Kevin Love Trade Ideas

[The Wizard of Moz]

I think Cousins has a lot of upside compared to Love, but it's a risk...

You'd like to think on a winning team he wouldn't continue to be a lazy defender..but that's no given. You'd like to think on a winning team he'd take more effective shots, but that, too, is no given. You're trading a guy in Love who accepts his role pretty selflessly for a guy, who to this point in his career, hasn't shown much of a desire to be selfless at all. So, you have to ask yourself, if you make the trade, what if he doesn't change?

As for my assessment, I wasn't trying to be overly critical because I like Love as a player and don't want to see him traded just to be traded. Cousins scores a lot of points. He's also been pretty damn inefficient doing so. Particularly when you want to start saying he's the most dominant offensive force in the paint we've seen since Shaq. Gotta tell ya, he's not nearly as good as some of the better power forwards have been in the paint, and if we're talking about just centers, prime Yao Ming was better. He's been on bad teams, yes, but he doesn't help the situation. If he played harder, if he took better shots his team would benefit as a result. And it's his defense that is the real concern. It's why prime Dwight Howard is, I think fairly easily, the better player. Sure, Cousins has more offensive tools, but he doesn't use them wisely. Meanwhile, Howard was 5x the defender Cousins is.

He can be a great, great player. But he's not yet and there's no guarantee that putting him on a different team will change things.

Now for my statement on Towns, that's just how good Towns will be. He's arguably already a better defender than Cousins is. His efficiency was really high for a rookie that scored 18+ a game. If he's not the best center in the league by the start of his 3rd season, then he's either had a setback or someone else has emerged out of nowhere.

Where would you rank Gobert?

I think the Jazz can put up a serious dog fight against the Warriors because of how long and athletic they are

 

[Kal]

Where would you rank Gobert?

I think the Jazz can put up a serious dog fight against the Warriors because of how long and athletic they are

Totally agree on that...the starting 5 is Hill / Hood / Hayward / Favors / Gobert...thats a really nice one n good luck scoring in the paint on them!

 

[damon jones' leg kick]

I would love to see MKG in a cavs uniform. Young, has an incredibly valuable contract and is insane on the defensive end of the court.

His jumper is broke but it can only get better from where he is at now.

Love and sasha for mkg and Marvin Williams or zeller?

 

[TyGuy]

I would love to see MKG in a cavs uniform. Young, has an incredibly valuable contract and is insane on the defensive end of the court.

His jumper is broke but it can only get better from where he is at now.

Love and sasha for mkg and Marvin Williams or zeller?

This might be the worst Kevin love trade proposition yet.

 

[Ohio]

This might be the worst Kevin love trade proposition yet.

...At least he has a funny username?

 

[AMC]

Where would you rank Gobert?

I think the Jazz can put up a serious dog fight against the Warriors because of how long and athletic they are

I read something towards the end of the season that the Warriors wanted nothing to do with the Jazz in the first round. They see the matchups too.

 

[TyGuy]

...At least he has a funny username?

Is this not greatfuldead? This guy just joined and immediately comes to the Kevin love trade thread to offer an awful trade scenario.

 

[Ohio]

Is this not greatfuldead? This guy just joined and immediately comes to the Kevin love trade thread to offer an awful trade scenario.

@Randolphkeys

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

This might be the worst Kevin love trade proposition yet.

In one of these threads someone said we would be lucky to have McLemore be the center piece of a Love trade all the while telling us how dumb we were for not knowing Love's true value

It's honestly going to be hard to genuinely top that

 

[bboy]

This might be the worst Kevin love trade proposition yet.

If they made that trade Griff would be on the next flight to Phoenix because he wouldn't have a job here anymore!

 

[Rich]

Where would you rank Gobert?

I think the Jazz can put up a serious dog fight against the Warriors because of how long and athletic they are

The Jazz should win 52 games or more this season. It's a shame Exum got hurt and missed his entire second year. I was a big believer in him. If he's the player I think he is, and if he's healthy, they should be frightening. They've got best defensive team in the league type of potential. Favors and Gobert are the best defensive front court in the league. Burks is a pest on defense. George Hill is a really underrated defender too.

Winning less than 50 games would be a letdown. Hill, while not a great player, will give them way more out of the PG spot than they've been getting, even if Exum isn't healthy. If Exum is healthy and if he's as good as I think he can be....I think they might be a legit WCF contender.

That said, they've got a tough decision to make on Hayward. Good player, but he's opting out next summer. So do you pay him 25 million dollars? And if the answer is no, do you then have to trade him this season, even if you're in the middle of a good one? And if so, how much value does he even have? One year left and all, you aren't trading for Carmelo, Dwight or Kevin Love. Does getting his bird rights really mean that much to a team they'd give up value for him?

Rodney Hood having a standout rookie year helps. If he continues to improve and looks like he might be as good as Hayward, then Gordon will be dealt, unless.......

The Jazz ownership could be comfortable overpaying Hayward regardless and none of this matters.

