Situation to watch: Minnesota T'Wolves

[*L-Train*]

Bennett not showing any signs of future stardom (i partly blame Mike Brown for that) makes trading for an established star even tougher. you would think a number one pick (on his rookie contract) would be the centerpiece of such a trade...in a perfect world he's the Al Jefferson in the Kevin Garnett trade

 

[bigfoot5415]

Bennett not showing any signs of future stardom (i partly blame Mike Brown for that) makes trading for an established star even tougher. you would think a number one pick (on his rookie contract) would be the centerpiece of such a trade...in a perfect world he's the Al Jefferson in the Kevin Garnett trade

The issue with Bennett is being a 1st overall pick he has no value. If we trade him, he needs to go to a team that truly wants him (Toronto). They would then forward other assets to Minn.

My issue is that in this trade to acquire Love we would have to also move Tristan for two reasons (minutes & he does have some value). I want Love, but giving up those 2 + 2 1sts may be much. Why cant TT just grow 2 more inches and play C???

 

[Jack Brickman]

The issue with Bennett is being a 1st overall pick he has no value. If we trade him, he needs to go to a team that truly wants him (Toronto). They would then forward other assets to Minn.

My issue is that in this trade to acquire Love we would have to also move Tristan for two reasons (minutes & he does have some value). I want Love, but giving up those 2 + 2 1sts may be much. Why cant TT just grow 2 more inches and play C???

If all it takes to get Love is Bennett, Thompson, and two first-rounders (Memphis and one of ours, I assume), I do that deal every day of the week and twice Sunday. I'd laugh my way to the bank about the fact that they somehow let us keep Waiters, too.

 

[Triumph36]

Bennett not showing any signs of future stardom (i partly blame Mike Brown for that) makes trading for an established star even tougher. you would think a number one pick (on his rookie contract) would be the centerpiece of such a trade...in a perfect world he's the Al Jefferson in the Kevin Garnett trade

come on, the cavs are gonna make the PLAYOFFS dude. letting bennett play and work through his mistakes is a worthwhile sacrifice!!

(but on a serious note, had he been playing well he still wouldn't be the "centerpiece" per se; it's still be him + waiters + 1sts).

The issue with Bennett is being a 1st overall pick he has no value. If we trade him, he needs to go to a team that truly wants him (Toronto). They would then forward other assets to Minn.

My issue is that in this trade to acquire Love we would have to also move Tristan for two reasons (minutes & he does have some value). I want Love, but giving up those 2 + 2 1sts may be much. Why cant TT just grow 2 more inches and play C???

......

what?

 

[EdMonix11]

T-Wolves lost to Sacramento tonight.....

 

[TyGuy]

T-Wolves lost to Sacramento tonight.....

The cavs lost to Sacramento by 44 the other day. The Kings, although very inconsistent, can be a very dangerous team when they are firing on all cylinders.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

[3 Da Hard Way]

Rubio: "I'm going to be honest. I'm not feeling comfortable out there."
— Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) January 17, 2014

Rubio: "I'm not being myself and the team is noticing. I just have to be back where I was, be myself. I'm working on that."
— Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) January 17, 2014

Rubio: "It's basketball. I love it. But I'm just not having as much fun as it used to be."
— Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) January 17, 2014

.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Look I know I have been ranting a lot lately, but have patience I'm just trying to process all of this and determine if we really have a plan or not.

I think the Cavaliers will have to debate if it's worth giving up all of the talent we've accumulated for that 1 year window of trying to convince Love that he needs to play with another young star player.

Like convincing Deng, but on a much larger scale. I say fuck it. Our talent doesn't fit anyways. If Kyrie signs the extension, we'll have him locked up.

If the Cavaliers are seriously going to pursue LeBron, doing something extremely ballsy like that would definitely get his attention. That would be so anti-Cleveland to push our chips all in and take the risk of acquiring one the best up and coming 25 yr old big-men in the game, if even for just one half of a season.

Go into the summer having used all of our mis-fit parts and future draft picks to acquire Kevin Love's bird rights. Kyrie Irving in years 4-5-6 paired with Kevin Love who is peaking now, paired with LeBron James who is at the height of the game..... You don't think that looks better for James future than staying in Miami? A dude that gets Barkley- like numbers on a consistent basis. Pair that up with an offensively gifted point guard, both Love and Irving can shoot the fuckin lights out.....

