Links to the Present: I Would Do Anything for Love Edition — Updated
2013-06-26Even Tristan, Waiters, and the #1, according to Andy Katz. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/60324/cavs-thunder-mavs-shopping-draft-picks
That’s a steep price and a pretty huge gamble. Kevin Love is probably a top 20 player on offense but since entering the league he’s missed 30% of his games. I’m sure Love and Irving weren’t trying to be ironic when they choose stiff old men as their alter egos, but consider it another friendly reminder of how hard it would be to trust an Irving/Love/Varejao trio to stay healthy for a full season.
If the report is true, and Flip Saunders said no, then he is clearly not frightened by the prospect of Love leaving after his contract expires. Minnesota is not going to receive a better package than that for Kevin Love, so it’s safe to say he’s not going to be traded unless he demands one.
Over and over, I hear the Cavs like Anthony Bennett. I hear he could be their “Dion Waiters draft-night surprise.” He played one year at UNLV at 6-8, 240 pounds. There are reports that he weighs 260 while recovering from shoulder surgery. He is a bit short for a power forward, but there are several NBA teams who are intrigued. [Terry Pluto – The Plain Dealer]
Other Local Draft Coverage from:
Bob Finnan
–Update–
Check out this fascinating piece by the Washington Post’s Alex Prewitt on, possible #1 pick, Alex Len and his girlfriend, 6’7″ Essence Townsend, of the Maryland Women’s Basketball team. Compelling stuff. This is a followup to yesterday’s profile on Len by Prewitt, which is similarly poignant.
18/13 per 40 may be feasible. Him ever playing 40 minutes per game is not, so the original point stands, he’s unlikely to ever average that during his career. Not impossible, just unlikely.
To add to the TT love, he was 16 and 13 per 40 minutes after the all-star break last year. 18/13 per 40 seems very feasible at some point in his career.
Also wouldn’t Thompson, Waiters and Noel/Len make less next year combined than Love? Just seems like a ridiculous deal. I could be talked into Thompson, #1 and maybe the Memphis pick for Love. Adding Waiters is just too much. Dion and Tristan have their warts but Love does as well.
The points were high, but I did say ceiling. I’m not at all confident that Thompson will ever average 18 points a game, but if he does continue to develop, there’s a chance. A very good chance if he ever develops an OK jump shot.
TT could get to averaging an 18/13 in his career. Probably not that many points, but he was up to 13.5/11 per 36 minutes in his sophomore season, age 21. So I wouldn’t put it past him either, as he clearly was on the rise a season ago and shouldn’t be slowing down yet. It would be a dissapointment at this point if he never averages 13 rebounds for a season, what with his solid start and elite offensive hops. 18 points? Maybe not.
Simply horrible trade for the Cavs. I’d hate to see us trade Waiters. Notice, however, that negotiating trades is a game of chicken. Weeks ago we say we’re interested in Love . . . and make a reasonable offer. But no reason for Minnesota to say yes “weeks ago.” They know that is the baseline and you wait until the day before the draft and see how badly Cleveland wants their all star. They find out “a lot” now that Cleveland offers the farm. “According to sources” (which I give less than 10% credibility to) the Cavs are offering throwing… Read more »
This is one of those rare trades that’s horrible for both teams.
It’s definitely a stretch that Tristan will ever develop into an 18/13 player. I don’t think he’ll ever average that many points in a season during his career.
I’m just not a fan of trading two top 5 picks and the #1 overall pick for Kevin Love. Will Thompson ever be as good as Love? Chances are no. Will Waiters be Dwayne Wade? Probably not. But these will be very, very good players who still have a ton of upside. I firmly believe Waiters will be a 20+ PPG scorer at the 2. I think Thompson’s ceiling can be that of an 18 point, 13 rebound per game player, which is great at the 4. Throw in whoever we take at #1, and it’s just too much potential… Read more »
Gordon: if Tristan ever had an 18/13 season he’d be the first Cavalier ever to do that.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=&year_max=&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&is_active=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=mp_per_g_req&c1stat=pts_per_g&c1comp=gt&c1val=18&c2stat=trb_per_g&c2comp=gt&c2val=13&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws&order_by_asc=&offset=0
I had a debate last night with a Twolves fan on whether or not that was a weak offer. That’s probably the best offer they are going to get for Love. I get why the Cavs want Love. They want him to be their Bosh. If Minnesota doesn’t make the playoffs this year, Love is gone.
The 260 rumor disinformation by the Wiz camp, they’ve settled on Bennett as their guy not Porter.