The Lottery

[RepTdot]

One of the best stories of the off season. The Kevin Love option.
It looks pretty likely that Cleveland gets to the Finals without Mr. Invisible even taking a single shot or getting even one rebound along the way. So you have to wonder what the thinking is in the Cleveland war room on the real value of spending 16M$ next year on a guy who at face value it appears you don't really need. My bet is that they'd Love (pun intended) to see Love opt out of his deal and use that dough somewhere else.
Its all in Kevin's hands though and 16M$ for sure dollars is hard to step away from unless your Warren Buffett.

yea I can see love opting into next year and then jumping ship to the Lakers in 2016 or opting out this off season and going back to being the #1 option stat stuffer on a losing team...but wouldn't bet on him signing in Cle long term regardless of LBJ...he's clearly the #3 option and these playoffs have proven that the Cavs win without him...I agree with you from the Cavs POV..$16.8Mil to Love vs using it to resign the real support around LBJ & Kyrie like Dellavedova, Shump, TT, JR (player option) is worth letting him walk regardless of the loss in the Wiggins trade.

[RepTdot]

^^^ You guys will be surprised when it comes to Rondo. Lakers are not hot about him anymore after the Dallas fiasco. They want Westbrooks in 2 years and are willing to wait. I think the only way Lakers will go for Rondo is if comes very cheap.

Lets face it, Rondo is not the same guy after his injury and has lost his explosiveness.

yes but I think Lakers give him a Lance Stephenson type deal...2 years with a 3rd year team option to prove himself and redeem his reputation again while being flexible to Westbrook in 2017.

[RepTdot]

but getting back to the Lottery lol I'm locking in Christian Wood as my bet if he's still available when #20 comes around...he really does scream Masai type project.

[Primer]

One of the best stories of the off season. The Kevin Love option.
It looks pretty likely that Cleveland gets to the Finals without Mr. Invisible even taking a single shot or getting even one rebound along the way. So you have to wonder what the thinking is in the Cleveland war room on the real value of spending 16M$ next year on a guy who at face value it appears you don't really need. My bet is that they'd Love (pun intended) to see Love opt out of his deal and use that dough somewhere else.
Its all in Kevin's hands though and 16M$ for sure dollars is hard to step away from unless your Warren Buffett.

Problem is, that's not an option. Even without Love they're over the cap (their payroll is $102M including Love, cap will be $65M-ish). If they let Love walk, then they gave away 2 first round picks for absolutely nothing. Retaining Love so that they could at least trade him down the line will be their first priority. They can still resign Thompson as well, they'll just be paying the tax. They won't be able to sign any free agents other than with exceptions, so basically no one of consequence. I bet they'll try very hard to move Varajao for some cap relief, as they've been winning without him too and he didn't require Mr. Wiggins to acquire.

The fact they're winning without Love doesn't mean too much, the East is really weak this year and they got lucky with some key injuries to Atlanta. I don't think they bank on that happening again next year and say fuck it to the two first round picks they traded for Love. Also, if they get spanked in the Finals, they'll just be thinking about how they could have won if Love had been playing (and probably be right). I'd just be pretty shocked if Love wants to take less money to be on a way worse team than his Minnesota teams in LA.

[planetmars]

Love will leave Cleveland and it will be a Sign and Trade so that his Bird rights are retained by the team he goes to. Cleveland will get a large TPE that they will use to get other assets at a later time.

Good teams always seem to get richer in the NBA.

[DanH]

Love will leave Cleveland and it will be a Sign and Trade so that his Bird rights are retained by the team he goes to. Cleveland will get a large TPE that they will use to get other assets at a later time.

Good teams always seem to get richer in the NBA.

Bird Rights do not transfer in sign and trades. There is no longer any reason for the player or the team they want to go to to do a sign and trade anymore unless that team doesn't have enough cap space.

