10:24pm: Multiple league sources are again refuting the notion that Wiggins has been made available in trade talks, telling Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that the Cavs still aren’t budging (Twitter link).
8:25pm: Both Love’s camp and a Minnesota source tell Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities that it’s unlikely a deal happens this weekend (Twitter link).
6:00pm: While the Warriors are denying the report of their willingness to trade Thompson in a package for Love, Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders (video) suggests that Golden State is bluffing in case the Wolves wind up picking the Cavs package above theirs. Koutroupis reiterates that Love’s willingness to opt in for the 2015/16 season gives Minnesota more leverage in asking for Thompson in a trade, and increases the likelihood that the power forward is dealt before the season.
3:27pm: Chris Broussard of ESPN.com is the latest to contend that the Cavs are indeed willing to part with Wiggins in exchange for Love. Cleveland would also part with Anthony Bennett and a 2015 first-round pick, Broussard writes, though the Cavs would have to add more to make a deal work under the league’s salary-matching rules. A trade between the clubs was close at one point, but Minnesota’s demands exceed what the Cavs are offering, according to Broussard. The feeling around the league is that the Wolves are trying to pit the Cavs and Warriors against each other in a bidding war, just the sort of competition Golden State reportedly wants no part of, as we noted below.
11:28am: The Cavs haven’t offered Wiggins for Love, just as the Warriors haven’t offered Thompson for the Minnesota power forward, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press, seconding earlier reports that put the brakes on the idea that one or both were in play (Twitter link). The Warriors want no part of a would-be bidding war against the Cavs for Love, so it appears they’ve decided to set aside Love talks for now, writes Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.
8:31am: The Warriors aren’t willing to trade Klay Thompson to the Wolves in a deal for Kevin Love, a source insists to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group, insisting that a report from late Thursday that said Golden State was on board with giving up Thompson was untrue (Twitter links). Kawakami had heard from multiple sources throughout Thursday that the Warriors had considered the idea of including Thompson in packages but decided against doing so (Twitter link).
Rumors surrounding Love perked up when a dispatch Thursday afternoon indicated that the Cavs would be willing to part with Andrew Wiggins for love, but another report denied that this year’s No. 1 overall pick is available for a trade. Still, a source who spoke with Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal before the return of LeBron James to the Cavs said that aside from Kyrie Irving, no one on the Cleveland roster was off-limits for a potential trade that would net Love.
Wolves owner Glen Taylor and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert spoke at length this week about a trade, just as Taylor did last month with Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. The talks between Taylor and Lacob produced a framework of a deal that included Thompson, but Lacob ultimately spiked the idea on the advice of consultant Jerry West, a source tells Zgoda. West is reportedly an opponent of trading Thompson.
i mean what are we talking here .. is kaly going to be the next reggie miller ??? maybe … at best .. and wiggins what the next mcgrady ??? maybe … kevin love is a for sure 40 percent shooter from 3 and a rebounding beast…. and puts the cavs right in line for a title … especially if they sign ray allen …
They’re fine on the boards. Why deplete a teams depth for 1 guy when at worst Wiggins is OJ Mayo with defense.
Because it’s easier to add depth than it is to add a star.
Are you sure about that? How easy was it to add depth on the Heat? That was a team mostly of guys that should have just worn suits to games. When you add a 3rd player to the mix at or near a max contract and then you’ve traded away all of your draft picks and resources for retooling the team…
How is Love injury prone? He had one year where he broke his hand, came back to early and broke it again. Missing 5-10 games a year when playing max minutes isn’t injury prone. Games missed per seaon(1,22,9,0,64, 5) That is pretty dependable.
I’m 100% positive about my statement. The Heat had role players. The problem was that they didn’t get enough from Wade and Bosh to bridge the gap from LeBron to the 4th and 5th options. Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Shane Battier and Chris Andersen all signed with the Heat as FAs. Veterans will line up for the chance to win a ring. Especially shooters, who see the benefit to playing with LeBron.
