I don't think he necessarily wants to be "THE MAN"... I think even he could accept 3rd star status... IF he felt good about how he was providing that role. The problem is he's Kyrie Irving in a PF's body, in a guard's league. Their roles are duplicative. So he can't even really provide the third star value that he should. In Houston, for example, he'd be the third star, but it'd be a better mesh, imo. With Bosh in MIAMI, for example, at least both Lebron and Wade were willing playmakers and passers. Kyrie isn't that. He's a great scorer. Really great. But not a good distributor. Even Lebron had major problems with that aspect of Kyrie's game.
and In hOUston there is Dwight already asking for more post touches and complaining. Why leave a better situation( since you have an easy regular season against lesser teams, and a easy way to the finals) to go to a team with the risk again to be where you started? If he leaves Cleaveland it is clear his number one goal is NOT to win. And if it's not to win then there are more teams in big markets waiting for him with open arms to offer him the keys to their franchise.
His goal might be to: (1) Win (2) Be appreciated, and be able to contribute in a way that he is appreciated (3) Make a lot of money Cleveland appears to offer 1 and 3. They did not offer #2. He was most appreciated during the second round against the Bulls when that series was still close and people were saying "ugh, too bad we don't have Love". the rest of the time he was kind of hated on. he doesn't get along well with Lebron. Lebron appears to prefer a Tristan Tompson type bruiser as a 4. In a place like LA, he would get 2 and 3, no doubt. Plus he'd get to play at home. The direct comparison with Blake on a nightly basis would be interesting. he would DEFINITELY get crapped on for not being a "winner". In Houston, he gets 1 and 3, and the opportunity to get 2. If he "underperforms" in Houston as he did in Cleveland, he might be treated similarly, though I doubt it. we've suffered with Smith and TJones for months now... Beyond which, he'd be the clear #2 offensive option. Dwight can want as many post touches as he wants, but even Dwight understands priority. He "demanded" offensive post touches to the extent he did this year because let's face it, did it really matter who else was the offensive driver when Harden was sitting. They all sucked. But when Dwight and DMo played together, DMo still got touches. And Dwight was happy to defer to Smith and Brewer and company in the 4th quarter of Game 6 versus the Clippers. Dwight's offensive game really annoys me, but I feel pretty good about his desire to win. I think Dwight is fine doing 17 and 14 in the playoffs with limited post-up touches, if it gets him a ring. I think it'd be hard to fault Love for leaving Cleveland if he went to the Rockets. Say the Cavs win without him. His story is obvious - I don't fit well there, they didn't need me, I still want to win and am going to a team on the cusp of doing that where I am seemingly a better fit. Say the Cavs lose in the Finals, he can still say the team seemed to perform really well without him, the leader seems to prefer more of a bruiser 4 man, and he still wants to win, but just wants to do it where he's a better fit. His leaving gives the Cavs more flexibility to pursue better fits. I'm not saying all your points are crazy. Especially if the Cavs lose, I can see the desire to stay to be even stronger. If the Cavs lose, one woudl expect Draymond to have his typical really really solid series, outplaying the Cavs bigs. Meaning the media chatter should be about how Love could have made a difference. Love comes back, actually DOES make a difference, the Cavs then win it all next year, Love is a free agent in a year the cap explodes. If the Cavs win, I have no clue why Love would stay.
In Cavs he gets 1+3. In Lakers he only gets 2+ 3. Because of endorsements in Hollywood. He also gets the promise for 1. Which for use is ridiculous but the Lakers are the Lakers. You know they won't rebuild like normal teams, they will go straight for star FA in the next two offseasons and chances are they will get some. In Houston he gets a 1? (because it's the west only that) and a risky 2. A risky because when after you go to a team with alrady two other superstars you don't know how you will mesh with. Esp after his previous exp. He doesn't get the 3. Less money than the Cavs can offer, and no Hollywood endorsments. So Cavs : 1+3 Lakers :2+ 3 + a future 1 Houston : 1 + ???2
Point of order your Honor: Love grew up and went to HS in the Portland area. He spent one year in college at UCLA. LA is not his hometown.
He doesn't make meaningfully less in Houston. he could sign a max deal with a player opt out after year one (I think that's possible... it's what Lebron did), and re-sign a max deal the next offseason... and oh, btw, unless he miraculously starts to fit a LOT better next season, why would Cleveland want to give him that super max? they have to manage their resource allocation as well, and one would suspect Lebron would also want to get paid more, and Kyrie has a pay bump upcoming. Plus Houston is in Texas, which has no property taxes. Plus, even in LA, he doesn't strike me as an obvious huge endorsement kind of guy. I just can't see him in the Kia commercials, or the insurance commercials. So in Cleveland, he risks not getting as much, because he doesn't fit, while still being crapped on, while not having a good personal situation (Cleveland, doesn't mesh with Lebron). I agree that he might just take the chance on LA getting back to being a championship team. Maybe he talks to Westbrook, and figures he goes, Randle gets healthy, Westbrook joins later, and their pick this year turns out great. But he would get mocked for leaving the "winning" situation. Who knows... it's a crapshoot.
