Nobody (unless Cleveland pony's up and offers the #1 pick this year) has both the trade assets and the franchise legacy to take a gamble on trading for Kevin Love before the trade deadline and keeping him long term. Their trade assets are second to none- Draft picks- 2014 - 1st round draft picks - Their own #6 & #17 2015- 1st round draft picks - Their own, Philly pick (lottery protected), Clippers 1st (unprotected) 2016- 1st rounders- Brooklyn's (unprotected), their own 2017- 1st rounders- Their own, Brooklyn's pick swap 2018 - 1st rounders - their own, Brooklyn's 1st rounder (unprotected) -Keep in mind they cannot trade THEIR pick 2 years in a row Young players- -Sullinger, Green, Olynk, Faverani Short term contracts-(12mil expiring next year) -Green (2 years), Bass (expiring), Anthony, Faverani Its hard to see Boston NOT being the front runner for Love, and as long as they are keeping Rondo I really dont see any reason why Love wouldn't want to go to Boston. Huge market, another all-star player, all-star PG, ability to make him the star, competent ownership, mgmt, coach, and ability to still trade for another star, or add another one in free agency the year after. What else would you want really if you are Love?
If the NBA wants some kind of balance with each conference in competition then this may be the way to do it...There is a abundance of quality players and teams in the West that could migrate East and make that conference relevant again. If this is in the plans, as some posters have said, who knows what other big name may move East. From a basketball and business standpoint I dont object and would like and look forward to better play from the Eastern Conf. Plus better for the Rockets!! Love ,Boston bound! Rockets have no chance...
They have the picks but that doesn't mean they can trade all of them. See the list I have above (that doesn't include 2nd rounders). Obviously you can't trade 1st rounders in consecutive years so you kinda have to pick and choose what you want your trade package to be. I think there is more than enough there to blow any other offer off the table even without being able to offer more than 3 of their own.
Time to back away from the computer and get perspective. The situation in Boston is not as good as Houston if the concern is winning. If Love wants to go to Boston because he wants to be the cornerstone, or because of tradition... that is fine... but to say that a team like Boston gives Love a better chance to win than the Rockets is just not reasonable. Hell, they don't know if Rondo is even going to be what he used to be, he was terrible last year coming off an injury.
Not if "any other offer" includes an actual proven top player (Harden) or an up and comer who already proved himself capable (Beal, Klay Thompson) and has further room to improve. This isn't to say that any team will actually offer one of those, but if someone is willing to do it, Minnesota may well prefer that to more picks. Picks are nice and all, but Minnesota, out of all teams, know very well that even a bundle of high picks don't necessarily yield a bundle of great players.
AWESOME> Let Hernandez out of the correctional facility to show Love a good time.... "Kevin, Kevin... we don't spill drinks on people in Boston... just watch your beer and you are good. Hey, is that a rental car?"
First Boston has to sell Love on playing for them....... Second you don't know how much Boston is willing to offer... Third you know Morey has a Plan B, C, D.... We are assuming Love is plan A, for all we know, Anthony is Plan A.
TWolves select Noah Vonleh with the 6th pick in the draft they acquired from Celtics. Vonleh becomes a top 3 PF in the next 5 years. TWolves trade him to Celtics, wash, rinse, repeat
You aren't baiting me into this troll argument(sorry it's def worthy of the troll label). The Rockets aren't trading James Harden. Only in a true Harden Hater wet dream will this ever happen.
i'm 100% sure we land Love, unless we don't land Love. then, i'd be sobbing asking what is the purpose of mchale? we're getting love dammit! that's final/
We don't have the goods (that Morey's willing to trade) for Kevin Love. At least we can hope he goes to Boston and give the EC one other team that does not suck. Especially if we can swap Asik into Boston's TE and take back Sullinger. Boston would be: Rondo - Love - Green - Asik - Wallace (and other players). Boston can throw lots of expirings, #6, #17, future picks from the Nets. I think we can nab Sullinger and the cap space. Or something along those lines.
Sources say its a done deal. However there is a 96% chance that the deal could change between now and when Love is traded. On a serious note...the purpose of keeping McHale??(probably a different discussion for a different thread honestly).... We can only speculate. However, we can take an educated guess that there are political factors within the organization. Keeping status quo was seen as better for the franchise than taking a huge gamble at this point, with this group of players. That and given the fact that there really weren't that many great LONG TERM coaches truly available anyways. When Steve Kerr (you know the guy whose never coached a day in his life) is the #1 coaching attraction of the Summer, that kind of tells you what the front office thought of the available talent that could be leading this team for the foreseeable future. It is what it is. Status quo from a coaching perspective. However that could change with a huge addition from the assistant coach standpoint.
Why can't Boston give Love just as good a shot at winning? If the Rockets trade for Love, they'll have to give up a lot. Asik for sure. Probably Parsons and maybe Jones. At least a few picks. For a team already suffering from a thin bench, that won't help with our depth. And as great as a Howard/Harden/Love trio could be, that doesn't guarantee we'd be better than the Spurs, Thunder, or Clippers. Especially with McHale still coaching the team. Now let's look at the Celtics. They have all of those draft picks at their disposal. They've got a ton of contracts coming off the books after next season(although one would assume they won't just let Rondo walk). And even more salary being shed the following year. Would they be selling Love on a 1-2 year rebuilding or retooling scenario? Possibly. But they at the very least would have a very good shot at the playoffs next year given how awful the East is. I could see him going for that especially considering how Ainge was able to put together such a dominant team once before.
Because Boston is a case of what if and Houston is a case of what is? There's basically no guarantees surrounding that Boston roster (or even that Rondo stays himself), the health is a bigger issue and the talent is way less.
There are no guarantees here either. Howard and Harden couldn't beat an inferior and inexperienced Blazers team even with home court advantage. OKC has yet to win a title despite having Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka(and Harden as well back in 2012). The Clippers can't get out of the second round in spite of the abundance of talent on that team. Again, I agree that in theory and on paper, a Howard/Harden/Love trio should dominate the league. But the Rockets have never failed to underachieve in years past regardless of how much talent they've had. Sometimes that was due to injuries. Other times they just got outplayed(see the final minute of Game 7 in 2007 or any of the 4 losses to Portland this year).
First- I think this is great perspective on the situation. Second- Id contest that Ainge wouldn't necessarily be banking on Love resigning with the current group after next season as much as I'd bet he's banking on making multiple moves after trading for Love AND keeping Rondo that will make it extremely tough for him to even think about leaving the Celtics tradition and the extra money. Think about how Ainge worked the first big 3 era. Rondo was in a very similar situation as Paul Pierce at the time and he ended up fitting like a glove with the next regime. Ainge has more than enough assets to trade for Love, and make a similar deal for a big like Asik & another solid wing, or maybe even to go for a bigger name in a secondary trade that makes the Celtics a 3rd all star. -Also the Celtics are sitting on the #6th pick in a very good draft. Maybe that player taken is held onto in the deal and looks like a game changer that Love wants to play alongside.
Rockets fans say "we aren't trading Harden for Love," Warriors fans (and Warriors themselves, according to "multiple sources") say the same about Klay Thompson. I'm sure Washington fans and front office say the same about Beal right now. It's fine. Fan sentiments are that way. We want the team to trade for valuable players while giving up very little. But when the chips are down and a decision really has to be made, we'll then see what teams really do. Houston may not trade Harden for Love, but I imagine somebody will offer up a valuable player, an actual or potential star, for Love.
