Minnesota Sports Forum

Just a question, If cavs will trade for love, can they include deng in it? Deng is unrestricted but the cavs can go over the cap sign and trade him if he agrees right?

I dont want deng in return in a package for love but he could be send to a 3rd team and get us a quality player in return along with wiggins.

Wiggins is who i want but if my question is possible then a 3rd team to take deng could make the trade simpler in matching salary and us adding bud, jj or martin to the deal.

Take a listen to this interview between Cowherd and Sheridan this morning. Look for the blue radio box a little bit down the page:

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2014/07/10/discussing-lebron-james-reporting-with-espns-colin-cowherd/

Really interesting for us Wolves fans.

khans2k5 wrote:Thompson is nothing special at all. His production is not difficult to find from a replacement player and you would rather pay him more money, sooner? I'd take the younger guy who is going to be cheaper because he is on a rookie deal. If he's so good, then why has Cleveland been in the lottery in the East for multiple years in a row. The East is a joke and they couldn't even make the playoffs with one of the best scorers in the game because guys like Waiters and Thompson are nothing special. Thompson is worth no more than the MLE because you can get the same production for that cost. The guy doesn't even know which hand to shoot the basketball with. It's crazy to think you are declaring a #1 pick a bust with 1 injury riddled year under his belt. He couldn't even participate in the summer league or training camp so his limited production must be because he is a bust and not because he didn't even have a chance to get ready for the season on top of being a rookie. Bennett will be able to give you 12 and whatever by the time he is 23 and you can take that to the bank right now.

"His production is not difficult to find from a replacement player and you would rather pay him more money, sooner?"

And yet it's hard to envision Bennett producing Thompson's numbers and defense within the same time span. Not to mention Bennett makes $5.6M, $5.8M and $7.3M a year, assuming his option isn't declined. How much are you expecting Thompson to cost a year after next season? $7M a year MAX. So you're arguing over a couple million, but the player you're advocating for has trouble staying in shape and producing on the court. OK.

"If he's so good, then why has Cleveland been in the lottery in the East for multiple years in a row."

This is dumb. Maybe because the Cavs haven't had a competent head coach in years, Irving's overrated and Waiters doesn't get enough playing time. Irving and Varejao have had injury troubles, Cavs overpayed badly for Jack and they blew a 1st rounder on your boy Bennett. That's why.

"The East is a joke and they couldn't even make the playoffs with one of the best scorers in the game because guys like Waiters and Thompson are nothing special."

Kyrie's one of the best scorers in the game? Really? He was tied for 14th in the NBA in PPG last year (didn't qualify the year before due to injury) while having OK shooting percentages. He was in the same company as Dragic, Lillard, I.Thomas and Gay. I guess they're some of the best scorers in the NBA too.

The guy doesn't even know which hand to shoot the basketball with.

Switched shooting hands last year and improved his FT% from 61% to 69%. Pretty sure he figured it out. Still better than Bennett's FT% by the way (64%). Throw jabs at Thompson all you want to, but it doesn't work in your favor here.

Bennett will be able to give you 12 and whatever by the time he is 23 and you can take that to the bank right now.

Whoopty-doo? Thompson just produced 12/9 last year. If "12 and whatever" is what's to expect from Bennett, then I really don't want him. Why? Because that "12 and whatever" isn't even guaranteed!

Do better, khans. Thompson makes much more sense in a Love trade where we'd need a starting PF in return.

Your calling a guy a bust after 52 games and claiming a career 11 and 9 guy is starting caliber. Your the one who needs to do better. Thompson has been in the league for 3 seasons and he actually regressed in every category except FT% this year with the same amount of playing time. Meanwhile, Bennett played a whopping 13 MPG's which is clearly enough playing time to declare the quality of his career. If we rated every rookie after 52 games, half the league would be busts and the other half would be bench players at best. It's to the point where your argument is an actual joke to me because you think a 12 and 9 guy who has already regressed in his career and doesn't make any of his teammates better on defense to go with poor offensive production is so much better than a #1 pick who barely got to play and missed almost 40% of the season with no summer league and no training camp. The Cavs were 7 points per 100 possessions better defensively with Thompson off the floor which is a large margin especially on a bad team because it should be the other way around if he was good defensively. All he brings is rebounding which you can get for the league minimum. It's not even close that you go with the guy 2 years younger when the production is so low from Thompson. By the way, Thompson's FG% got worse so the whole which hand should he shoot with argument still isn't settled. The fact that he had to switch to begin with should tell you that he isn't a basketball player, but just a lengthy dude who can get you rebounds and that is it. His 0.4 BPG's make him a great fit next to Pek. I guess Bazz is also a bust because he didn't produce well in the 37 games he played. You can't call a guy a bust if he's not even given the opportunity to fail in the first place.