Cavs have his bird rights. They can pay him more, more years and with higher raises than every single other team. La has the extra curriculum endorsement things going for it, that Houston can't compete with. And you can bet that if Okafor who hasn't even been drafted yet gets a commercial so will Love. Lots of them. If the Cavs won't even sign him if he opts in/out, the max ,then it's obvious they don't want him enough and he will leave. But their owner is determined to empty his wallet and pay tons of money to everyone. That's why monetary wise Houston (and any other team besides Knicks) are at a disadvantage against both the Cavs and the Lakers.
From the knowledge that is availabe to us I think Love is a pipedream- feasible capwise but still a pipedream. I would put the chances of getting Aldridge a little better, but still very low. For him too, it doesn't make sense why leave Portland , if he can't co-exist with Lillard, and come to Houston to co-exist with another ball dominant guard in Harden, AND a center who asks for touches something Rolo didin't. But cyber said there is chance, so he knows much more than we do.
There will be very few players sign 5-year max contracts this summer. They're leaving too much money on the table if they do.
In all honesty, if he came here and was relegated to being a spot up shooter and not also the primary post up option (he is an absolutely elite post up player), this franchise has bigger problems than i thought.
Ilyasova's career arc reminds me of Casspi. Good player, in fits and starts. Just can't seem to sustain anything. For Rox, supposedly a long time want (as was Casspi), where/how is he an upgrade? Milwaukee is still Milwaukee and short of a Lebronesque occurrence is just not on NBA players' destination wish. Some teams just flat out are destinations; some are not. IMO those are the franchises that need to think Internationals. For example, I suspect that Llull to Toronto is an existent possibility.
Would have said something similar about Dragic a year ago. We all thought that would be a perfect fit as well. However we saw first hand the business side that comes into play with guys like Love and Dragic. Players on that level view the Harden situation as a potential negative to their own ambitions. And that isn't a knock on Harden mind you. That's pretty much a complement. Like Lebron he's dominant enough to have an entire offense revolved around him. Kevin Love might very well want to avoid that like Dragic did in order to go somewhere in a large market where he can be The Man. I just want folks to be ready for it when/if it happens and not take it personally and think the league hates Harden and that Houston is the scum of the earth that nobody wants to go to.
The issue in Cleveland for Love wasn't Lebron, it was Kyrie, he never expected to be relegated to the #3, the issue ion Houston wouldn't be Harden, it'd be Dwight, and his ****ty post ups.
That perception may be true, but against the Warriors, at times I felt like a Howard post up was the best offense given we have no playmakers outside of harden. I don't think if we got a love or Aldridge that Howard would be getting more touches in the post than either player. Hopefully they see that.
We don't even need Love or Aldridge. Just getting D-Mo back would eliminate the need for Dwight's postups.
It has little to do with whether he can co-exist with Lillard. If Aldridge leaves, it would be because the Portland team as a whole simply isn't good enough to win a title and doesn't have the cap flexibility or trade assets to get there. The supporting cast Aldridge would have around him in Houston, led by two stars, is simply more talented than the one he has in Portland.
Indirectly yes it was Lebron. The offense that Blatt was trying to install would have allowed for much more equal opportunity, but that's just not the offense that Lebron was comfortable with. Now they run pretty much high P&R exclusively, and although it looks very much like pickup bball at times, its probably the most effective to utilize Lebron in his prime, and it allows for Kyrie to display his creativity in attacking the basket as well. If you are Kevin Love's manager/agent look at the situation in Houston. How is their play-calling going to allow for equal opportunity in play calling? How do we know McHale (X's and O's genius that he is.... sarcasm of course), is going to draw up complex offensive sets that will allow for equal touches with a ball-dominant (complement in this case) superstar like James Harden? I'm just speaking as if I was representing Kevin Love's interests both on the court and off. I want him to have an offense where he is the primary go-to option, and not just playing off the ball at the mercy of another superstar passing me the ball in my spots. I'm also looking to be the face of the franchise in a large market. Lastly (and most importantly) I NEED that max contract. Again, if I'm representing Love, I suggest him top choice be the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls (S&T), Lakers, and lastly the Knicks. A few dark horse teams might actually be the Orlando Magic or the Phoenix Suns. Its not what Rockets fans want to hear I know, but I'm just being realistic from looking at it from Kevin Love's perspective. If the option is jump to Houston, or stay in order to compete as the 3rd wheel, I choose to stay in Cleveland. .............. LaMarcus Aldridge however... that's a much more viable option. In a different place in his career, and the guy only has a few more years left to win. He's also someone that would probably prefer playing off of a pass-first play-maker Lebron type. He's only really an Iso player on the low block. Getting to play off of Harden makes much more sense for a player like that at that point in his career.
The fantasy thread continues. Long live Cybersex! Anybody know where I can get a Skittle pooping Unicorn?
