Until now, we’ve had Cleveland’s apparently steadfast refusal to part with number one overall pick Andrew Wiggins as a sign that the Celtics might be able to swoop in and steal Kevin Love from Minnesota.
Apparently, that’s no longer the case.
A league source said on July 17 that the Cavs are now willing to trade the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft.
Wiggins, a 6-foot-8, 194-pounder, has played well at the Las Vegas Summer League, where he’s become a crowd favorite. The former Kansas star has averaged 13.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in the Cavs’ first three games. However, he’s shooting just 37.8 percent from the field.
Up until this point, it was assumed the Cavs wanted to hang onto Wiggins, largely because of comments made by Coach David Blatt.
However, a source said James wants the 6-10, 250-pound Love on the roster.
And, what James wants, he normally gets.
To me, this is a no-brainer. Even if Wiggins reaches the ridiculous expectations some people have for him, it’s going to take a few years for it to happen. Bringing Love into the mix NOW for the Cleveland makes them the obvious top seed in the East, and would very likely send the Cavs to the Finals immediately. I say you take your shot to go to the Finals now while you have it and worry about the rest later.
This, however, can still be a ploy. The league source could be someone trying to make Golden State loosen its grip on Klay Thompson. Since none of us is Flip Saunders, it’s tough to tell which player he likes better. Thompson is more polished, but Wiggins is supposed to be one of the next generation of great players.
Regardless, if this becomes a competition between Cleveland and Golden State with both teams becoming willing to surrender desired players, the Celtics faint hopes of landing Love will completely evaporate. As Chuck expressed to me in a discussion after this news broke, we might as well root for Golden State and let Love get lost in the West’s cluster of really good teams rather than make the LeBron Cavs an instant mega-team. We’ve seen enough of that as it is.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