[Demographic Shift]

Problem is, that's not an option. Even without Love they're over the cap (their payroll is $102M including Love, cap will be $65M-ish). If they let Love walk, then they gave away 2 first round picks for absolutely nothing. Retaining Love so that they could at least trade him down the line will be their first priority. They can still resign Thompson as well, they'll just be paying the tax. They won't be able to sign any free agents other than with exceptions, so basically no one of consequence. I bet they'll try very hard to move Varajao for some cap relief, as they've been winning without him too and he didn't require Mr. Wiggins to acquire.

The fact they're winning without Love doesn't mean too much, the East is really weak this year and they got lucky with some key injuries to Atlanta. I don't think they bank on that happening again next year and say fuck it to the two first round picks they traded for Love. Also, if they get spanked in the Finals, they'll just be thinking about how they could have won if Love had been playing (and probably be right). I'd just be pretty shocked if Love wants to take less money to be on a way worse team than his Minnesota teams in LA.

So many permutations !!! I think this is going to be a real soul searcher in Cleveland on what they do with Kevin Love this offseason or what he does to them.

That trade for Wiggins + Bennet for Love is in the same strata as the Kareem Abdul Jabbar trade from the Bucks to the Lakers for filler and a ham sandwich. Its only one year in but I bet Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert asks for a mulligan on that move every day for the rest of his life.

[slaw]

So many permutations !!! I think this is going to be a real soul searcher in Cleveland on what they do with Kevin Love this offseason or what he does to them.

That trade for Wiggins + Bennet for Love is in the same strata as the Kareem Abdul Jabbar trade from the Bucks to the Lakers for filler and a ham sandwich. Its only one year in but I bet Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert asks for a mulligan on that move every day for the rest of his life.

Would Lebron have come back if the Love deal hadn't been part of the package? Long term it's a terrible deal but if they win anyway and got Lebron back in the process then it was worth it. Lebron trumps all.

[Joey]

Would Lebron have come back if the Love deal hadn't been part of the package? Long term it's a terrible deal but if they win anyway and got Lebron back in the process then it was worth it. Lebron trumps all.

When Lebron signed with Cleveland, they didn't have Kevin Love, nor had they even engaged with Minnesota on the matter .. at least to my knowledge. For at least a couple months, Wiggins thought he was playing with Lebron.

[Axel]

When Lebron signed with Cleveland, they didn't have Kevin Love, nor had they even engaged with Minnesota on the matter .. at least to my knowledge. For at least a couple months, Wiggins thought he was playing with Lebron.

LeBron knew otherwise tho. Hence Wiggins not being mentioned in the letter to the fans saying how excited he was to play with Waiters lol.

[JimiCliff]

So many permutations !!! I think this is going to be a real soul searcher in Cleveland on what they do with Kevin Love this offseason or what he does to them.

That trade for Wiggins + Bennet for Love is in the same strata as the Kareem Abdul Jabbar trade from the Bucks to the Lakers for filler and a ham sandwich. Its only one year in but I bet Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert asks for a mulligan on that move every day for the rest of his life.

Such a bad trade. I still think Bennet + Waiters + Thompson + future 1STs gets the deal done. Amazed they let go of Wiggins. Would have been perfect complement for Lebron.

[yabadabayolo]

Such a bad trade. I still think Bennet + Waiters + Thompson + future 1STs gets the deal done. Amazed they let go of Wiggins. Would have been perfect complement for Lebron.

Minni probobably knew cavs were desperate and stupid enough to give up wiggins. Soo they probably made thr stipulation theyd only deal if wiggins was includrd for sure

Will be hilarious if love lraves and the cavs lose in the finals ahaha

[Mess]

I think both of those things are very likely to happen.


And you have to assume Lebron knew the Love was coming in the summer. It wasn't public knowledge and may never will be, but all the evidence is there.

[psrs1]

How terrible would it be if MU decide to bring both of DD and KL back this season ?

It could work IF sign FA SF or PF that can score consistently and take some of the scoring pressure off DD .

[psrs1]

Minni probobably knew cavs were desperate and stupid enough to give up wiggins. Soo they probably made thr stipulation theyd only deal if wiggins was includrd for sure

Will be hilarious if love lraves and the cavs lose in the finals ahaha

If Cavs win the final argument could be made they don't need Kevin Love.