WFNY’s State of the Browns: Cornerbacks
July 23, 2014Decisions… Greg Little or a Nissan?
July 23, 2014The Cavaliers may have a lot stronger competition in Kevin Love sweepstakes then previously thought. According to Chris Sheridan, The Chicago Bulls offered Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love. He states that the the Timberwolves are very intrigued by the package. Taj Gibson is a 5-year veteran who averaged 13 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks last season for the Bulls. He plays well on defense and can score in the post and in the mid range. Doug McDermott is a rookie from Creighton University. In his senior season, he averaged 26.7 points and 7 rebounds. He is a lethal shooter who can shoot from any spot on the court. The Bulls signed Nikola Mirotic this offseason from Real Madrid in Spain. He is a young sharp shooter who has really intrigued NBA teams over the past few years.
The Cavs have reportedly offered Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and a first round pick for Love. Andrew Wiggins was the number one pick in this past draft from the University of Kansas. He is an athletic player with a huge upside. Anthony Bennett was selected number one overall in the 2013 NBA Draft from UNLV. He had a subpar year last season averaging only 4.2 points and 3 rebounds last season. The Cavs own three first round picks next season including a Miami and Memphis’s picks.
The race to get Kevin Love is in full gear and it may not be decided for quite a while. The Cavs made a trade yesterday to better their offer by getting three non-guaranteed contracts from the Utah Jazz. The Bulls and Cavs seems to be the leaders in the clubhouse for Kevin Love, but anything can happen in the NBA.
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(Photo by: AP Photo/Jim Mone)
99 Comments
Again, I think we’re all on board for wanting a big man. The problem is why either team would not just help us get one, but give one they can keep, without getting a bunch of talent back. Why would Memphis give us Gasol for anything less than Wiggins+?
Sorry ESPN, you’re going to have to do better than that, in order to scare us out of Wiggins.
Next!
not everyone, but pretty much everyone who matters (and i’m not talking about the self-important commenters here).
I haven’t seen a report on Wiggins that said anything other than “star potential.” emphasis on potential, certainly, but you can’t tell me any of the guys Chicago is offering has franchise-changing talent.
Not ESPN, just the guy who broke the Lebron-to-Cleveland story before anyone else.
pos’d for use of glhf
Snell v. McDermott/Mirotic. Sure, it’s upping the offer, but not all that great either.
If they demanded we take Kevin Martin, but we couldn’t do it as presently constructed, then I’d view moving towards it as accepting their terms more than upping our offer, but fair enough.
According to Twitter half the city of Cleveland broke the LeBron to Cleveland story before anyone else.
Next!
If he told CHI there was no way he’d sign an extension with them, they would not trade for him. There’s absolutely no incentive for him to allow a bidding war for his services. The only risk for him would that Minnesota says, “screw you,” and keeps him past the deadline which means he misses out on GS, CLE, and CHI. But I don’t believe for one second that Minnesota lets him walk without getting at least something in return…
Is the scenario not clear? Do you just want Minnesota to be able to maximize their returns on Love? Are you suggesting Love avoid this scenario out of loyalty?
This. All. Day.
Like i said to mgbode, to me this is the clear indicator that we did not offer Wiggins as OTHERS would lead us to believe.
The offer must have been more Dion/Bennett and a first rounder…. which honestly is STILL better than the Bulls offer.
Like you said, emphasis on potential. I know you’ve said he purposely dogged it in college, but his usage rate/fg% combination don’t scream superstar at the next level. They suggest a guy who’s got to make significant gains to be an efficient offensive weapon.
Technically SI broke it.
He just reported a “source”, and speculated at 90%
But, regardless, that “offer” isn’t enough to scare Griffin out of Wiggins.
Cavaliers can throw young talent like Waiters (I think he needs to go especially now that you added Jones and Miller and Wiggins can start at SG) Bennett and perhaps Thompson along with tons of cap saving contracts as well as first round picks so I don’t consider a deal for Gasol as being done a favor.
self-important commenters here
http://31.media.tumblr.com/47fcf1212826cef4e099922b4409229a/tumblr_mv06ud6pWD1sifs9xo4_500.gif
They should be careful not to overplay their hand. Their options are only limited by where Love will sign a new deal. As far as the Cavaliers go sure they desire Love but it’s not like they don’t have other options. I have to believe just like this deal yesterday where Griffin created space he’s talked to other teams about adding another piece.
certainly agree. But i think you can tell he is making more of an effort based on his summer league play. Plus, Blatt’s motion system should be more comprehensive than the secondary break, and it is (i would think) going to better suit Wiggins’s skills.