That's the only way we'llave a Prayer to get LeBron, is if the stars align this season, the Clippers end up sticking with Griffin for continuity sake, Minnesota comes apart at the seems and takes the best offer now, rather than wait until next year where teams will low-ball them because everyone will know that Love wants out.

Rch, I don't think LeBron wants to play for any more than 2 franchises. It just looks weird if you had to whore your way around the league to chase titles. If he came back to Cleveland that wouldn't be the case at all from a PR standpoint. If he rigs his way to Los Angeles play with Paul, that just looks bad again. They'd be throwing Griffin under the bus, and it would seem very premeditated again. He rigged the league once, if he came back to Cleveland there would be no such hate or criticism thrown his way. Cleveland's situation is setting itself up more organically, he'd receive no ridicule at all if he came back to Cleveland. You have to think he'll feel that in his gut when he's considering his next decision, he'll be remembering the hate he received the first time he switched teams, he doesn't want to do that all over again. Going back to Cleveland wouldn't be anything like that. Dude genuinely cares about what people will say about him when it's all said and done, he's vain and narcissistic like that.

If it all blows up in our face it's better to be tanking than to become the Atlanta Hawks, or the Denver Nuggets. You would lose your franchise player anyways, if you're not going to be a serious contender, then be the worst and try again, try to get an Anthony Davis like big-man next time around.

I just don't want to waste 7 more years of my life, we have to be honest with ourselves. The only way we're ever going to contend for a title is if we get fucking ballsy. All of the best franchises have done it, Cleveland never does anything risky where it could completely blow up in our face, or you could become the next Miami Heat. Mediocrity just doesn't cut it. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to rig the league in our own way, with the structure of the CBA, with the timing of our rebuild, with James free agency, with a star player already drafted, and an all-star acquired via trade for all your tanking accumulated talent, with all our available cap flexibility we've saved for.

 

[Rich]

I just....I cant believe we are sitting at 15-25 and talking about LeBron James. Guys can talk about CBA and this and that all you want, he's not going to a bad team, especially THIS team. Whatever the plan is, it has to assume LeBron James is going elsewhere.

 

[CleveRocks]

I just....I cant believe we are sitting at 15-25 and talking about LeBron James. Guys can talk about CBA and this and that all you want, he's not going to a bad team, especially THIS team. Whatever the plan is, it has to assume LeBron James is going elsewhere.

He will go to a bad team with money,cap space, and a stellar tv market, and it will become a good team...

 

[Soar]

I just....I cant believe we are sitting at 15-25 and talking about LeBron James. Guys can talk about CBA and this and that all you want, he's not going to a bad team, especially THIS team. Whatever the plan is, it has to assume LeBron James is going elsewhere.

I don't want to derail discussion of the T-Wolves but I really don't agree. Do you think we'd be 15-25 right now if we had Deng in October? I don't. What if we add another good piece before the deadline. Lebron can walk onto any roster in the league and make them a playoff team. And Deng, Irving is a good place to start. And I do think we have a backup plan. You think Gilbert is going to put all his eggs in the Lebron basket again? I don't.

As for the Wolves, we really need Love to demand a trade and push to leave. That is the only way. Hard to see Minny trade him at the deadline.

 

[theSTEREO.]

He will go to a bad team with money,cap space, and a stellar tv market, and it will become a good team...

I appreciate and agree with your point, but the TV market discussion is from the 90's. Market size is irrelevant in the modern NBA. Especially for players like Love and Lebron.

Winning is what matters, and whatever team Lebron is on (with a player like Love, Irving, Paul, etc) will get maximum exposure. The faces of the league outside of Lakers and the Clips include teams like Portland, Indiana, San Antonio, Miami and Oklahoma City. It's not hurting the earning power of Lebron, George, Aldridge, Lillard, Durant, Westbrook, etc. Not one of those players becomes "more popular or successful" moving to New York or Boston or LA, other than that what comes from their new teammates and record.

