Unconditional Love
2014-08-07https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E25srrJsq5g
The takeaway, at least for those of us that aren’t surprised by the trade, is that Love and the Cavs have an understanding that he will re-sign for 5 years, 120 million in 2015.
No third team, just one draft pick.
Someone hand Austin Carr an Enduracool – he’s splashing tears of joy all over the floor.
PS – Be sure to scroll down and read Robert’s excellent piece on Wiggins, Mike Miller, and James Jones from earlier this morning.
I bought into the hope of Wiggins and Bennett too. I wanted to see them in a Cavs uniform. I wanted to see them grow. Maybe I’m just used to settling for hope. I was against giving up Wiggins primarily because of the price paid by other teams to get superstars, but the Bucks and Kings sold for $500 million and the Clippers just went for $2 billion. Did we overpay giving up Wiggins? Probably, but we just added an All-NBA caliber player. The criticism of Love failing as a #1 are irrelevant. He’s now in the running for best… Read more »
don’t anybody wake me up I want to continue this ” beautiful dream I am having “—-no sh-t it’s not a dream that is even better —–it will be exciting—–the new players will feed off the ” CAVS CRAZIES ” –they have never experienced fans like we have here in Cleveland —- LET’S GET READY TO REV IT UP IN BELIEVELAND—I am pumped!!
http://network.yardbarker.com/nba/article_external/report_etwaun_moore_to_join_cleveland_cavaliers/16994375
Know nothing of him. Defensive floor spacer?
And this: http://www.hngn.com/articles/38093/20140805/ny-knicks-rumors-iman-shumpert-trade-eyed-cleveland-cavaliers-lebron.htm
I don’t get the sense there’s anything the Cavs would be willing to part with that the Knicks would want for Shumpert… Maybe a first rounder, but I doubt Cleveland is giving it up. Shumpert might also be a bit too much of a clown in the wrong way for LeBron. Nice idea though. Shump’s the kind of perimeter defender the Cavs need to add.
Would you take Shumpert and Marion? Which would you rather have?
Honestly, I don’t see backup PG as an area of need. Delly may not have the best handles in the world, but he’s serviceable. And odds are there will always be another ball handler on the floor with him between Kyrie, Dion, and LBJ. Basically, I just kind of love Delly. Plus there are only so many spots on the roster: 1 Irving, Delly 2. Waiters, Jones, Harris 3. James, Miller 4. Love, Thompson 5. Andy, Haywood That’s 11. If Powell doesn’t get shipped to canton, he makes 12. Lucas III, Thomas, and Murphy I think will either be traded… Read more »
The Cavs do need a fourth guard. James Jones isn’t it. E’Twuan Moore isn’t great. His defense did tick up last year to a .25 dRAPM, and he’s 25. Not the greatest ballhandler, but he has a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. The Cavs could do worse, but they need some defensive size. I’m pretty convinced Marion is on bald tires.
Who else read the part about a “firm agreement to sign a 5 year deal” and immediately thought of 2004 Carlos Boozer. Anyone? I feel a bit like history may repeat itself…
It’s possible, but consider that:
1. The Cavs can pay him more than anyone else
2. Love presumably asked for this trade
3. He’d be walking away from playing with the best player in the world after getting his first taste of playoff basketball
I think if the Cavs win 50+ games and make a deep playoff run he’ll happily resign for $120M.
People need to remember Utah paid Boozer more than Cleveland was going to. That’s not gonna happen in this case.
If the deal is done, let’s go for it!
Can anyone figure out who will be on the opening day roster? Maybe have “for sure”, “probably”, “maybe”, and “possibly” categories?
My understanding:
For sure: LBJ, Kyrie, Love, Andy, TT, Miller, Jones
Probably: Dion, Delly, Haywood, Backup C, Harris, Powell
Maybe: Allen
Possibly: Billups, M Thomas
Did I miss anyone?
Oh right, Marion is also a “Possibly”
I find it interesting that Dion Waiters was one of the few people Lebron spoke with around the time he was thinking about coming to Cleveland. He told Dion, “get ready.”
So when does the Uncle Drew, Kevin Love, Lebron James commercial come out?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likely. LeBron is sponsored by Sprite, a Coke product. Uncle Drew is a Pepsi thing. So unless LeBron cuts ties with Sprite, it’s not gonna happen.
We are now quite easily the best team in the East and could very well win it all this year. It all depends how healthy we are in the Finals.
