Cleveland Cavs (2016 NBA Champions)

[Buckeye737]

I just don't know how the Cavs move Love and get better. I don't see a player out there on the trading block that fills in what the Cavs need better than Love. Not that Love is the best fit, but there isn't a Draymond Green clone on the market. About the only thing I could see making the Cavs a better matchup against the good teams in the West would be making Lebron the stretch 4 and finding someone else to play the 3. I wasn't a huge fan of the Love trade when they made it, but I was under the assumption that Bennett would turn into a decent stretch 4, which didn't happen. Looking at it now the Cavs have more value with Love under contract than they would have with Wiggins. Maybe a deal where Love goes to Boston, Timo moves, Boston sends picks somewhere for a near all-star that can play the 3/4 for the Cavs, and the Cavs also get Ryan Anderson. All of the [Mark May]ty draft picks that Grant made are really biting the Cavs in the ass now. If he had done a better job Lebron could have come back to a team primed for title runs without any of the trades that they had to make. If they make a move hopefully Griffin can pull some magic like he did last winter.

Something like this works, but I doubt the Celtics are willing to pay the price in picks to get it done.
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=hkqs6vl

I think we could get better if we could get an established star with some baggage, like Cousins, or someone who has star potential but is young, like Okafor. We probably don't get better immediately with the young player. Someone like Ryan Anderson is exactly what I have in mind as a replacement for Love's skillset. It might be different if there was a star who wanted out of their situation kind of like Love was at Minnesota.

I was definitely against the Love trade. When I look at all of the picks the Cavs have had from the 2011 draft on, and then we have Lebron coming back, it kind of makes me want to puke. Like you said, we could be absolutely LOADED for years to come.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

I was definitely against the Love trade. When I look at all of the picks the Cavs have had from the 2011 draft on, and then we have Lebron coming back, it kind of makes me want to puke. Like you said, we could be absolutely LOADED for years to come.

Lebron wasn't coming back with Wiggins. PERIOD.

Wiggins is exactly what the Cavs don't need right now - a ball dominant scorer with an atrocious outside shot, who doesn't rebound and doesn't pass. If you want to trade Love back to Minnesota, give me Karl-Anthony Towns.

 

[NFBuck]

If you want to trade Love back to Minnesota, give me Karl-Anthony Towns.

Sounds good. Lets do that.

 

[Jake]

The Love-Wiggins deal made sense at the time, but it just didn't work as expected. What did not make sense to me was the new contract to Love last summer.

 

[Buckeye737]

Lebron wasn't coming back with Wiggins. PERIOD.

Wiggins is exactly what the Cavs don't need right now - a ball dominant scorer with an atrocious outside shot, who doesn't rebound and doesn't pass. If you want to trade Love back to Minnesota, give me Karl-Anthony Towns.

Even if you don't like the fit of Wiggins on this Cavs roster, I still wouldn't make the Love trade. What if the Cavs had tried to trade Wiggins for Andre Drummond? It probably wouldn't have taken too much to add to Wiggins to make that deal. Then there would still be assets left to go after some sort of stretch 4.

BTW, I would not describe Wiggins as strictly ball dominant, nor would describe his outside shot as atrocious. He has an offensive game that could be very complimentary, especially if he's surrounded by veteran talent.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

BTW, I would not describe Wiggins as strictly ball dominant, nor would describe his outside shot as atrocious.

From 16-23 feet, Wiggins is 86/221 for a shooting percentage of .389

From 3-point range, he is 31/127 for a shooting percentage of .244

His total from 16+ feet is 117/348 for a shooting percentage of .336

That is atrocious.

Wiggins is also not very good mid-range (4-16 feet), where he is 180/412 for a shooting percentage of .437

By way of comparison, notorious bricklayer Tristan Thompson is 87/180 from 4-16 feet for a shooting percentage of .483

Basically, Wiggins is a dunker and not much more - he is 95/117 "at the rim" for a shooting percentage of .812

As far as Wiggins being ball dominant:

Wiggins is among the league-leaders in usage at the wing position, but possesses one of the worst usage-to-assist percentage ratios in the game. How bad is it?

Wiggins boasts a 27 percent usage and a disgustingly low 11.1 assist percentage. Meanwhile, the “inefficient ball hog” that’s Kobe Bryant checks in at a cool 30 percent usage while toting a respectable 29.4 assist percentage. Shoot, even Carmelo Anthony almost triples Wiggins with a 29 percent usage rate while maintaining a 28.7 assist percentage as an iso-dominant player. His teammate goes on to squelch the notion that it’s the Timberwolves’ offense that’s causing his poor numbers, as the fellow uber-athletic Zach LaVine carries his 26 percent usage rate proudly alongside a stout 31.3 assist percentage.

Let those numbers sink in for a second. Again, Wiggins is almost being tripled in assist percentage by Carmelo Anthony.

For more on arguably the most overrated player in the NBA (his defense ain't all that great, either), see this article from Today's FastBreak.

 

[NorthCoastKid]

LJB, to quote Austin Carr, "throws the hammer down" on the Love-Wiggins talk.

The Love-Wiggins deal made sense at the time, but it just didn't work as expected. What did not make sense to me was the new contract to Love last summer.

So they should have let him walk? You do realize that had they done that, they would have been unable to go out and sign another high priced free agent due to salary cap limitations, right?

 

[exhawg]

The best thing to happen for the Cavs was Love signing a max deal last summer. He has a ton of value so even if he doesn't fit in Cleveland they can move him for another star that is a better fit.

 

[kujirakira]

Wiggins is experiencing the same effect that made Love a star in Minnesota -- good player on a bad team.

The roster is about as good as it gets... only question is if they can learn to play together come playoffs.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

 

[exhawg]

Hate to see Andy go. Be interesting to see what else the Cavs had to give up to pull this one off. You'd think they would try to move Timo now that the minutes that he was getting will likely go to Frye. The only thing they need him for is to play a true center.

 

[NorthCoastKid]

Like this move for the Cavs. The league has become one where three point shooting is highly valuable and Frye is one of the best stretch bigs out there. Andy has been a great Cavalier, but it was clear that he lacks any sort of athleticism to make an impact for this team anymore. The other thing about Frye is that he can fit on the court with any one of the Cavs' current big men. Can play the PF with either Mozgov or Thompson and the C with Love. Versatility is king.

Clearing a roster spot and salary are also bonuses.

 

[tsteele316]

they had to give up a protected first of some sort in the deal, no word on the protection. interestingly enough, frye's defensive metrics are slightly better than mozgov's this year. really, frye allows the cavs to play that small ball lineup and run like lue wants, which moz and andy could not do without totally clogging up anything.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Hate to see Andy go. Be interesting to see what else the Cavs had to give up to pull this one off. You'd think they would try to move Timo now that the minutes that he was getting will likely go to Frye. The only thing they need him for is to play a true center.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired big man Channing Frye from the Orlando Magic, as first reported by the New York Daily News' Frank Isola. The Cavaliers will send a 2018 first-round pick and big man Anderson Varejao to the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Magic will get Jared Cunningham and a second-round pick, according to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski and USA Today's Sam Amick. Varejao and Cunningham are both expected to be waived.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...g-frye-in-three-team-trade-with-blazers-magic

 

[exhawg]

Too bad neither player can resign with the Cavs for a year. I'm sure Andy will find a home, but Cunningham will probably end up in the D League. Maybe he can sign with Canton and work on his shot. Would be awesome if Andy would retire and come back in the front office. Hate to see him play anywhere else.