McDermott needs someone to play off of he’s in a better situation in Chicago then he’d be in Minnesota that’s for sure. He can’t be “the guy” and carry a team. Honestly I’d have loved him on the Cavaliers. A younger, bigger Miller.
LBJ single handedly saved SI.com that’s what he did. 😉
To which Chicago would respond “who exactly would you sign with once we trade for you?” He can get a max offer and be on +50 win team in Chicago, or take a steep pay cut to find his contender of choice. I believe he’ll take the pay cut less has less a chance of happening than Minnesota letting him walk.
whether or not it is better depends on the viewpoint on Mirotic & McDermott. I think everyone agrees Gibson is a nice enough backup PF on a team. So, if a team is high on McDermott & Mirotic, then they’d like that deal more than Dion/Bennett/’15 1st rounder. If not, then they’d swing the other way. Also, it largely depends on WHICH ’15 1st rounder and what the team thinks of the 2015 draft.
Agree with all of this, but it’s also just summer league where Glen Rice Jr lead the league in scoring.
normally, I would agree with you. but, I am more and more leaning towards Love seeing that he can simply sign a 1 year deal next summer so that he can take advantage of the rising salary cap in 2016.
he might leave a couple million on the table next season, but it would be to get that back and lots more in his next contract.
let’s be fair here: we root for those guys but i don’t think there is a lot of leverage in their potential. Other than Bennett, they have played enough to know they might not be that good.
With Bennett, however, it’s different because he actually may end up being pretty good, but any GM worth a darn is going to point to his rookie season struggles to drive the price down.
hmmmm, good point. i hadn’t thought about that – makes more sense than the alternative.
Why would Memphis prefer Waiters, Bennett and cap savings to a guy who should be a multiple all-star?
Glen Rice Jr.? Was he playing in the over-40 summer league or something?
Exactly.
And I’m not saying, Steve, that the retort isn’t a fair one. But we’re still talking about people, not emotionless assets. But I really can’t see CHI holding Love hostage if he says, CLE is the only team I’ll re-up with if traded. I don’t see how they still trade for him and say, well, if you wanna walk, walk. It’s just sooo much to risk. Imagine if Love said, I’ll only re-up with CHI if traded, would you feel comfortable with the Cavs upping their offer and trading for him anyway and playing the “who exactly would you sign with once we trade for you?” card?
LBJ set the mark I bet a lot of guys follow. You the know players association loves it!
Sheridan was banging the 100% hammer as hard as possible.
And considering that Wiggins seemed to have been on the table before this offer, I’m not so sure I can agree with you.
Completely agree… the worst place they can be is a .500 team in the western conference. I know their organization hasn’t been relevant since KG left and their fans would cringe at another rebuild, but that’s where they are. That’s what they need.
It’ll be interesting to see if Love ends up in Chicago this season will be a slug fest in the Central.
Doug McD could turn out to be the next Jimmer
A bold move, but feasible. So far, the only guy willing to take the risk to get a big deal in 2016 is Lebron. I’d bet that, like Carmelo and Bosh, Love won’t risk it, but that’s some leverage.
Well that’s probably why they supposedly want Wiggins. I don’t know how anyone can adequately assess the value of Waiters, Bennett or even Thompson. I’m guessing being around LBJ, if it happens, all three will be much improved. That’s how it goes.
Wiggins may be on the table.
But, it’s going to take more than that crappy alleged offer from Chicago to get Griffin to actually tender an offer that includes him.
Absolutely. I’d take the bet that he is just posturing and would end up preferring to take a max deal and win 60 games next to Lebron. And Chicago has to be willing to do a lot to keep Love out of Cleveland, or they might as well rebuild and try to win the East five years from now.
Fair answer. I disagree, but I understand. Though this hypothetical risk scenario is probably not equal in both directions…if Love wanted to play in CLE, it’s unique because LBJ is here, etc. There’s a very conceivable scenario where Love indicates CLE is his top choice; CHI trades for him anyway; Derrick Rose goes down again; and now Love is once again stuck in a bad spot and faces the dilemma of taking the money or walking. If he walks, which I think he does if D-Rose goes down again, CHI just burned a ton of assets. Just don’t like that risk level for them.
