A rare fair exchange for a star was agreed upon by Cleveland and Minnesota on Thursday.
After a long summer of shopping and rumors, the Minnesota Timberwolves have reached an agreement in principle to send Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and Miami’s protected 2015 first-round draft pick, league sources told Yahoo Sports. The trade can’t be made official until August 23 due to the fact that Wiggins is ineligible to be traded for 30 days following the signing of his rookie contract. Love reportedly will also sign a five-year, $120 million deal with Cleveland upon completion of the deal.
As I explained back in May in Lots Of Love To Go Around On Draft Day, But Only One Kevin, a duo featuring the Uncle Drew Crew (Love, Kyrie Irving) may be a better fit alongside James than Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as he enters his 30’s.
Irving and Love have yet to advance to postseason play in their careers, but Love is coming off a truly historic season, during which he averaged 26.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game while sinking 190 3-pointers, and Irving was awarded the NBA All-Star Game MVP in just his third season. He needs to improve defensively, and the same can be said for Love, but the Cavs should instantly be one of the most potent offenses in the league. Given the floor-spacing potential that a lineup featuring Love and Irving has, James figures to play a lot less at power forward and see a lot more single coverage than he would have otherwise in the half-court offense. When James is double-teamed, the willing facilitator now possesses another elite outside shooter, joining the likes of Irving, Mike Miller, James Jones and potentially Ray Allen.
While I was off predicting the order of the events, I did manage to make a few solid predictions shortly before the beginning of the 2014 NBA Finals:
This summer I also argued that the Cavs Should Do Anything For Love, and that Only Love Could Bring The King Home to Cleveland, but after seeing LeBron’s letter to SI, it seemed unlikely Wiggins would be dealt for Love. Obviously Wiggins wasn’t mentioned in the letter itself, but the letter made it clear James was willing to be a patient mentor for a young team that was unlikely to immediately contend for a championship and/or be the frontrunners to win it all (as was the case when he joined Miami).
Newly hired Cavs head coach David Blatt previously said Wiggins would not be traded, and GM Dan Gilbert also appeared adamant that Wiggins was untouchable. Though I strongly believed that Love is the type of talent that must be acquired given the opportunity, the upside of Wiggins is undeniable. It’s understandable that there was hesitation to complete a deal of this magnitude, but I’m confident that the Cavs made the right move. Cleveland would have been unable to compete for Love in the free-agent market had the Wolves somehow decided not to trade him at all, and power forwards who can shoot, pass, and rebound the ball at an elite level don’t grow on trees.
The Cavs defense in general will need some bolstering, which could be arriving any second in the form of Shawn Marion, but even then they’ll lack a rim-protecting center. Regardless, adding the 25-year-old sweet shooting, double-double machine is a move that immediately makes the Cavs the frontrunners to win the Eastern Conference. James expressed frustration over the championship or bust mentality that became a mental burden in Miami, but that’s exactly what the expectations will be in Cleveland for the remainder of his Cavs career.
On the Wolves side of things, this was perhaps the first time in NBA history that a team has gotten a fair return when dealing a star player. Minnesota may be quick to point out that they received Al Jefferson in return for Kevin Garnett years ago, but netting a potential star in Wiggins is the best return they could have ever hoped for in a million years. After failing miserably to build a team around Love (see 2009 NBA Draft results), the Wolves are now in an extremely enviable position—they’re a team with lots of young talent in Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng, Zach LaVine, and Anthony Bennett.
They’re almost certainly not done dealing yet, as they’d be thrilled to get rid of nearly anyone else on the roster in exchange for future cap flexibility, draft picks, and prospects. Minnesota will be a lottery team again this season, and there’s no guarantee Wiggins will be a star in this league. However, Wolves fans should be ecstatic and feel exceedingly lucky to have landed a potential star teams tanked just to have the chance to draft this summer.
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