Our front court is still worryingly thin. If AV goes down with injury, which we kinda have to bet on, then our starting center is Tristan Thompson. No bueno. It seems unlikely we’re getting Dieng back but if so that helps. I just reread the Woj article and he does say the teams are silent on the particulars until the deal is done. I hope that’s the case, but if not, the Cavs definitely need to make a move for a solid backup C. What do we think of this trade with us sending out a second round pick (or… Read more »
Instead of Raduljica, why not try for John Henson. He’s a good rim protector- maybe expiring contracts, dwight powell, and picks for Henson.
I don’t have a problem with going for Henson, but he’s probably going to be very expensive. Raduljica can probably be had for a couple of second round picks.
An interesting thing is that we didn’t trade the expiring contracts we picked up from Utah. I don’t see those guys as having the talent to stick, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see another trade for a defensive center, which is nice because the free agent market is very speculative at best (okafor, udoh, etc.). Given that I doubt Minnesota will want to do another deal with us, I’m guessing Gorgui Dieng is out the window. And trading for Noel was always a pipe dream, Philly won’t give him up. So who could we target that would be a… Read more »
How about Josh Harrellson? http://www.gotbuckets.com/2014/08/06/under-the-radar-value-free-agent-josh-harrellson/
Andray Blatche? Not a shot-blocker or elite rebounder, but a tall, athletic defender. Could be signed for the league min.
What about Aron Baynes?
Greg Stiemsma, What about trading a pick for Mahimi since they might be tanking? Could we see the return of Ryan Hollins?
Hey, Ryan Hollins was tied for tenth in the league in blocks/48 minutes…. Haha. Ryan Hollins. I actually like the idea of Aron Baynes, though- I think he could really develop nicely. Below I mention trying to trade for Jon Henson, though he could admittedly cost us a bit.
PG – Kyrie Irving
SG – Dion Waiters
SF – LeBron James
PF – Kevin Love
C – Anderson Varejao
Bench: Tristan Thompson, Mike Miller, DELLY!, James Jones, etc.
Rumors: Shawn Marion, Ray Allen
WOW. I truly can’t believe this is my favorite professional sports team. It’s surreal.
If the reports about the Love trade are corrrect, the Cavs still have the nonguaranteed contracts and can use them to make more moves this offseason. And then there’s the Haywood contract as mega trade bait for next summer.
OK, I’m posting like a madman here, so I apologize for loading everyone up on reading material. But here is an interesting discussion, particularly at the end, where it seems to be a consensus that Waiters MUST be the next to go.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11320889/#nbafrontoffice-explains-why-kevin-love-perfect-fit-cavs
I don’t think anyone must go. Waiters has gotten better at spot shooting and isn’t a bad passer. He’s young and athletic. The Cavs need as much youth and athleticism to pair with LeBron, Love, and Varejao as they can. He has the tools and tenacity to be a 3 and D guy when he needs to be and a microwave off the bench if they need that too. I would not move anyone based on their perceived “fit” until David Blatt gets a chance to try some these guys on for size.
Not an insider, can you post some of thoughts/argument behind their position on Dion?
I’m personally a big believer that Dion will keep developing. I’d rather get someone on a vet minimum this off-season and try to move our big expiring + a 1st for a reliable big next summer so that we can keep Dion…
Karl: You’ve got to trade Waiters. Here’s what I know: What’s between Kyrie and Waiters cannot be fixed. If I’m trying to play Kyrie with my bench, and Waiters is coming off the bench, that’s not going to work. Yeah, they can kiss and make up. But I heard that locker room was cancerous, filled with a lot of bad rationalizing. If that’s true, you’ve got to move Waiters before you start and not contaminate the psychology and momentum that you have. It’s different on a veteran team. You have a brand new team, a brand new coach, brand new… Read more »
I don’t know if KI and DW had a “cancerous” relationship or not. But, I do know they are now role players on LeBron’s team, and I suspect that LeBron will give any players what-for if they go into cancer or crybaby mode.
I think winning more games could go a long way to masking any chemistry issues between Waiters and Irving.
OK, now that this is (almost) done, perhaps we can move on to the next topic of conversation: 1) Are the Cavs done? We need a rim protector and we still have two 1st round picks in next year’s draft, as well as four expiring contracts. Do we get the rim protector before the season starts with those assets? 2) If we stand pat with Varejao and Haywood at center, who would we target at the trade deadline if C continues to be a glaring hole? 3) Barring nothing happening before next year’s draft, and no trade of picks, would… Read more »
I think they need a C still. Has anyone heard that Haywood has lifted a finger this off-season. Has he worked out after over a year off? Has he been introduced? No. I doubt he ever suits up. Don’t trust AV to finish out a season at this point.
The CtB guys have mentioned a list of acceptable centers. With the Love trade, it wouldn’t kill them to get an all defense type guy.