 

[Norm]

I didn't want to start a new thread for this idea as it's based mostly on what's already been posted. I don't know if it's a good trade as I'm not good at them. I just wanted to have fun with the trade machine, but I will provide my reasoning behind it if it'll help make any sense. Picks will have to be included so factor in whatever needs to happen.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=m442x75

Cavs:

In: Love, Martin
Out: Clark, Thompson, Waiters, Gee, Miles, picks (I'd say at least top 5 protected being it's most likely multiple picks plus DW and TT are all still within their 3rd and productive)

Wolves:

In: Waiters, Thompson, Clark, Gee, Miles
Out: Love, Martin

Why would Wolves do it:

As previously stated earlier in thread, Love in unhappy in Minny. They aren't going anywhere with him and they are gonna have to figure out what to do cap wise sooner, rather than later. Martin is an effective spot-up shooter, but I included him to make room for Dion, whom I think would fit them well. Thompson would be a so-so PF to try and patch the void from Love, he still has upside but I think it's time he moves on from us. Miles would help give them some bench production plus he's an expiring. Gee and Clark are strictly expirings to them. The picks they gain will help greatly. The move would save them 14 mil in cap after the season just from the players in this trade, giving them about 6-7 mil under cap pending other roster moves

Why we do it:

I know "cap" is a big issue, I'm basing this off of, AV's contract isn't fully guaranteed (?) and we could move Jack to clear his cap space, freeing up money to re-sign Deng or go after another "big time" FA this offseason. Anyway. Martin is a spot up shooter, doesn't command the ball, would think he would fit in well next to a ball dominate PG like KI, his defense isn't great, but neither is what we have now. Love, wow, that would be a coup. Having a stretch 4 to spread the lane with KI, Martin, Deng while AV roams around the rim, gushing right now. We'd be able to push for the playoffs this season. Immediate impact is hoping to impress pending FAs to want to sign here to play with KI and Love.

Lineup:

KI - Jack - Delly
Martin - Karasev - Felix - Delly
Deng - Karasev - Felix
Love - Bennett
AV - Zeller - Sims

I know it's far-fetched. But, Damn that starting unit would be sweet, bench would suck, it does now anyways................

 

[STAT]

Even though a lot of the speculation about Love leaving after 2015 is likely hot air from the national media it really got me thinking about acquiring Love again. Though Love probably doesn't get moved at the deadline, it's still fun to think about what it might take. This is the starting point for what I was thinking:

Tristan, Dion, Earl Clark, CLE 2014 #1 (Top 3 protected), CLE 2015 # 1 (Top 3 protected), CLE 2014 #2, MEM 2014 #2,

for

Kevin Love.

Let's do it. It's a solid haul for Minnesota (2 young assets, 2 #1s, and 2 #2s), but something I'd be able to stomach for us. It lets them tank while building up some assets. Before anyone says it, we can trade both our 2014 and 2015 #1s because we own Miami's 2015 #1 (right?).

Really, this post is less about this actual trade idea and more about re-igniting some conversation about what sort of offer sounds somewhat realistic for Kevin Love.

 

[AllforOne]

Let's do it. It's a solid haul for Minnesota (2 young assets, 2 #1s, and 2 #2s), but something I'd be able to stomach for us. It lets them tank while building up some assets. Before anyone says it, we can trade both our 2014 and 2015 #1s because we own Miami's 2015 #1 (right?)

Wrong, actually.

The Stepien Rule says that a team cannot trade away #1 picks in two consecutive future drafts. It cannot leave itself in a position where it is without a #1 pick in consecutive drafts.

Your suggested trade could lead to a violation of that rule, and thus would not be allowed. Yes, the Cavs potentially have two other #1 picks in 2015 -- Memphis's and Miami's -- but both of those picks have protections (the Memphis pick is 1-5 and 16-30 protected; the Miami pick is top 10 protected). However unlikely it may seem, the Cavs could be in a position without a #1 pick. So the trade would not be permitted.

If the trade were re-worked (say, to include the future Memphis pick instead of the Cavs' own 2015 pick) ... I dunno. If I'm the Cavs, I'd do it ... but I'm not sure I want to upset the applecart now that the team is finally winning. Dion is looking like a keeper. (Don't forget that Griffin just publicly assured him that he wasn't going anywhere. Turning around and trading him a week later sends the wrong message to everybody left in that locker room.) It also means more trades, because the Cavs would have a logjam at PF (Love, Thompson, AB). And if I'm Minny, I need more than a promising but inconsistent SG (Clark doesn't count; he's awful) and two picks (one a likely 10-16 pick in this draft, the other protected from being a high lotto pick until 2019) to trade my star.