With LeBron James out of the picture as a free agent, the biggest focus for the remainder of the summer will be on Kevin Love’s situation with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Love has made it clear that he wants out of town, and Flip Saunders has been entertaining offers – most notably from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. Both teams, however, have put up a posture during discussions by refusing to add a highly-attractive piece to seal the deal.
The Timberwolves want Andrew Wiggins from the Cavaliers or Klay Thompson from the Warriors – players neither team is willing to fork up at this particular time. On Thursday, Chris Broussard of ESPN reported that Cleveland is finally ready to include Wiggins in a deal for Love:
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers have discussed a blockbuster trade centered on Kevin Love and the league’s past two No. 1 draft picks, league sources told ESPN.
In an attempt to add Love, a three-time All-Star, the Cavaliers are willing to part withAndrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett.
One source said the Cavs also are willing to give up a first-round draft pick for next season. Any other players involved in the talks are not known.
However, there have since been conflicting reports from various insiders around the league. Tom Withers of The Associated Press tweeted that Wiggins has not been made available. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio also reported the same, and Chris Haynes of CSNNW again confirmed what appears to be a complete contradiction of what Broussard reported:
Cavs G/F Andrew Wiggins has not been made available to Wolves or anyone, multiple league sources tell @CSNNW. They’re not budging right now.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 19, 2014
For what it’s worth, there have also been conflicting reports about the Warriors making Thompson available in a deal for Love. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders reported that if not including Thompson in a deal for Love is a deal breaker for the Timberwolves, the Warriors would ultimately include the shooting guard. Tim Kawakami of Mercury News had a conflicting report, saying that Golden State flatly denies a change in stance about Thompson.
It appears that different ideas are being leaked by those involved in the negotiations. It’s not necessarily that the reports are wrong. It may simply be a matter of different sources willing to admit how far they are really willing to go to do what needs to be done. At the same time, it’s easy to float out one idea and then another, so as to bring uncertainty on the situation to put their players at ease should talks fall through. “Rumors are just rumors”, as they say. It’s a business, but it’s still best to try to get through these things without hurt feelings.
The Cavaliers and Warriors may say they are standing firm on not wanting to give up their respective pieces, but a player of Love’s caliber doesn’t just grow on trees. The teams are surely aware of this and understand how drastically their franchises can change with the acquisition of Love. Ultimately, both teams probably realize that Thompson or Wiggins will have to go to bring in Love. At this point, it’s just a matter of who caves in first.
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James Park is the chief blogger and deputy editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned this but…isn’t the solution for Cleveland rather clear? If Kevin Love wants to play with Lebron, and would be willing to sign with them long term, then all that has to happen is James needs to reach out to him, and then Love needs to say “I will not sign an extension with anyone other than Cleveland. You’re trading me to Cleveland or you’re trading me nowhere.”
Then Cleveland can strong arm the Timberwolves into a deal that doesn’t include Wiggins. They can really give them whatever they want, and the TWolves would be forced to take the deal.
With Love only having 1 year on his contract, if the Cavs and Lebron can get him to commit to only wanting to play with the Cavs, then Lebron and Love hold all the bargaining power, and the Twolves will be lucky to get what they can for Love.
I’ve been saying this all along, I’ve tweeted Dan Gilbert, Kevin Love and LeBron James these thoughts. Hopefully somebody has seen them. We need to a group of people to barrage them with these tweets until Kevin Love publicly announces this
AJ,
It shows your intelligence when you bark (speaking of dogs) insults behind your computer. I personally have found that Amico is a very astute writer with above average sources and a keen sence of the NBA. I would venture to think that this is why he is commissioned by FOX Sports and you are not. So to harshly critique his performance by a nobody such as yourself (relative to sports writing) is plane ignorant.
Amico is one of the worst NBA writers I have ever read. Which is saying something, since I’m an old man. He’s atrocious. His sources are not credible, he habitually makes things up, he habitually steals other reporters’ work, and he has never been first with a single story about anything. He’s a joke that tweets and writes like he’s a repeat Pulitzer Prize winner in his own mind.
But other than that, he’s great.
You’re writing what Sam Amico reported? If you’re going to do that, then you might as well write what your dog thinks about Wiggins being included in a deal. If the past four years of Amico’s unintentional comedy is any indication, he’s probably used your dog as one of his numerous imaginary sources.
Wiggins is perfectly fit for a team who doesnt have a dominant player like lebron & kyrie. He will fully develop into a full grown all star, although it will take couple of years to happen. Staying with the Cavs means he’s main position is a role player unlike if he will be traded to Twolves, he will be the scorer and the go to guy for his team. I know how Cavs fans wants to keep wiggins on the roster however just like any crowded seeds planted on the same place will have a hard time to grow as high as the other plants. So its best for everyones interest to let wiggins wear another jersey at the start of the season and the Cavs will have Kevin Love as their 3rd Superstar
I completely disagree. I actually think it’s in Wiggins’ best interest to stay with the Cavs and develop as a star under LeBron’s mentorship. Yes, he could go to Minnesota and immediately become the #1 option but, Wiggins still needs to develop. He’s not the same type of personality or player as Jabari Parker who will immediately be ready. Cleveland affords him the time to learn and grow as an offensive and defensive contributor. Yes, there may come a time when Wiggins outgrows the #3 or even #2 option, but that likely won’t happen for a few years. By that time some shuffling or trade can be once his rookie contract expires.