The Association 2014-2015

Let's get this started with the news everyone was waiting for:

LeBron says he's returning to the Cavs

Of course, this is just talk until a contract has been signed. But I can't imagine him going back on his word considering the damage it'd do to his image would make "The Decision" look like a going-away party.

 

I have to say I'm glad he left Miami. It will shake up a lot of teams, move things around. Notice in his article on SI...

...there is no mention of Wiggins or Anthony Bennett.

Rumor is, they will be traded to Minnesota for Kevin Love.

A team of Kyrie Irving, Lebron and Love is better than DWade, Lebron and Bosh.

I'm also wondering if Pat Riley is going to full court press Carmelo Anthony now in an attempt to keep Bosh in town, but I don't think that has quite the allure of playing with Dwight Howard and James Harden.

 

AFAIK, all of the guys he mentioned are signed with Nike. Wiggens is Adidas. I wouldn't be surprised if that was part of it.

 

It is hard to think he didn't mention dudes he's probably never interacted with is part of some larger theory. He met Kyrie at the all-star game, so there is a connection. Now they may get traded for Love anyway, but that's purely the logical play. No need to take that as conspiracy.

RIP The Miami Heat.

If Bosh doesn't go to Houston he is a fucking idiot.

I would like 'Melo in Chicago, but I don't like what we might have to give up. Don't want to give up Gibson or Butler for anything, we need those guys. What I really want is Rose to look like himself, with a Westbrook like recovery, but I'm asking a lot. I don't think Melo is coming here for the same reasons LBJ is going back. Money + Family. La La does not want to leave NYC and her middling career.

 

A trade for Love to the Cavs must be stopped at all costs! The Cavs are going to be hard enough for My Beloved Bulls to beat as it is, that would just push them over the top.

I would like for Melo to go to the Bulls, but I don't see it happening. I think Bosh will sign with Houston in the next 24-36 hours(especially with the deadline for matching Parsons offer sheet approaching).

The real big loser here is Wade. He was going to make 21mil each year for the next 2 years under that contract he opted out of. Think he's getting anywhere near that now?

 

Not conspiracy, just rumors floating around online the past few days.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/7/9/5884871/kevin-love-cleveland-lebron-james-cavaliers-rumors-nba-free-agency-2014" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/7/9/58 ... gency-2014</a>

Also, the Rockets are trading Jeremy Lin to the Lakers. Frankly, I've never been impressed with Lin.

 

Any trade for Love to the Cavs would have to involve Wiggins. If I were the Cavs and that (plus the requisite sweeteners) was all it took, I pull that trigger immediately. Wiggins has a bright future, but he (like all rookies) is a work in progress. Love is in his prime right now. I don't think Saunders is going to make it that easy, but it's something to watch.

 

Eh, he is what he is, a serviceable backup guard, maybe a starter on some of the shittier teams. The whole Linsanity thing was blown way out of proportion.

 

I'd be willing to bet money that Melo isn't going to the Heat. The one good thing to come out of this for the Heat is now they have tons of cap space. Better to get a bunch of quality second-tier free agents to surround Wade with. Granted, they're still not going anywhere, but this way they're not saddled with a max contract.

 

I think he handled this lightyears better than the last time (seroiusly, "The Decision" still annoys me when I think about it and I couldn't care less about the Cavs or the Heat). He took his time, kept his mouth shut throughout, and then made a choice less than 24 hours after free agents are allowed to sign.

 

You overestimate the competence of the T-Wolves. Hell I'd be happy with Love for Wiggins straight up, but knowing the Wolves they'd be sure to throw in a 1st round pick to grease the wheels.

 

It's unclear to me what the people angry at LeBron's process this time wanted him to do. How dare you exercise free agency under your collective bargaining agreement while engaging in minimal media appearances over the course of three days during the free agency period?

 

Talks are involving Bennett and Waiters, and a 1st rounder. Wiggins is not getting traded.

 

If Minny trades Love for those two idiots and a first rounder that is likely to be in the 20s (Cleveland doesn't even have a first rounder to trade, right? They just traded one to Boston, and trading another would run afoul of the Stepien rule?), I'll eat my hat.

 

Cleveland also has Miami's pick and Memphis's pick to work with.

I don't understand why people think the Wolves are going to get a fair deal for Love. The Cavs would be idiots to give up Wiggens. They're competing against a pile of middling picks from Boston. Look at the Carmelo, Howard, and Deron Williams trades. The best prospect received in those was Favors, who was the consolation prize in the Wall/Turner draft.

Hell I think Cleveland would be better off if Love hit the market next year. They'll have a shot at using Brendan Haywood's unguaranteed contract to fleece a team trying to clear max cap space.

 

They probably won't get a fair deal. But the Garnett and Paul trades probably set the expectation of what one can shoot for when trading a premier talent who doesn't want to stick around anymore. Remember, Garnett had a no trade clause and Paul had a similar contract to Love (which effectively gave him a pseudo no trade clause). One featured Al Jefferson and picks, and the other featured Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, and picks.

While Gordon didn't turn out like people were hoping, Anthony Bennett and Dion Waiters are decided not Al Jefferson or Gordon+Kaman.

The Dwight Howard trade was a super weird trade, but even there, Arron Afflalo is better than those guys and he came with parts and picks. In the Melo trade, they got picks and effectively an entire league-average lineup: Felton, Chandler, Gallinari, Koufos, and Mozgov.

Dion Waiters is terrible and a club house cancer. It's unclear whether Anthony Bennett will ever be a functional NBA player, let alone a good one. That is a terrible package compared to Klay Thompson/Harrison Barnes and David Lee, and doesn't even stack up to Jared Sullinger plus the collection of picks. The Celtics have 11 or 12 first rounders to play with over the next six years, and can trade away at least 8 or them. There's a fair chance the Nets implode over the next few years; those could become very valuable.

 

Except that Gordon's trade value was limited by the fact that everyone and their mother knew he was a year away from getting a max contract thrown at him. Wiggins is going to be cheap and under team control (depending on the new CBA in '17) for 4-8 years. The Garnett trade was ages ago in NBA time, and you ignored the Carmelo and Williams trades where the best pieces coming back were Gallinari and Favors respectively.

It's also worth noting that you can't trade Wiggens for Love straight up. The salaries have to match, which means giving up Varejao (Their only proven big and someone James specifically said he wanted to play with) or Waiters+Thompson/Bennett as well. No way the Cavs do that.


I think Love is a terrible fit for this Cavs team anyway. His big strengths are scoring and rebounding. He would be the #3 scoring option behind Lebron and Irving. Do you really want to pay Love max money to throw outlet passes? Three superstars is sexy, but for most of their run Miami was paying Bosh superstar money to play a second-tier role. Everyone was saying all summer that the only chance Miami had to bring them all back was for Bosh and Wade to make $25-28 million combined. I'd rather have 2 max guys and a handful of mid-level guys than 3 max guys and a bunch of minimum-level guys.

 

Simmons.