As much as I despise Dwight on offense it's still a big no for me. Dwight's defense is so underrated and while Dmo has improved quite a bit on that end he still doesn't have the effect Howard does on defense.
A front court of Dmo and Love might as well be a walk to the rim. Dmo is not a center. He may play some center but it's not wise to do it.
I this context I think you keep Dwight since it's easier for improve this team offensively than it is to find defensive paint protectors. This is assuming Dwight plays inspired defense and is uninjured.....as well that he limits his offensive postups since those are a liability on the offensive end. The age/window for dwight and his health is a concern for me though. It's the only reason I would pause to think about such a trade.
What happened to no more tinkering with the core? And say bye to our top 5 defense. Big downgrades in D at the 4 and 5
I wouldn't. Love is a 4. We have a 4 already in D-Mo. We have several 4's actually with Smith off the bench and T-Jones on track to return in the near future. Now if you told me the long-term plan was to deal Dwight along with other players on this team(not sure who, but let's just play along here) and eventually have Love at the 4 and some other new acquisition at the 5, I'll entertain the idea. I'm still not sold on Love though. This is a guy who never once took Minnesota to the playoffs and would be on track for another lotto season right now were he not in the pathetic Eastern Conference. My preference is to keep D-Mo and see how Dwight does over the next year before deciding on his long-term future with the Rockets. As of right now though, I'm very concerned about giving him a 5-year, 100+ mil extension that would keep in him with the team through his mid-30's.
No. Absolutely not, we'd be horrible at defending the rim and Trevor/Brewer/Harden gambling in the passing lanes would lead to us getting burned constantly for lay-ups. Love's a really good player but with no defensive anchor next to him you're going to have a bad defense.
Maybe if this was the off season and you had time to find other players such as other bigs but this is almost the middle of the season. I don't think this is a move that should be done at this point. And I would definitely rather have Dwight as center than Dmo.
Seriously though... You know what trade actually makes the most sense for everyone (Lebron the GM, Cleveland, Miami, Bosh (if he actually likes to win at basketball games))?? Love (& Haywood for filler) for Bosh -Cleveland is a much more well rounded 2-way team with a Bosh/Moz front line, and those 2 bigs do NOT need the touches that Love needs to be effective. -Miami gets to test run a younger star they could potentially bring back, and rebuild around next year. Heck, they might still make the playoffs, and with Love as your primary offensive weapon maybe the team takes off. Deal works out great for everyone. Not sure why Cleveland would trade Love to Houston when they are obviously desperate to win now. They aren't getting Harden or Howard for him so there is not point. Howard isn't going anywhere.
I want Howard in the short-term and Love for the long-term. This could be visited in the off-season if both the Cavs and Rockets fall short of expectations. Love still has potential to grow into while Dwight is on the downslope of his career. If James Harden is the future of the NBA, then Love is a much better fit with him over the next 5 years than Dwight (who for some reason isn't utilized with Harden to be the most dominant pick and roll option since Stockton/Malone). The Rockets could always find a way to bring back the Turkish Hammer if they made this move.
^This Harden needs help scoring. Dwight can't do it and I the Dmo + Smith is sufficient. If Dwight would just stop posting up and improve his free throws a little I would be back onboard though.
Would Cleveland do this trade? Yes. Hell yes. In a heartbeat. Should the Rockets do this trade? No. Hell no. No no no. D-Mo has improved a ton this season. He is a good defender. He is not a rim protector. He is not a shot blocker. He doesn't force penetrating guards to alter their shots. If this was last season, and we had a sulking Omer Asik on the bench longing to start, I could at least understand the argument. But this year, we need the size, shotblocking, post defense and rebound of Dwight.
IF we had Asik still then yes I'd consider it. A rotation of Asik/DMo/Love would provide enough defense (Asik & Dmo) and rebounding (Asik & Love) to negate what we lose from trading Dwight. But with our current roster makeup I wouldn't do it.
Well you should be worry that Love put up empty stats. He sure didn't help Minnesota while he was there and he sure isn't helping Cleveland much. In fact, go visit their forums. Many of their fans are wondering if they could have kept Wiggins...
The mental midget "trade Dwight for anything!" crowd needs to pipe down. I don't like Dwight's play as of late at all. But it would take a lot more than Kevin Love to want to trade Dwight. Also, D-Mo is not a center...yet. Kevin Love is not fair value for Dwight. LOL. Kevin Love might be one of the most overrated players in the NBA right along with Kyrie Irving.
