AuTX Buckeye
Founder & Pres of the Flemming/Holtmann Fan Club
Yahoo Pickem Champ
Former Game Champion
that's a big assumption after two major knee surgeries
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y0yoyoin
That is a serious injury for Willis McGahee
Even without Rose I still like Chicago becase of how well they are defensively and now they are replacing boozer for gasol which is an upgrade...I think Charlotte and Washington will be good but I am not ready to put them ahead of the Cavs...Indiana has fallen off a little as well but I would put them right with the cavs...Here is my top 5 order
1. Chicago
2. Indiana
3. Cleveland
4. Washington
5. Charlotte
1. Chicago
2. Indiana
3. Cleveland
4. Washington
5. Charlotte
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UpNorth_Buckeye
Assistant Coach
I would have had Indiana #2 as well, but losing Stephenson will be a decent blow.
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BuckeyeMafia
A Leaf on the Wind
I think Indiana is close to done. I'd be surprised if they crack the top 4 seeds. It seems like Paul George is never going to put the team on his back. Who knows what's happening with Hibbert. They're also getting older and have no real replacement for Stephenson. This is my Eastern Conference seeding:
1. Chicago
2. Cleveland
3. Toronto
4. Washington
5. Indiana
6. Charlotte
7. Atlanta
8. New York
I'm not sure where to put Brooklyn. They were a surprisingly good regular season team, but they go into this season having lost a ton of pieces. I'd considering putting them in place of the Knicks.
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Not for nothing but your Chicago argument is a statement towards Cleveland keeping Wiggins over adding Love. If Defense wins championships, then losing Wiggins hurts Clevelands chances.
ON that point, I'd have Wiggins trying to D up Lebron every single day in practice to perfect his art. Whom else is going to give him a bigger challenge in games? No one.
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y0yoyoin
That is a serious injury for Willis McGahee
put me in the "im not buying wiggins is an elite defender yet" category...i also dont want to hear that he is going to guard lebrons man when lebron goes to the bench...he may be guarding lebrons man but that doesnt mean he is playing great defense on said player...besides playing in college and summer league walk ons he hasnt defended anyone elite yet...he has the tools to be a great defender but as far as in the next 2 years sign me up for loves offense over wiggins defense at this time
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BuckeyeMafia
A Leaf on the Wind
Two years isn't a very long time, especially when it's improbable that a bunch of inexperienced guys (that includes Love and Irving), LeBron James, Mike Miller, and James Jones can win a title against the mighty Western Conference.
I just think this puts an unreasonable amount of pressure on Coach Blatt, especially because he'll be on the chopping block after two years if he can't win with Love, Irving, and LeBron.
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ethan
Senior
Gorgui Dieng looks like a really good prospect. If the Cavs can get Love AND Dieng I would take it in a heartbeat.
Cavs desperately need a young athletic Center, and Dieng looks like he has real potential to be very good.
He was a rookie last year and he didn't get very much playing time, but he has some really good highlights.
His contract is cheap, and he would be a perfect fit.
I would absolutely trade: Wiggins, Bennett, (1 or 2) future 1st round picks
To receive: Love, Dieng
I really like Wiggins, I just don't think we have time to wait for him to become an all-star by his 3rd / 4th year.
Love would give us consistent scoring immediately and Dieng would give us much needed depth at the Center position.
It seems this is coming down to just helping Minnesota shed Barea and Martin, like Piney said.
I hope the Cavs can make this happen.
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ethan
Senior
I don't think the western conference is unbeatable. The Spurs maybe, but not the rest of the conference.
The Spurs will also be a year older, and hopefully a little worn down by making it to the last two Finals.
If the Cavs are good enough to get to the Finals, with Irving, Love, Lebron, they would definitely have a shot at winning it.
I don't think that would be "improbable" at all. Your talking about 3 perennial all stars. They do have experience, I trust Lebron can lead them in the playoffs.
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buckeyesin07
Veni. Vidi. Vici.
The Cavs don't need Wiggins to be an all-star in order to win a title.
