Yeah, that's the type of deal I could see the Cavs looking at. They have to build their roster to combat GSW. They will own the East, but they have to get past GSW and getting a combo forward that can play defense like Crowder would help. And then if they can use the draft pick to find another scorer that would help. If I was Cleveland I would see if I could nab a couple of Boston's 2nd round picks and maybe another 1st round pick next year (if Boston has multiples). Just a few more liquid assets in the Cavs coffers to facilitate making other moves.
Nah, for once they've been smart. If they make Love available they can at least have back Crowder/Bradley and a pick from Ainge or Tucker, Chandler and a couple of picks from the Suns. Why should they trade him for Dwight which is a dead weight at this point?
Yeah, Celtics and Suns would be front runners for Love, sure. Lakers and Sixers don't have the assets to tempt the Cavs.
Lots of players have played on awful teams. Very few have averaged 26, 12.5, with 4.4 apg. That's Barkley level on his bad Sixers teams. Love averaged almost 22, 13 and 3 from 2010 to 2014. It's no wonder though, that he is now a bum all of a sudden that he plays with LeBron James. We saw it happen to Bosh and Wade, now it's happened to Love and soon Kyrie is also just magically going to become no better than a backup point guard. LeBron makes his teammates great! Just like Magic, right guys? I recall 1 player he made better than he really was. Mo Williams...and Mo proved to be a nice player himself and blew up for 55 points without LeBron. There is no one else LeBron has made better, but so many examples of players becoming statistically and eye test worse when they play with LeBron. I'd take Love on the Rockets in a heartbeat for a D'Antoni coached team. I will say though, that if Silver removes HACK-A-FOULS, Dwight's value goes much higher than he has been as a Rocket and we might need to keep him.
Well, Love and Irving never made the playoff when they were leading their teams. Love had a decent to good team and never made the playoffs, Irving had a decent team two years ago in a terrible east and they ended the season in top ten lottery...you just cannot compare them with Wade and Bosh.
But the comparison isn't in how good they are (though i fully believe Love is better than Bosh). It's about how no matter how good these players are, LeBron fans and the media find a way to make them completely irrelevant bums as soon as they start playing with LeBron and they cry out that LeBron needs more help. Jordan did his stat padding, carrying a team because he had to thing. Then came Phil Jackson and a real system that would take away from his stat padding, but MJ accepted it and trusted his teammates. LeBron doesn't want that. He won't sacrifice stats for the betterment of the team. It has to be done by him carrying the team on his back. Getting to the Finals every year by beating up on cupcake teams in the East is hurting LeBron. He's not doing anything to develop his game. He's the same player he was at 23 years old, only a step slower and maybe 4 inches less on his vertical. I think he is perfectly happy as long as his team is good enough to get the Finals every year and hope one year there are injuries to the opponent and he can get Cleveland that championship. That's all that matters to him. His stats and that 1 Cleveland championship to ensure his legacy. He might go back to Miami to retire at that point.
Yeah, i understand what you're saying but i'm not sure i can agree, in the end i don't think they are bums, just not good/ready to this level...i don't think Lebron is not accepting or trusting them, hell, he trusted Mo Williams, Big Z...it's not his fault if Irving and Love can't guard anyone to save their lives or if they are (in Irving's case) heavy iso players like Lebron but just worse than him...a lot of people don't want to hear this, but they just don't mesh well together...they still go to the finals cause the east sucks and cause they are by far the most talented team in their conference, but they just don't play as well as the Warriors and the Spurs. Personally i think Love fits with Lebron more than Irving, but if he gets abused every game on defense and he can't play in a small ball lineup it's a big problem, and that's on him, you can trust him or not, but in the end these are two huge weaknesses for them right now.
Well, Ariza/Dwight is a more compelling package than Tucker/Chandler/pick. I understand what people are saying regarding Boston... but really question Love's value today. It's a bit of a catch-22 for me, personally, because I'd trade for him if the Cavs wanted say Ariza/Capela... but I also question his impact at this point. It's hard to see Ainge sending any really solid value now for a Kevin Love. Like the 2017 right to swap with the Nets. One can only predict the Nets will again be horrible next year. And its an unprotected right, correct? So the Celtics can maybe give up another top 3 pick, plus a player, for Love??? It's possible, especially if you consider what he offered for the right to draft Justice Winslow last year, but I also kind of think Ainge had a desperate moment there which he realizes in retrospect, and will perhaps be a little more protective of that asset now.
Not sure, for me at least, Tucker and Ariza are really similar for role, age, salary and ability, Chandler and Howard less, Dwight obviously has still the edge here, on paper...but how much? And you think he would be that much better than Tyson to justify the salary he demands and the way he wants to play? To me nope. Lebron doesn't want a big presence clogging the paint, and he doesn't even like Dwight btw... On Love i'm not sure about his value too, but i think Ainge would still like to trade for him as soon as possible, they don't have a good history in free agency, and they need to spend their assets...also, they lack talent, especially in the front court so yeah, i think Ainge is willing to send good value for Love, and it's not like he has amazing value btw, the 3rd pick is probably his best asset as today, and it's not that great honestly...Crowder, Bradely are solid young role players with good contracts but nothing more, they have not all star potential, not even close. And yep, i think the swap has no protection.
If the Cavs swap Irving for CP3 and Love for Carmelo... Does that make them a threat for the crown or nah?
Today's NBA in general and the Dubs in particular, have shown that the game has changed. As a Rocket fan, we want fluidity in all five positions, where all players can easily move around, shoot and defend. Guys like Love and Ariza, with their stiff hips, are much less valuable when facing continuous motion on either side of the court. I say this with some grimace as I am a huge Ariza fan. It is no wonder the Dubs are nearly unstoppable with their small lineup. For us, Jones would have been such a player had he continue to develop from his rookie year. Instead, for whatever reasons, he has regressed.
Ariza would probably look pretty good as a Warriors' reserve. His defense has declined a bit, but he has the size and instincts to be a part of their switch-everything system and he still shot 37% from three-point range this season.
