Who blinks first?

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

I was listening to Colin Cowherd this morning who I actually tend to like, and he had Goodman on who wrote the article about the GMs on whether they would trade Wiggins for Love. He said he was shocked more would keep Wiggins than trade Love. Before this segment Colin made a really good point he said Wiggins is gonna be a defender and Lebron is probably tired of being the perimeter defender every night. He said if you trade for Love who plays defense? Wiggens seems to be that guy and with perimeter being where the game is going having a young defender like Wiggins is projected to be well that's pretty significant.

After the segment I started thinking about what the cap situation would be if they traded for Love. Love, Lebron and Kyrie would take up a massive section of the cap and really limit what they can add later. Yes I realize that if the Cavs young guys turn out to be good they will have to pay them but also its possible Lebron takes a paycut at that time if those guys are worth it to keep them.

Its a really interesting discussion Love for Wiggins but its interesting to hear others actually agree with what LST and I have been saying for keeping Wiggins. If I was with the Cavs it would be a tough decision based on what info I have but they have a lot more than I do.

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I doubt Wiggins is going to come in and be a dominant defender. A rookie Wiggins is not going to get the benieft of the doubt with foul calls. No rookie does. There's a whole different level of speed from college to the NBA.

Cap situation won't be much different with Love as opposed to without. They'll still be over the cap without Love. With him they'll be in luxury tax area. But that's just dependent on how cheap Gilbert will be.

Also Lebron isn't taking a paycut. Put that notion to bed

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Cam, you seem to be in attack mode here toward anyone who suggests that the Cavs would be better off keeping their young talent than trading for Love, but as monster and porkchop have pointed out, more NBA experts in the ESPN insider article agree with my take. I don't take offense at your belief that the Cavs would be better off with Love and am willing to accept that it may even turn out to be true, but based on what I have seen, I gravitate toward a different view. I just don't think it furthers the debate by calling my takes "mind-boggling" when they are in line with the majority of guys that do this for a living...or at least the ones in the ESPN article. The sports world is clearly divided on this issue, and that's what makes it such an interesting topic.

Wait wait wait. I'm in attack mode at the idea that Bennett, Waiters and Thompson would be a decent haul for Love (same goes for the Olynyk, Smart, 2 1st rounders package) or that Cleveland would be better with those players instead of Love. I find that to be ridiculous. Also in attack mode because many, including yourself, seem to think the Wolves missing the playoffs is Love's fault. I also find that to be ridiculous.

There's a lot of NBA "experts" working for ESPN that tend to be wrong a lot of the time. So while their opinions and such are entertaining and sometimes useful, I don't lean on them for my own understanding. I trust that my own evaluations are on par, if not better, than some of these "experts".

If the Cavs would like to roll the dice on three unproven players intstead of an All-NBA talent, then so be it. They just won't be winning an NBA championship any time soon and I don't believe that's how LeBron would like to spend the rest of his prime.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Cam, you seem to be in attack mode here toward anyone who suggests that the Cavs would be better off keeping their young talent than trading for Love, but as monster and porkchop have pointed out, more NBA experts in the ESPN insider article agree with my take. I don't take offense at your belief that the Cavs would be better off with Love and am willing to accept that it may even turn out to be true, but based on what I have seen, I gravitate toward a different view. I just don't think it furthers the debate by calling my takes "mind-boggling" when they are in line with the majority of guys that do this for a living...or at least the ones in the ESPN article. The sports world is clearly divided on this issue, and that's what makes it such an interesting topic.

Wait wait wait. I'm in attack mode at the idea that Bennett, Waiters and Thompson would be a decent haul for Love (same goes for the Olynyk, Smart, 2 1st rounders package) or that Cleveland would be better with those players instead of Love. I find that to be ridiculous. Also in attack mode because many, including yourself, seem to think the Wolves missing the playoffs is Love's fault. I also find that to be ridiculous.

There's a lot of NBA "experts" working for ESPN that tend to be wrong a lot of the time. So while their opinions and such are entertaining and sometimes useful, I don't lean on them for my own understanding. I trust that my own evaluations are on par, if not better, than some of these "experts".

If the Cavs would like to roll the dice on three unproven players intstead of an All-NBA talent, then so be it. They just won't be winning an NBA championship any time soon and I don't believe that's how LeBron would like to spend the rest of his prime.

No you're right...you haven't specifically attacked the opinion that the Cavs are better off keeping Wiggins. But you agree that you have attacked the following positions as being "ridiculous":

1) the Wolves should at least consider Bennett/Waiters/TT for Love

2) the Wolves should consider 2 players and 2 picks from the Celtics for Love

3) As the team's highest paid player and alleged superstar, Love needs to accept a lot of the responsibility for the Wolves not making the playoffs during his entire time here.