That was sort of a tangent, but it's kinda important to think about what they do with Hayward when talking about how good they can be this year. Trading him obviously impacts just what they can and can't do. If they keep this exact team in tact for the entire year, like I said, dark horse WCF contender. But I'm not sure they do. Then again, they may have no choice because if they are rolling, trading Hayward is going to be tough to do, particularly if you can't get back anything of good value for him due to his contract.

I am going to sit and think through just who out there might be willing to make a move for Hayward. Phoenix makes probably more sense than anyone. They want to split up Knight and Bledsoe. Both of those guys are on contracts with multiple years left. Utah could still use an upgrade at PG, particularly if Exum doesn't work out and with Hill on the last year of his deal. And, most importantly, we know Phoenix covets Hayward. They tried to sign him to an offer sheet before.

Or we could get crazy, ship him to Philadelphia for Noel, put Noel next to Gobert, turn around and ship Favors to Chicago for Jimmy Butler (Chicago would probably do this in a heart beat, btw). I could do this all night. I love talking hypothetical trades when it's about players I'm not attached to.

I read something towards the end of the season that the Warriors wanted nothing to do with the Jazz in the first round. They see the matchups too.

I gotta be honest, if they were more experienced, I'd want nothing to do with the Jazz in the Finals. There's nothing enjoyable about playing a team that is longer than you at just about every position. Every game becomes a grind fest. But, again, their problem isn't keeping the games close. It's gonna be winning them at the end with their best scorers being Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors. Durant and Curry and Thompson are going to make shots. Will those two?

 

[Kal]

The Jazz should win 52 games or more this season. It's a shame Exum got hurt and missed his entire second year. I was a big believer in him. If he's the player I think he is, and if he's healthy, they should be frightening. They've got best defensive team in the league type of potential. Favors and Gobert are the best defensive front court in the league. Burks is a pest on defense. George Hill is a really underrated defender too.

Winning less than 50 games would be a letdown. Hill, while not a great player, will give them way more out of the PG spot than they've been getting, even if Exum isn't healthy. If Exum is healthy and if he's as good as I think he can be....I think they might be a legit WCF contender.

That said, they've got a tough decision to make on Hayward. Good player, but he's opting out next summer. So do you pay him 25 million dollars? And if the answer is no, do you then have to trade him this season, even if you're in the middle of a good one? I don't even know how much trade value Hayward is going to have, considering he's got one season before he gets overpaid. This would be a fun topic on its own. What type of return could Utah get for Hayward? Is there a team that values him so much that they'd be willing to give up something of substance just to have his bird rights? This isn't Carmelo, or Dwight, or Kevin Love here. But, if there is a team out there who thinks he's worthy of the max, and sure as shit someone will offer it to him, then maybe they also think giving up assets is worth it to get his bird rights beforehand.

Rodney Hood having a standout rookie year helps. If he continues to improve and looks like he might be as good as Hayward, then Gordon will be dealt, unless.......

The Jazz ownership could be comfortable overpaying Hayward regardless and none of this matters.

That was sort of a tangent, but it's kinda important to think about what they do with Hayward when talking about how good they can be this year. Trading him obviously impacts just what they can and can't do. If they keep this exact team in tact for the entire year, like I said, dark horse WCF contender. But I'm not sure they do. Then again, they may have no choice because if they are rolling, trading Hayward is going to be tough to do, particularly if you can't get back anything of good value for him due to his contract.

I am going to sit and think through just who out there might be willing to make a move for Hayward. I think the old Wizards might be a prime target....



I gotta be honest, if they were more experienced, I'd want nothing to do with the Jazz in the Finals. There's nothing enjoyable about playing a team that is longer than you at just about every position. Every game becomes a grind fest. But, again, their problem isn't keeping the games close. It's gonna be winning them at the end with their best scorers being Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors. Durant and Curry and Thompson are going to make shots. Will those two?

Philly could be a team trading for Hayward as SF is one position of need for them and he would fit quite well with them. Philly have really interesting draft picks, cap space, some interesting young pieces. A package of Covington + Okafor + 2018 kings pick for Hayward + filler could be a nice trade scenario for both.

 

[Randolphkeys]

What the Jazz should be worried about is the Celtics declining a few rookies, sitting tight on Amir Johnson's 12 million dollar expiring contract, and offering Hayward a chance to play for Brad Stevens again.

 

[Kal]

What the Jazz should be worried about is the Celtics declining a few rookies, sitting tight on Amir Johnson's 12 million dollar expiring contract, and offering Hayward a chance to play for Brad Stevens again.

Actually they could do a straight trade this year for Hayward given they have Jaylen & Crowder...sorry I forgot Crowder is in a straight trade for Cousins.

 

[Gus Zing]

Is there any evidence DeMarcus Cousins plays bigger in big games? I think this summer he has a lot to prove in that regard. Hell, in college he got bounced in the Elite 8 with an NBA team around him playing against 20 year olds.

That was because his team shot 3 for 23 or something crazy like that from 3.