I think the Cavs now have the 3 best p’n’r combos in the LEAGUE on their team:
1) LeBron/Love
2) Kyrie/LeBron
3) Kyrie/Love
Dion can fit into any of these as well. And we got LBJ/Varejao!
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11292706/how-lebron-james-fit-cleveland-espn-magazine
Interesting analysis here.
Agreed. Thanks for sharing!
yeah that is excellent.
I’m happy that Love is on this team. It’s going to be fun to watch for a few years.
Point to ponder: We gave up two of our first round picks (three if you count the 2015 #1 protected) to get Love so he could play with two of our other first round picks.
That’s impressive. Going to be such a fun season to watch. I refuse to predict finals, but I’ll start wringing my hands when we make the playoffs ;)
When I say first round picks, I really mean #1 overall picks. DOH!
At least we can all stop debating the trade now that it’s about as official as it can be until the 23rd. I’m glad to hear that KLove has already agreed to resign – that was probably the biggest sticking point for Cavs fans.
This may be the best Cleveland team in any sport since 1964. Talk about one crazy summer!
I’d argue that the 1995 Indians were close. A great lineup and pitching, and still won 100 games in a strike-shortened season.
The ’95 Indians had the highest winning percentage in MLB in four decades–since the ’54 Indians.
Damn Edgar Renteria …
Renteria was the spoiler in ’97. The Tribe lost in ’95 because Atlanta pitchers had six more inches of plate on the outside corner to work with than Indians pitchers did.
But I digress. Go Cavs.
That might be the best lineup since murders row. 9 players hit 300. 7 of them everyday players. Right now there aren’t 25 300 hitters in baseball.
But actually the 99 offense was better
This ought to be phenomenal news for Cavs fans. I know Nate Smith’s article brought a lot of hand-wringing out of the woodwork but really, that viewpoint is insane (if understandable). Love is only 25, a legitimate superstar whether by regular stats, winshares, PER or just watching the game. He also fits perfectly with Lebron in a way that Wade never did. Wiggins, if you watched him at all in college, probably has a ceiling of Paul George. That’s a huge compliment, but it could take 5 years if it happened at all, and I’d STILL rather have Love in… Read more »
I think the trade is worth the risk. I dont really know how this situation and the cavs good fortune will be an issue in the next collective bargaining agreement. Honestly, the clippers sale, new lottery and the new look cavs might cause many owners to be fractured in strange and unpredictable ways. the biggest issue might be how the pacers and paul george injury plays out. the owners might be in asset protection mode. the players might be in a rift between the elite and the average to role players. not to unlike the arguments about income inequality in… Read more »
While I think Wiggins might go down as an all-timer, the Love contract “agreement,” while fishy, satisfies my biggest objection to the deal.
Genuinely curious as to what you see in Wiggins that makes you think ‘all-timer’ beyond his high school hoopmixtapes? In college he showed a pretty limited skill set – poor handles, average/mediocre court vision (1.5 assists and 2.3 TOs? That’s worse than I remembered!), good rebounding ability, passive scoring drive, excellent defensive potential though far from a lockdown defender, excellent athleticism, though oddly screw-up prone at the rim, and a perfectly fine though hardly stunning 3-point shot. Again, you know who got numbers almost exactly like his, at Fresno? Paul George. That’s who Wiggins reminds me of. So, again, that’s… Read more »
Comparison of Wiggins to Paul George is a good one. However, Wiggy played one year less in college, leaps even higher, and is a lightning bolt in human form.
I think he will be an All Star. I will concede probably not 1st Ballot Hall of Fame (Man, that is a tough standard!) However, unless he becomes more durable than he has been, I don’t see Love meeting that standard either.
So, the Timberwolves are getting some value for their trade. Aw well. I’m pretty psyched. The stars are aligning! This is going to be a hell of a season.
FINALS FINALS FINALS FINALS FINALS FINALS FINALS FINALS
Can we buy tickets to the finals right now?
I might makes some AC predictions. AC and Fred will be borderline comedic in their commentary. AC will be unashamed when he says things like : “Fred, this is what happens when you get people who know how to play the game. And Kevin Love knows how to play the game of basketball.” as he chuckles. “You see Fred, back in my day, we didnt really have a Kevin Love who paired with a LeBron James and a Kyrie at point. This might be a team that will win a few games” I will miss his chance to heap praise… Read more »
…and then AC will elbow Fred and there will be a few seconds of awkwardness as Fred, worn down by countless AC elbows, makes a quick passive aggressive remark until Love throws a full court ally oop to Lebron and then things will be all smoothed over.