The Love-Wiggins Deal Thread

[Lipoli390]

Andrew Bogusch @BoguschCBS

- "Coach K says he'd trade for Kevin Love ASAP if he was in charge of Cavs. @JFeinsteinShow @CBSSportsRadio"

- "K says that has nothing to do with Wiggins, etc. Love is just that good and unique"

- "K (paraphrasing): Love is a proven commodity. Waiting on Wiggins might not be best for maximizing Lebron's time in Cleveland"


Coach K must be reading my comments on this board... or he's just a smart guy who understands the situation. Anyone trying to argue with a Hall of Famer?

Cam --

Thanks for posting. I'm not surprised. Anyone who knows anything about basketball and who approaches this objectively would reach the same conclusion. Most of us on this Board have agreed from the outset that dealing Wiggins in a package for Love is a very easy, no-brainer call for the Cavs. If the Cavs were really holding out on dealing Wiggins until LeBron intervened, then their front office is dumber than I thought and I've never thought they're the brightest to begin with.

Honestly, I can't imagine a Love-Wiggins deal not happening unless Flip asks for way too much or decides he'd prefer the Klay Thompson deal. I don't see Flip getting too greedy here. But I could see Flip opting instead for a Klay Thompson deal. By the way, I am certain that the Warriors have Klay on the table right now. The only thing that stopped a Klay Thompson deal from happening before the draft was the Warriors refusal to take Kevin Martin in the deal. I suspect that, with the Cavs deal in the works, the Warriors have relented on their refusal to take Martin.

Still, I'll stand by my prediction that there will be a Love-Wiggins swap along the lines of the package I suggested above. I think Flip knows that is the better deal long term, but I do know that Flip really likes both Klay and David Lee.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Wolfson said the other day that Flip prefers Wiggins over Thompson, which made me happy. I don't want the head coach (Flip) influencing any decisions due to the "win now" bullshit.

[mjs34]

Wolfson said the other day that Flip prefers Wiggins over Thompson, which made me happy. I don't want the head coach (Flip) influencing any decisions due to the "win now" bullshit.

What scares me about that Cam, is Doogie never gets any breaking stories from the wolves, but now all of a sudden he knows who Flip prefers. I think Flip leaked that to Doogie to up the GS offer.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Wolfson said the other day that Flip prefers Wiggins over Thompson, which made me happy. I don't want the head coach (Flip) influencing any decisions due to the "win now" bullshit.

What scares me about that Cam, is Doogie never gets any breaking stories from the wolves, but now all of a sudden he knows who Flip prefers. I think Flip leaked that to Doogie to up the GS offer.

Yeah, I hope that's not the case. Wolfson did break that LaVine would be the pick at 13 a couple days before the draft, though. Maybe he got a better source that's closer to Flip. I'm not sure. I just can't see Flip being that dumb.

[TheGrey08]

Grey -- The cash from those second round picks is irrelevant. The main issue is cap space. A buy-out would likely be the full contract value, which means the player's full salary would still count against the Wolves' cap. Since Moute and Shved have only one year left on their contracts, it's no inconceivable that the Wolves would buy one of them out to clear a roster spot. But their $4.3/$3.2 million salaries would be a significant cap hit for a player not on the roster. Not sure how close to the luxury tax threshold we'd be if we bought one or the other out and signed someone at the full MLE. So it may be doable.

I also suspect that Flip does not want to set a precedent of trying to trade players only to buy them out when he fails to get offers he considers acceptable. That approach would encourage teams to wait him out and Flip is clearly attempting to change the perception of the Wolves organization as a patsy when it comes to trade negotiations. I like what he's doing in that regard.

It's not really irrelevant. Think about it this way. Keeping the roster as is costs the team X amount. Making this trade with CLE would reduce the team salary by 3-5 mill depending on pieces. If they buyout either of those guys the amount saved in this trade they will come out even. The MLE could be used in either scenario so that's a wash also. That's all I was getting at. That it wouldn't cost Glen anymore money overall if he bought someone out after a CLE deal or went into the season with the current roster.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

There is no reason to throw in GR3. He's not going to hold up the trade if we say we don't want to include him. Bazz makes less than 3 million which could fit into pretty much any trade. With Bud already at the 3 and Wiggins probably being a 3 at the start because of his handle, Bazz is expendable in my eyes. It makes no sense for us to keep the more expensive player who is just as low on the depth chart and it makes the deal look better for Cleveland getting a lottery pick back with Love. GR3 is going to be a better basketball player than Bazz so I don't want to include him because he is not a throw in level player in my mind. We are giving them a star and rotation player. That should be enough to land Wiggins/Bennett/Thompson or Waiters and a pick. There should be no need to include GR3 and I'll be disappointed if he does.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I doubt GRIII is traded. Flip thought he got a first round talent in the second round with him (27th overall on his board if I recall) . I think he's unsigned because we need to see where we're at with roster spots after a Love trade. No reason for him to be a throw in for any trade.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I kinda wanna see CLE overplay their hand on this, and Flip shuts the whole thing down and keeps Love. Probably not likely this far along.

Maybe part of me wants to see if Love/Flip can turn this team into a contender with a little help from our young guys getting more PT and LaVine.

[Lipoli390]

Grey -- The cash from those second round picks is irrelevant. The main issue is cap space. A buy-out would likely be the full contract value, which means the player's full salary would still count against the Wolves' cap. Since Moute and Shved have only one year left on their contracts, it's no inconceivable that the Wolves would buy one of them out to clear a roster spot. But their $4.3/$3.2 million salaries would be a significant cap hit for a player not on the roster. Not sure how close to the luxury tax threshold we'd be if we bought one or the other out and signed someone at the full MLE. So it may be doable.

I also suspect that Flip does not want to set a precedent of trying to trade players only to buy them out when he fails to get offers he considers acceptable. That approach would encourage teams to wait him out and Flip is clearly attempting to change the perception of the Wolves organization as a patsy when it comes to trade negotiations. I like what he's doing in that regard.

It's not really irrelevant. Think about it this way. Keeping the roster as is costs the team X amount. Making this trade with CLE would reduce the team salary by 3-5 mill depending on pieces. If they buyout either of those guys the amount saved in this trade they will come out even. The MLE could be used in either scenario so that's a wash also. That's all I was getting at. That it wouldn't cost Glen anymore money overall if he bought someone out after a CLE deal or went into the season with the current roster.

I see what you mean, Grey. I don't think Glen worries about a few million here or there, but I could be wrong. Bottom line is that I think you're right that a buy-out of Shved or Luc is possible unless it would set us up to exceed the luxury tax threshold.

[Lipoli390]

I doubt GRIII is traded. Flip thought he got a first round talent in the second round with him (27th overall on his board if I recall) . I think he's unsigned because we need to see where we're at with roster spots after a Love trade. No reason for him to be a throw in for any trade.

Cam -- It really depends on how much the Cavs like him. We all know that Wiggins has to be included in the deal. If the Cavs really want GRIII as the price for including Tristan Thompson or Waiters in addition to Bennett, then I'm sure Flip would include him and that would be perfectly reasonable.