The Bulls just won 48 games despite getting only 300 minutes from Rose and would only use one piece from last year’s team in a trade for Love. Gibson and Boozer become Love and Gasol. Even without Rose, I’d expect to see them in the Conference Finals, and Love deciding that three round of playoffs is a pretty fun place to stick around at $20M/year.
I don’t think the Bulls offer is actually all that competitive, and it certainly doesn’t make allowances for the Wolves desire to dump bad contracts. Taj Gibson is 29 and has 3/$25M left on his contract, and he’s a career 9.1/6.2 guy who can’t shoot from the outside or from the stripe. McDermott and Mirotic are mid to late 1st round prospects. I would think if what they wanted all along was Tristan Thompson, Sergey Karasev, and Joe Harris we probably would have made a deal a long time ago. Based on what seems to have been offered and denied from the Cavs, I can’t see that deal happening at all unless Jimmy Butler and Kevin Martin are also trading teams, and even then you’d be hard pressed to convince me why they’d want Butler more than Waiters. (and the Bulls would still have to make another cap clearing move like we just did in order to make that work)
I think the Wolves and Cavs have been at an impasse for a while and they are trying everything they can to shift the pressure to Griffin. First it was “renewed interest” from GS, who hasn’t actually jumped back into the ring at all, and now it’s this Chicago offer. I don’t buy either one. If the Cavs were so over a barrel the deal would be done. There are limited suitors with the assets to interest Minnesota and the will to risk a 1-and-done from Love. The longer it goes the more pressure I think is on Minny.
Maybe wolves do think the Chicago offer is better, maybe not. They have every interest to say that. Now it’s up to Griffin to stick by whatever his evaluation of what Kevin Love is worth to the Cavs.
And it better not be “LeBron demands Love at all costs.” Steady, David.
Gibson should have been on an all-defensive team. I’m sure that Cavs fans have learned how important that end of the court is in the last couple years. At .124 WS/48, he’s not comparable to Thompson (.088 WS/48). Mirotic and McDermott are still unknowns, but vastly higher rated in NBA circles than Karasev and Harris. That deal isn’t even close.
I’m sure ESPN will work that angle if this goes on much longer.
Pelton has already penned an article (today) that it’s worth to give up whatever Minnesota asks to get Love.
so – a bad player that a team can’t move? If that’s what you mean, then I totally agree.
Manix just did as well.
I was exaggerating for effect with the Karasev/Harris bit, but I still don’t think their offer is really all that compelling without Butler.
I’ll agree that Gibson is a great defensive player and better at that than Thompson, but many of their advanced stats are pretty similar and Thompson is 6yrs younger and $3M cheaper. They both posted 5.7 total WS last year, too. Gibson’s WS/48 is a bit higher because he played fewer minutes, but then his usage rate while on the court was a bit higher as well. It’s tough to compare players solely on WS since that stat scales with team wins, and there are other factors involved with that.
It doesn’t appear we’ve even discussed Thompson anyway, but my point is just that I don’t see Gibson/Mirotic/McDermott as more attractive than Wiggins/Bennett/picks, if that is in fact what has been offered. Just about every possible scenario has been “rumored” though, so I have to assume most of these reports are BS.
and all of these articles act like the Cavs are guaranteed to keep Love forever and ever without even mentioning his situation or that Love hasn’t said he was open to signing an extension to complete a trade.
That’s more than a bit higher. GIbson’s was 33% higher last year. And teams offered top 10 picks to get Mirotic this year, the only reason he was a late first round pick was because he had a contract overseas. He’s exactly the type of player that the Spurs pluck, wait on, and reap the rewards when they can come to America.
Piss poor trade.Love pours it on with garbage points to build up his stats,can’t move or rebound.Bulls will only have him for one year rental.Come on Pax your smarter then that.
Ok, this offer is crap. Gibson is 29, had a 16 PER, and averaged 13 ppg last year. McDermott, by almost any advanced draft metric, was a vastly overrated prospect who could resemble Adam Morrison next year. Mirotic is an unknown euro. Even if the Bulls throw in some late firsts, this deal will still be crap.
Of course, Flip could go full r-tard and accept this so as to WIN NOW (see gilbert/grant in 2012-2013).