LeBron James, Johnny Manziel, Cleveland and the concept of home – Casual Friday – WFNY Podcast – 2014-07-18
July 18, 2014Conflicting reports surrounding Wiggins, Love
July 18, 2014So the Cavs are willing to trade Andrew Wiggins now for Kevin Love. Maybe. LeBron wants Love on this Cavs roster. But even that’s easier said than done.
Why would they make the deal now? Why wouldn’t they just wait? Who counts as what? Is Wiggins even signed? How is the Collective Bargaining Agreement involved?
As the questions pile up, we here at WFNY have compiled a bit of an FAQ of sorts to help guide you through the process. Enjoy.
Q: If Kevin Love wants to be a free agent, why don’t the Cavs just wait for him to be available and sign him?
A: The Cavaliers won’t have salary cap space to do that. LeBron James’ cap hold would be roughly $22 million. Kyrie Irving will be due roughly $18 million. Dion Waiters and Anthony Bennett will likely see their $5 million options picked up. If Tristan Thompson doesn’t get an extension, he’s looking at a $7 million qualifying offer. Factor in Andrew Wiggins’ $6 million and you’re at $63 million with just those six players. Unless Love is willing to take the veteran minimum, a trade is necessary.
That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, however. They could still do a sign-and-trade and utilize the unique feature of Brendan Haywood’s $10 million non-guaranteed deal for 2015-16. It’s not impossible, but it’s not that likely. Even less likely: LeBron opting out and taking less money to get this done in outright free agency as Love eyes up the Lakers.
Q: Andrew Wiggins hasn’t even signed his deal yet, right?
A: No, Wiggins hasn’t signed yet. If and when he signs a deal with the Cavaliers he can not be traded for 30 days.
Q: So if the Cavs trade Wiggins, what salary is used for salary matching purposes?
A: As has been pointed out in Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ, the trade value of a first- or second-round pick is always $0. There would be a lot of interesting salary math that would have to happen to make an Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love trade happen, which is why you’re likely seeing so many other players’ names involved in rumors.
Q: But I thought the Cavaliers told Andrew Wiggins they weren’t going to trade him.
A: That was July 11 and things change in a hurry—especially in the NBA. Plus, that was just a report and maybe it was mis-information. David Blatt also did say it, but he’s not the General Manager. SI’s Chris Mannix reported on Thursday night that it’s of the belief that Wiggins would merely be the starting point and that Dion Waiters and a draft pick would still need to be added for Minnesota to pull the trigger. This said, both Andy Baskin (of NewsNet5), Tom Withers (of The AP) and Sam Amico (of FOX Sports Ohio) are still of the belief that Wiggins is not up for grabs.
Q: Why wouldn’t the Cavs deal Wiggins? He’s a rookie who is average on offense and may not peak for four or five years.
A: Have you been watching the Summer League? Sure, the kid is raw, but the potential for he and LeBron James in transition—on both ends—is highlight reel-ready. Several GMs have already said he has the potential to be a top five player in the league given enough time.
Q: Then why would the Cavs deal him? They lucked into the top pick and he’ll be one of the top players in the league—on a rookie pay scale.
A: Because Kevin Love is one of the top 12 players in the NBA. He’s a floor-spacing stretch four who also happens to be one of the better passing big men in the league. Essentially, he’s EXACTLY what David Griffin pictures when he discusses fit. He may not average 26 and 12 on a team with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with 20 and 10 with the potential to drop 30 on any given night. Had he not been on a terrible team in the West, he would’ve single-handedly carried his team to the playoffs. Oh, and he’s already cool with Kyrie.
Q: If we would have told you last week that you could have LeBron James and Kevin Love if you were willing to trade Andrew Wiggins, would you have done it?
A: Good point. But Cleveland already has LeBron.
Q: But isn’t Love an injury concern?
A: Any professional athlete who plays at a high level is an injury concern. That said, Love, similar to Irving, has had to carry his team. It can be safely assumed that his usage requirements will dip a bit given the fact that he’d be surrounded by two All-Stars and a center who would’ve been right there if not for injuries of his own. You’ll never win if you’re always paranoid.
Q: Did the Cavs blow all their leverage with Thursday’s report?
A: Maybe. The Golden State Warriors refuse to trade the one-trick Klay Thompson, and even then—they would require Minnesota to take on David Lee’s contract. The market was all but dry. At least until Thursday. As reports swirled that LeBron James wants Love on the Cavs’ roster, and went as far as to reach out to recruit him, it appears that the ball is now in the Cavs’ court. Does it feel a bit dirty that James came home and immediately started hand-picking teammates? A little bit. Even if the deal doesn’t happen, the Cavs stand to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Are the Cavs willing to mortgage any hint of the future and essentially make Cleveland Miami North?
Q: Doesn’t this kind of remind everyone of the time the Cavaliers wouldn’t trade J.J. Hickson for Amare Stoudemire?
A: That NEVER happened! Dan Gilbert (among others) has been on record saying that those rumors were FLAT OUT NONSENSE. It’s the rumored deal that just won’t die! If you want a sure-fire quick way to remind everyone how little you know about the Cavs and the NBA, bring up the failed JJ for Amare trade.