"You can't call a guy a bust if he's not even given the opportunity to fail in the first place."

I'd say the first 20+ games Bennet was doing a pretty good job of failing. It was BRUTAL. However latter in the season he showed some life based on game logs I looked at weeks ago. I haven't seen the young Cavs players play enough (hardly any at all) to comment much on them. I do wonder if Thompson is more like a Drew Gooden type sorta nice to have off the bench but you don't wanna have to pay him that much because he also sort of sucks. I just say that based on the stats Thompson has put up so far and the fact that nobody really gets excited about him as a player.

Just kind of thinking out loud here but after weeks of thinking it over this is what I think is the best Love trade. What if the Lakers strike out on all the big free agents, would they sign and trade Pau for some Cavs prospects?

I don't know if this works salary wise but the general concept/main pieces would be Love going to the Cavs, Waiters and Bennett going to LA, and Wiggins, Thompson, and Pau coming to MN.

Rubio, Martin, Brewer, Pau, and Pek is a very solid starting 5 and Wiggins, LaVine, Shabazz, GR3, Dieng, and Thompson are either good prospects or in Dieng and Thompson's case solid players already. That group of players would get me very excited about both the present and future.

Why wouldn't Cleveland just cut us out of the deal & do a Thompson/Bennett and Waiters for Pau? I don't think that Cleveland is going to give up all of their young players on a rookie contract + Wiggins to get Love as much as we would like them too. We're probably looking at 2 to 3 and maybe a pick or two if we convince them to part ways with Wiggins

A Friendly Flatulence wrote:Why wouldn't Cleveland just cut us out of the deal & do a Thompson/Bennett and Waiters for Pau? I don't think that Cleveland is going to give up all of their young players on a rookie contract + Wiggins to get Love as much as we would like them too. We're probably looking at 2 to 3 and maybe a pick or two if we convince them to part ways with Wiggins

I agree they won't give up all their young players for Love. Wiggins will obviously have to be in the deal or Flip won't do it. The Cavs want to unload Waiters so that won't be an issue for Cleveland although I'm not sure Flip would want him. I would expect us to get either Thompson or Bennett but not both in addition to getting Wiggins and Waiters. I haven't checked for salary match, but that can be worked out. I'd like to get Varejao but I don't see that happening.

lipoli390 wrote:

A Friendly Flatulence wrote:Why wouldn't Cleveland just cut us out of the deal & do a Thompson/Bennett and Waiters for Pau? I don't think that Cleveland is going to give up all of their young players on a rookie contract + Wiggins to get Love as much as we would like them too. We're probably looking at 2 to 3 and maybe a pick or two if we convince them to part ways with Wiggins

I agree they won't give up all their young players for Love. Wiggins will obviously have to be in the deal or Flip won't do it. The Cavs want to unload Waiters so that won't be an issue for Cleveland although I'm not sure Flip would want him. I would expect us to get either Thompson or Bennett but not both in addition to getting Wiggins and Waiters. I haven't checked for salary match, but that can be worked out. I'd like to get Varejao but I don't see that happening.

Agreed too that cavs wont want to sent us all 4 of wiggins,thompson,bennet and waiters.

The guy that i really want is wiggins. Iu could do without the rest but we need to take at least 2 of those + hopson and haywood to make salary match.

Thats why Im curious to see if cavs can go over the cap to resign dend. Deng is a unrestricted free agent and im not sure with the rules but can the cavs go over the cap to resign him? If so then a sign and trade with deng going to a 3rd team might make it easier for both us and the cavs.

I prefer the upside of Bennett over the low ceiling of Thompson. How do people compare Olynyk, Sullinger, Zellar to these guts? Smart is equal to Wiggins to me.