Allen, Miller, Battier, and Anderson all either gone, inept, or partially injured last year esp in the playoffs. Last year they wouldn’t go into the lux to retool and it showed down the stretch. LBJ played a lot of minutes to make up for the lack of depth not just in the finals.
LeBron has literally never played less minutes per game than he did this year in the playoffs. Second lowest regular season MPG too.
Well, if Cleveland trades Wiggins and Bennet for Love, after the big 3 they still have Waiters and Thompson(both #4 overall picks who have proven to be solid players), Varejo, Miller and J. Jones(veterans who are solid players). They also will get another vet or two to sign and have all their draft picks plus so they can draft players to fill or use their picks to trade. I think they have a decent bench and keeping Wiggins and Bennett won’t give them a better bench.
but having the cost controlled young players also gives them cap space to make the moves they need, like adding someone that can guard the PG spot, and adding someone that can protect the rim.
I agree, but I guess I am of the school that stars win and role players can be added.
I just feel like they have the stars needed on that team already. They just need to add a couple of role players…Plus, having 3 stars on a team is hard to sustain, and the Cavs can thank Dan Gilbert for that
Agreed, having 3 stars is very hard to sustain, which is why it makes you a championship team right away. Miami showed how it can be done and the owner has to be willing to pay a hefty luxury tax, which the Heat owner wouldn’t do. getting the 3 stars is tough, then you need to go over the luxury tax threshold to have a good bench. If the owner is willing to spend, then three max players is the way to go IMO. Only other way is to have very unselfish guys like San Antonio who take less money to stay and then go 10 deep with actual talent.
Mickey Arison lost $30 million in each championship season. He was absolutely willing to pay the luxury tax. Keeping Mike Miller would have cost the Heat an extra $30 million. Thats obviously ridiculous, and it made sense to amnesty him. They still should have won it, but they made stupid rotation decisions that made no sense in the finals
Not close. Wiggins right now can’t shoot or dribble and is very thin. He needs 3 years minimum to mature and considering how long it takes to learn how to shot, 5 years to be a star if he ever becomes one. You think Bron wants to wait 5 years? He is turning 30 and as we have seen with straight to NBA from HS stars, they wear out by 35.
Trading Wiggins for Love is definitively a risk for the Cavs. They need to build a winner around James, yes, but Kevin Love is quite injury prone, even at his young age and would take a big cap space as well. They need people that they can count on to be on the court. I would look for that talent to surround James on the FA market, not on trades (for now).
How is Love injury prone? The two seasons he missed significant time were because of a broken hand. Every other season he missed less than 10 games.
Well, that´s not true actually. Over the last 5 years, he has played on 60, 73, 55, 18 and 77 games. Not a single season with 80 games, and no postseason games at all. He had a great year last year, and there is no doubt about his talent, but he hasn´t had healthy consecutive seasons as of yet. Don´t get me wrong, trading Wiggins for Love could turn out great for the Cavs if it happened, but it is not a sure thing, it´s quite a gamble.
Well the 55 game season was in a lockout year. So he played 83% and 89% of the possible games in back-to-back seasons before the broken hand, and then 94% the year after. Really just one season where he has had serious injury concerns.
The year with 55 was the lockout year so not too bad that year, plus the Wolves sat him due to very minor things so he wouldn’t get hurt.
there were 66 games that year
I was thinking there was 60 for some reason. Still, he is more of a minor bump and bruise type of guy which may actually go away some if he has to play less minutes or not take as much punishment.
he has a history of concussions, as well as the hand injuries…that point doesnt really matter though. I still stand by my statement that making this trade doesnt significantly change the Cavs chances this year in terms of competing for a championship. They would be dynamic offensively (I personally think they are dynamic offensively right now, but thats besides the point), but defensively, they would struggle, and the Heat proved over the last few years why defense matters
Love has only had one concussion that I can remember and that was in 2012, which account for some of those 11 missed games in that season. Also, Love is not a bad defender. It is that he was told to basically NOT play defense due to the fact he was so important to the team offensively that he needed to save energy and fouls. When he tried, like at the end of games, he was average to a little above. He is lacking the length and quick jumping to be a true defender but he can stay in front of his guy and make him shot over him. It is true that Wiggins could be a lock down defender. I just think Love is so good offensively and on the boards right now that due to Lebrons age, they should go for it. But this is the debate all through the league and seeing some polls taken of GM’s. they are split on it as well.