Each of those ideas have been postulated by more than one respected poster here, and none of them are ridiculous. You may see things from a different perspective and I may disagree with your take, but I'm not going to call your opinion ridiculous. It's just a difference of opinion between guys who want their team to be successful.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

No you're right...you haven't specifically attacked the opinion that the Cavs are better off keeping Wiggins. But you agree that you have attacked the following positions as being "ridiculous":

1) the Wolves should at least consider Bennett/Waiters/TT for Love

2) the Wolves should consider 2 players and 2 picks from the Celtics for Love

3) As the team's highest paid player and alleged superstar, Love needs to accept a lot of the responsibility for the Wolves not making the playoffs during his entire time here.

Each of those ideas have been postulated by more than one respected poster here, and none of them are ridiculous. You may see things from a different perspective and I may disagree with your take, but I'm not going to call your opinion ridiculous. It's just a difference of opinion between guys who want their team to be successful.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

Long,

was it Lebrons fault that the Heat didn't win the championship last year?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

actually i have to disagree on Bennett with many of you, he is just 6'7 with shoes with decent wingspan, but the same wingspan has also Derrick Williams who is like 2 inches higher which still is not enough to play NBA PF, also keep in mind that Bennett has no backt-to-basket skills, Bennett would have to slim down and play 3 but c mon i dont want this kind of project again ..
i would actually value mid 1st round pick higher than Bennett also dont forget that he is No.1 pick just because CLE screwed up big time, that is not like that it is adding any value to him, he is guy who should go 6-10th in draft who has shown absolutely nothing first year and SL is just a joke with not many guys with proper size and skills ..

Also when it comes to CAVs, if you would think about teams with really iffy front offices cappable of doing really silly moves, one of them would have to be CAVs and Lebron going home is not making them any better, so it is actually possible that even though all analyst and people around NBA would trade Wiggins for Love in a minute, CAVs might screw this like bosses again

So when it comes to actual trade i would take Wiggins+Thompson+SAC first rounder, or Wiggins+Waiters+SAC+HEAT first rounders, (or ofc Wiggins+Waiters+Thompson)

and When it comes to Lebron's letter, i actually expect that he had him prepared for some time and Wiggins omission is because concept of letter was written way before draft day, i just think people are trying to read too deep

Good point about Williams' wingspan, m4gor...I had forgotten that he was that long. You're right that wingspan alone does not ensure a good defender. My only point is that it helps. I don't agree with your take that 7'1" is inadequate wingspan for PF...it's more than adequate. Love's and Blake Griffin's wingspan is less than that. Even Dwight Howard's WS is only about 2 inches more.

I also have to correct your comment that all NBA people would trade Wiggins for Love in a minute. Things are happening quickly in these critical days for the Wolves, and it's hard to keep up with all the information. So I'm guessing you missed the ESPN insider article yesterday where a majority of NBA GM's said they would keep Wiggins. So, while I agree with you that the Cavs front office doesn't always make the best decisions, I agree with their current position on Wiggins, and so do the majority of NBA GM's.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Long,

was it Lebrons fault that the Heat didn't win the championship last year?

As the best player on the team (and in the world, for that matter), he does bear some responsibility for them not winning the championship. It was an unfortunate turn of events and out of his control, but if he doesn't cramp up in game 1 it's likely that series plays out quite differently...the Heat was cruising to victory at the time.

But we're not talking about winning championships here. .We're only talking about getting TO the playoffs...something a majority of teams do every year, and a much lower bar to get over. As the highest paid and best player on every team he has been on, LeBron James deserves much of the credit for his team making the playoffs EVERY year he has been in the league. And yes, conversely as the best player on his team and currently the highest paid player on his team, Kevin Love bears substantial responsibility for his team missing the playoffs EVERY year he has been in the league.

[A Friendly Flatulence [enjin:8907904]]

the word "Majority" was misleading in the title, it was split about even if I recall 7/12, which is technically a majority but really about 50/50. I think there are valid points on by both teams on the merits/concerns over a K-Love trade for Wiggins. I'm hoping for the trade do happen, but I wouldn't put more than $5 dollars on it either way.

My reasoning is this for Cleveland "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" AKA give me player that's a star now while Lebron is at his best he is going to be to try and win a championship now over lets hold onto Wiggins and maybe we can squeeze a championship out in 2 years (I don't see them winning it all next season as is) while having potential to be good 5 years from now.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Espn Insider has an article saying quite the opposite Lip. Of 12 GMs spoken to 7 said theyd keep Wiggins.

I would love to ask those GM's why they'd be willing to waste years of Lebron's prime and limit the amount of title contending years he has left to keep a rookie who has done nothing in this league over a top 10 player. They must be talking to the teams who want to get Love in free agency trying to talk up Wiggins so Cleveland gets an ego about their pick and don't trade him. Otherwise they must be talking to lottery teams because there is no way any good GM who runs a playoff level team would take the rookie over the top 10 player. To me, they shouldn't have jobs if they would honestly keep Wiggins over getting a top 10 player.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

It wasn't NBA GMs necessarily, it was a combo of scouts and front office executives (only one high executive) if I remember correctly. Guys that don't make the final decision on what their respective teams do. If I'm wrong on that I will gladly retract my correction, though. It's been a while since I last looked at that article.