Q: But what if I still have more questions?
A: Feel free to put ’em in the comments. We will do our best to answer them.
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(AP Photo/Jim Mone | Scott Sargent and Jacob Rosen contributed to this publication)
92 Comments
Q: Why do birds poop white?
Love, pretty easily. But that’s not saying much.
And what if the Wolves, who had a better scoring differential than a couple West playoff teams, put it together and are holding a playoff spot at the deadline? And Love goes “hey, this is what I wanted, postseason basketball, I’ll stay here”?
Lots of risks either way you go.
I’m presuming in this that any deal they’d get before then the Cavs would still have time to match. I doubt there’s anything imminent.
This recent report makes me assume Minnesota is the one putting this out to pressure GS.
Nobody knows if LBJ is doing anything like this other then saying yes I’d like to play with Love. Who wouldn’t? A lot of this speculation and conjecture happened the first seven years LBJ was a Cavalier and it certainly occurred during free agency. Lets see what happens.
A: Their racists!
I think the $$$ will actually be a non-factor. Like LBJ, the other “max” players will structure their deals to expire with the current CBA/TV deal. I guess in my opinion, unless Love opts-in, the Cavs offer should reflect the possibility of him being a rental…and NOT include Wiggins…again, just my opinion.
They’re you have it.
Bosh isn’t, Carmelo isn’t, I’m not so sure that Love will. But you’re still in the same position. The chance to offer him the most money under the new CBA and a contender.
Presumably, and hopefully, but there’s no guarantees though. Maybe Minny prefers Thompson to Wiggins, and GS eventually caves.
agreed, but it also depends on who you trade with. a team that desperately wants to get under the luxury line or just shed $$$ could view the Haywood contract as a real asset to go get.
thanks for this article. very helpful.
The original reference won the first thread. I wanted to win all of the others, so they’d leave him alone.
I agree that it’s more valuable to the Cavs than the Wolves at the moment, but if the Wolves really want guys like Lee and Thompson, they’re probably looking to make moves to contend, and Haywood lets them add another decent piece.
Okay, how about this one?
Does it feel dirty robbing another small Great Lakes city of their one and only star player to create a super team like Miami did to us 4 years ago?
Thompson is ambidextrous afterall. We are talking about Tristan, right? (hey, it’s Flip, you never know)
Hell no.
Fair enough. It does to me.
I thought that the Cleveland native being in charge would be a help to us, he’s prone to the poor decision now and then. But he seems to be going the other way with his poor decision making.
I hope he gets traded just so you stop using the reference over and over.
Only difference is at least Love gave them an entire year to make a move. So once again, your aim is kinda off. Must be a Friday thang.
http://paulgillespie.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/b-s_Awesome-300×240.jpg
salty
vaguely uncomfortable with the idea of staring at screen and clicking on something marked “Love Button.”
Fair enough. It does to me.
So the J.J. Hickson trade offer never happened just because you and Dan Gilbert say so? I don’t think so, that was definitely real.
Steve Kerr has said that Phoenix would not pull the trigger because they were not all that high on Hickson. The offer happened, it just is not the Cavs that said no (as some reported).
Have to agree with Shamrock. The issue with Lebron’s move was primarily the Decision, and secondarily that he had seemingly left the Cavs consistently in the dark even as he seemingly knew he was leaving, hamstringing them. Love has done the opposite. He’s under no obligation to stay there, and the Cavs may be offering them the best return on letting him go.
STEVE KERR said it never happened. Repeatedly. Publicly. A bunch of times.
FAQ: If JJ had stayed in college, what year would Hickson be now? A: post-post doc fellowship
[always loved that his early college exit was the great excuse for all of JJ’s issues, from low on-court IQ to napping in team meetings to bad hands]
we can rationalize it all we want, but we are still the big market* team coming in and taking away the best players off the small market team and leaving their fans to hope that maybe they can spend the next few seasons picking up the pieces.
yes, it’s better on Love to at least let Minny know his intentions so that they can decide their best course of action, but that is on his side, not ours.
*any team with LeBron committed to it is a big market team
How is it “robbing” if we send them Andrew Wiggins?
What if Dan Gilbert’s revenge for The Decision is to tie up LeBron on a team that can’t win the championship?
🙂
Love would obviously have to sign an extension if traded. Cleveland never does the deal otherwise.
that would cost him millions of $$$
I thought you were a child of the ’60s Harv…
pffft, at Woodstock there were no screens.
If that is what he wants he should definitely keep Wiggins. Then Lebron can leave as a free agent next year.
Does it feel a bit dirty that James came home and immediately started hand-picking teammates?
Yes. I’m trying to just avoid all the rumors surrounding this deal and assume we go into the season with a roster very similar to what we have today. But this question is the one thought that nags at me. I hope LeBron isn’t trying to call the shots like this. I don’t believe he is, but I worry.
quedtion….as far as the warriors go, does not Lee and Thompsons production match or outpoint Love. If Thomson goes, than they will need a 2 who is not really available.
Is this vox dot com
based on the fact that cleveland will get out of the east regardless, why not wait until next year for love to make sure Lebron opts in. you would retain wiggins long term for the organization in case everyone bolts again.