I personally dont think its even close
I’m so confused by what the Warriors were offering the Wolves to begin with. They traded a lot of there future draft picks to the Jazz all ready so what else did they think they could trade besides a good young player like Thompson?
Lee and Barnes
The Cavs need to deal Wiggins and start winning titles right now. If they deal for Love, they can win 3-4 titles before Lebron gets too old. With Wiggins, they can get maybe 2. The only difference is that IF Wiggins becomes a star, they can win a couple titles and be good for longer, with Love, they can win more titles but will have to rebuild after Lebron to stay good. I say win the titles and be great from a short time instead of MAYBE being great for a shorter time and good for a longer time.
Man this bid for Love is out-of-control they offered Wiggins, Bennett, and a 1st round pick? They’ll likely add Haywood to the deal as well for cap reasons. But seriously gotta keep 1 of those 2, they thought they were both worthy of the 1st overall pick, might as well try and find one that pans out.
If you keep Bennett, you have to trade Thompson, who is much better then Bennett. Also, they are in win now mode for Lebron. Waiting for Bennett to maybe become a decent player isn’t what Bron wants, and what Bron wants, Bron gets.
yahoo posted a great piece, talking about salary cap worries for the Cavs if they trade for love. With trading love and 3-4 of their younger guys, they would only have 7 million to build the whole team around Irving, James, and Love. Yea sure the big 3 are a lot younger, and better then what the big 3 was in Miami, but Spurs proved that you need role players around to dominate. Unless Love opts out after next year and promises to re-sign with the Cavs for below max (which won’t happen) they would be in the same boat Heat were in last season. If not trading Wiggins and others to the Wolves, they have around I think 14 or 15 million available after this coming season? Do you hinder yourself that much for one guy Lebron wants to play with ? If anything, keep Wiggins, let the wolves get nothing back. Chances are even if Love gets traded, he opts out after next season and they can sign him as a free agent, keeping all their role players in tact and picks.
They can NOT sign Love as a FA. That is the point. He is not going to sign for less to go to Cleveland. If Cleveland wants Love, they will have to trade for him and then after opting in next year, the CBA gets redone and the cap goes up and he can get a big contract with Cleveland to resign.
they actually will have the cap room to sign a max player next year
Only if Lebron opts out or they rescind the rest of their roster.
no…they have brendan haywood’s contract and a couple of others coming off the books. They’ll easily be able to fit a max player
again…What makes you people think that a team with LeBron, Kevin Love, and Irving are championship contenders? Who plays defense on that team? Who guards the opposing PG? Who protects the rim? I’m sorry, but there is NO WAY I would trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love if I’m the Cavs. Yes, they would be a dynamic offensive team (which I think they still would be without Kevin Love spacing the floor and shooting 3s), but they cant stop anyone. I’m not going to continue to repeat myself with this here, so I’m just going to say that if Minnesota actually lands either Klay Thompson or Andrew Wiggins, then Flip Saunders should get a parade in his honor in Minnesota
Love to Cavs,Martin,Bennett,Wiggins to Warriors and Lee and Barnes to Timberwolves?
Well seeing that the Warriors want Love, I don’t think they would go for that.
If the wolves want Lee and Barnes, then the Warriors will get love and the Cavs won’t be part of the conversation.
Not that they would do it. But wouldn’t it be funny if Dan Gilbert traded LeBron to Minnesota for Kevin love and said to LeBron you wanna leave us now you can go play in Minnesota and suffer there.
Well, only suffer for 1 year as he can opt out at end of season.
It has to be the Wolves trying to get these teams to bid against themselves. I dont think either team would be dumb enough to put Thompson or Wiggins on the table.
I was thinking the same thing. The Wolves tell the “sources” that they’ve been offered what their looking for from each team hoping one team breaks.