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I suppose I've become the minority that thinks Cleveland should NOT trade Wiggings. The Cavs are offering plenty of talent/picks, and now other teams are offering to take on the weight of Minnesota's fuck ups (contract wise). I'm just not seeing how Minnesota thinks they can leverage Wiggins away from Cleveland, when they have so many other problems to address in this situation.
With the talent that is already on the Cavs roster, wouldn't it be wise to tell Minnesota to piss in the wind, and just sign Love a the end of the year? I could see them getting pretty desperate to deal him, considering how difficult they've already been to deal with.
I guess I just see the talent that is already in place, and I see a perennial Conference Finals team, at worst. Adding Love to an already talented, young team would only make them more prolific. But it's got to be without giving up Wiggins, IMO.
With the talent that is already on the Cavs roster, wouldn't it be wise to tell Minnesota to piss in the wind, and just sign Love a the end of the year? I could see them getting pretty desperate to deal him, considering how difficult they've already been to deal with.
I guess I just see the talent that is already in place, and I see a perennial Conference Finals team, at worst. Adding Love to an already talented, young team would only make them more prolific. But it's got to be without giving up Wiggins, IMO.
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buckeyesin07
Veni. Vidi. Vici.
Agreed. I also am surprised at Minnesota's bravado here, and I really hope the Cavs' don't panic with other teams entering the fray (just look at the horrible offers the Bulls are tossing out). Time is on the Cavs' side here, not the T-Wolves'.
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Exactly. When I saw the Bulls and the Nuggets entering the Love sweepstakes, I couldn't help but laugh. They can't offer what Cleveland is offering. Sure, Love would absolutely love to sign with a team like Chicago long term, but what is Chicago going to send to acquire him? Not a whole lot.
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AuTX Buckeye
Founder & Pres of the Flemming/Holtmann Fan Club
Yahoo Pickem Champ
Former Game Champion
Why does everyone rank Chicago so highly in the East, hell I even heard this on NBA radio today, everyone was in agreement "they play defense". So Cleveland's answer to get out of the east is trade a guy who can guard multiple positions, is long and athletic, considered by most scouts - already able to defense well in the NBA, for a purely offensive guy. Even the guy on the XM NBA channel was saying "Even with Love, I like Chicago better because they play defense".
I understand all the do anything to get Love, but Love salary combined with LBJ & Irving would handcuff the team into trying to build a bench... the best they could hope to be is Miami on Lake Erie. If Lebron is truly committed long term and tells other Free Agents that... that automatically makes Cleveland a premier destination. For all those in the trade for Love including Wiggins. What defenders do we add to our bench? What moves does Cleveland make to add the talent to get them over the edge.. We saw in the final, it takes more than a Big 3 to win.
My personal preference is to go into the season and see what happens. If I'm trading picks, no way I give them more than 1 first round pick.
Just as a point of reference it was made known that Griffin and Gilbert laid out their plan to add talent to Lebron in their pitch, so I gotta think if they were going to offer Wiggins it woulda happened by now.
I understand all the do anything to get Love, but Love salary combined with LBJ & Irving would handcuff the team into trying to build a bench... the best they could hope to be is Miami on Lake Erie. If Lebron is truly committed long term and tells other Free Agents that... that automatically makes Cleveland a premier destination. For all those in the trade for Love including Wiggins. What defenders do we add to our bench? What moves does Cleveland make to add the talent to get them over the edge.. We saw in the final, it takes more than a Big 3 to win.
My personal preference is to go into the season and see what happens. If I'm trading picks, no way I give them more than 1 first round pick.
Just as a point of reference it was made known that Griffin and Gilbert laid out their plan to add talent to Lebron in their pitch, so I gotta think if they were going to offer Wiggins it woulda happened by now.
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BuckeyeMafia
A Leaf on the Wind
The laughable part about Chicago is how dependent their success is on Rose's health. Without Rose you're probably looking at an Eastern Conference semi-finalist. I think it'd be a stretch to see them go beyond that, even with some scoring upgrades. Can anyone honestly see them beating a Washington, Indiana, Charlotte, or Toronto without Rose?
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