on their roster and those guys not, I don't think the Cavs have very different rebounding numbers.

 

RE: Love, be wary of stats compiled on a shitty team.

 

Good to know some dude in a backwater has the same sources as Chris Sheridan.

 

It would be insane for the Cavs to trade that package for Love right now. There is no hurry. You start the season with Wiggins and see what you have with the kid. If he is playing well and the team has decent chemistry you hold on to him and go from there. If he is struggling you trade his upside for Love at the trading deadline. They have nothing to lose by waiting...if the T-Wolves trade him to another team you still have all those pieces to make a run at someone else.

Also, are you kidding me with what the Cavs are supposed to be giving up here? Wiggins, Bennett, Waiters and a No. 1? Not in a million years do I make that trade. People ARE looking at this like fantasy basketball and you simply can't do that. Why would you give up two No. 1 overall picks, a No. 3 overall pick and a first rounder next year for Kevin Love? Let Minnesota go looking for a different trade partner if they expect that kind of haul. I have a feeling the price will come down the more time that passes.

Another thing to think about...playoff basketball is about defense. Kevin Love can't play defense. What will he mean in terms of regular season wins? As things stand I would say the Cavs, current roster, are a 50-55-win team. Add Love and that might go up to 55-60 wins. Not worth it. Will he help you win a playoff series against Indiana or Chicago? The Cavs would be much better off going after a player like Greg Monroe or Robin Lopez...a big that is active on the defensive end. Monroe could start in the middle, Lopez give you 20 strong minutes off the bench.

There is more out there than Kevin Love.

 

I understand that Love will open up the floor more in the half court. I think Wiggins is the better player if you want to talk about fast break. Good defense leads to rebounds or steals, which can be just as effective to start a fast break. Who will be able to guard LeBron and Kyrie Irving with a lurking Wiggins in the open court? Nobody.

 

Those are harder and harder to come by, cuz "Larry Bird ain't walkin' through that door".

(Wonders if LTL knows who Larry Bird is.)