as for other Rockets returning back, the suspects will be Patterson with Vazquez or Jordan Hill or Dragic with Plumlee
Given the Josh Smith hint, I'm surprised no one has talked about Kevin Love yet given his connections with McHale. I know the Cavs are turning things around, but Love is still pretty much relegated to role player status.
Bill Simmons certainly watches more Cavs games than i do, but i was a bit surprised to read that Lebron is showing visible disgust towards Love
Avery Bradley would be an absolutely perfect fit. A legitimate lock down defender but also pressures in a similar way to Patbev but "gambles" less. Currently we have two guys that commits very hard on the passing lanes in Ariza and Patbev which forces defensive rotations. What I love about Avery Bradley is he minimizes the trajectory passing window prior to the pass. He's like a guard version of Kawhi Leonard. Outside shooting form is much more consistent than PatBev's, especially on the corner 3's which we love to pass to. 24 years old, 4 year $32 mil contract, highly touted and rated high school prospect is just barely scratching the surface. What's not to love? Regarding the need of a ball handler...we really need to have the offense revolve around Dmo with harden out, an inside out game with cuts to utilize Dmo's underappreciated passing out of the post.
Wow, I literally thought it would have to be impossible to somehow increase the number of turnovers this teams gets but you found a way to move the needle significantly. Congratulations.
how is avery the additional play maker? the guy averages less than 2 assists a game. I understand what you said about dmo. But even if thats the plan. The additional ball handler is necessary when a play breaks down that he can create for himself and others.
where did you read this??? That is crazy. If he cant succeed with lebron....then who? Howard for Love and Mozgov? lol Anyone...ehh anyone?
Can you post where you read this? Thanks. Love isn't playing in the right system. He needs the fast break and some playmaking duties on offense to be effective. Cleveland is ranked #17 in the league in fast break points, and Love's assists numbers have been cut in half from last year. He has become a glorified spot up shooter, which is fine if you play great defense. I keep saying that IF he is available, now is the time to buy low. Something like Beverley, DMo, NOP 1st, and salary filler for Love.
I'm of the opinion that a "play-maker" is less necessary than a consistent and fluid (ball-moving) offense. The 2 championships the Rockets won didn't have many play-makers that I can recall besides Clyde, and that was the second year. We had a "play-maker" in Lin and we saw how that fit worked with Harden. A lot of ball watching and not knowing when you're going to get the ball and shoot or left on an island to create with a little time left. Gogi is supreme to Lin and Ginobili'esque, and even Pop had to separate Manu and Tony, with a "3&D" guy in Danny Green. But we do need a "play-maker" when Harden is out. I believe it could & should be Dmo. We could split the price we would have to pay to keep Gogi and get a good starter quality off-ball guard in Bradley and a scorer/play-maker off the bench. There are plenty of ill-fitting combo guards out there that could fit that role for much cheaper.
Sounds like from what we have been hearing, he's looking to opt in and cash in when the CBA takes a huge jump after next year. Could just be that he's telling Cleveland "Don't Trade me to the Lakers", but I doubt it. If that's the case, Cleveland will definitely hold onto him until next season. His trade value wont really change from now until Feb of 2016. Spoiler Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers have gotten off to a mediocre 19-19 start, power forward Kevin Love told Northeast Ohio Media Group on Tuesday that he plans to forgo free agency this summer and opt in with the Cavaliers for the 2015-16 season. "I think that we will figure it out here, so I don't plan on opting out or any of that," Love told NEOMG. "I plan on being here. As far as leaving my options open, I mean sure, it's always there. At the end of the day, it's always good to have something but no, I plan on being here." By picking up his $16.7 million player option for 2015-16, Love, 26, would stay with the Cavs until at least the summer of 2016. That would allow him to sign a new contract just in time to tap into the expected spike in television revenue before the 2016-17 season. Cleveland Plain Dealer - See more at: http://hoopshype.com/rumors/tag/kevin_love#sthash.4BeRxwPN.dpuf Lebron structured his contract with 2016 free agency in mind. Wont be shocked if Tristan Thompson (same agent as Lebron) picks up his QO as well to hit FA in 2016. Lebrons's camp is obviously planning on putting all of their players in that year when the new CBA takes a giant leap. If the Players Union decides to allow cap smoothing, maybe they opt out early, but I doubt that's going to happen based on Michelle Roberts' comments a couple months ago. Point being... I'm not so sure about Kevin Love going anywhere until 2016/17 and its more of a CBA thing than anything. Then you add in now that Cleveland is starting to get going, there is little reason I see Kevin Love wanting to get moved or the Cavs feeling like they need to move him. Kevin Love knows he needs to win in the playoffs, and he's not going to help his career by going to a tanking Lakers team in free agency next year to play alongside Mr. 30 shots a night Kobe Bryant and Nick Young.
This is all based on the assumption that Bradley is available which IMO is not. They just paid him long term to an extremely good contract, he fits the Celtics M.O. and the Celtics now have a good young core going forward in Sully, Bradley, Smart, and Turner. They probably want a young defensive Center anyways which we don't have...anymore.
I think any Love conversation starts with Ariza and the NOP 1st. They need to move LeBron to power forward because that is where he thrives. DMO, Ariza, NOP, Shved for Love + fillers may work for both sides.
