Maybe the Cleveland Cavaliers should have kept Andrew Wiggins.
Yeah, I know, it’s easy to say now, with Kevin Love sitting out fourth quarters and contemplating whether to re-up alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, while Wiggins drops 20 every night for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But I’m not just saying it now. I said it back in the summer, too, before the big deal was even done.
Yes, Cleveland was trying to create another three-headed monster similar to the one that was so successful in Miami. (And if you James haters think four straight trips to the NBA Finals and back-to-back championships constitutes something short of successful, then you need to buy a dictionary.) The Cavaliers needed another piece to put alongside James and Kyrie Irving, preferably one that played in the frontcourt. And Love was readily available.
And yes, Minnesota was being held hostage by Love, whose production in the paint has been unassailable, becoming one 
of the darlings of the analytic set. He has the ability to opt out of his contract after this season, and with the Timberwolves on their second decade without a playoff berth, there was no question GM Flip Saunders was going to trade him before he reached free agency.
But if the first half of this season has shown anything about Love, it is that the impact of his statistical dominance as an alpha dog has been overstated. Lined up with other stars and reduced to secondary status, his extraordinary numbers have leveled off. And Love’s impact has been negligible, given Cleveland’s 1-7 record when he plays and James doesn’t.
So it would be fair to say that we’ve likely seen Love’s ceiling. Sure, his shooting and passing may incrementally improve, and he could become a more diligent defender. But there probably isn’t another quantum leap coming.
How about Wiggins? Do you think we’ve seen his ceiling? How many quantum leaps do you think he has in him?
You can dismiss Wiggins’ recent scoring jag as a product of his environment. The Wolves are more concerned about development than winning, the kid has a green light, his mistakes are overlooked, yada yada yada. But before you dismiss Wiggins, keep in mind that he has played much of this season without his three best teammates, one of whom is an immovable post presence in Nikola Pekovic and another whom some consider the best passer in the game in Ricky Rubio.
If Wiggins were in Cleveland, he would be learning the game alongside James, arguably the smartest player in the NBA. He would remove the need for David Blatt to buy nightly minutes at the wing with Mike Miller, James Jones, Matthew Dellavedova or Joe Harris, whose lack of athleticism, advancing age or relative inexperience often has them overmatched. He would allow James to slide to power forward in a small lineup that was remarkably successful in Miami.
Keeping Wiggins also would have brought some semblance of sanity to Cleveland’s salary cap, which is an absolute mess. He is on his rookie contract for three more years, capable of taking more of the burden off James each season. By the time Wiggins is due for an extension, he would be just 23 while James would be 34 and ready to the give the kid the keys to the car – or at least let him drive a while.
The bottom line is it doesn’t matter whether you or I like Wiggins. But the Cavs liked Wiggins enough to draft him No. 1 overall. It’s worth debating whether they should have kept him.
On to the rankings.
1. ANDREW WIGGINS, F, MINNESOTA: The streak of 20-point games ended at six when Wiggins came 
up a bucket shy in Saturday’s loss to San Antonio. But he started a new streak by squeezing out 20 while teammate Mo Williams was going for 52 at Indiana. He’s starting to figure out other elements of his game as well, as his free throws, rebounds and assists per game all are on the rise. LAST WEEK: 1
2. NIKOLA MIROTIC, F, CHICAGO: He scored in double figures in consecutive contests to close the week,
going for 11 vs. Orlando and 12 vs. Washington. But the Bulls lost both, perhaps putting an end to a remarkable trend: Chicago had won 10 straight games when Mirotic scored in double figures. He shot 44 percent from the field in December but is down to 34 percent in January after going 8-of-25 this week. LAST WEEK: 2
3. ELFRID PAYTON, G, ORLANDO: How did the Magic outplay the Rockets down the stretch 
Wednesday? “I just think it started with their point guard,” Dwight Howard said. “The guy with the crazy hair. He’s the one that started everything.” In Payton’s last three games, he is averaging 11.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. And for the first time this season, his shooting percentage starts with a 4. LAST WEEK: 3
4. K.J. MCDANIELS, F, PHILADELPHIA: Now entrenched as a starter, McDaniels has scored in double 
figures in three straight games and five of his last six, averaging 11.0 points on 48 percent shooting. Of course, it’s easy to keep your shooting percentage up with shots like this. But he’s also 7-of-15 from the arc in that span. And perhaps an even better number is the Sixers split those six games. LAST WEEK: 5
5. JUSUF NURKIC, C, DENVER: Have you noticed that the Nuggets haven’t lost since Nurkic got in Marc 
Gasol’s face two weeks ago? The kid is a big reason why. Denver played just two games this week, but Nurkic had 16 points and eight boards vs. DeMarcus Cousins and seven and nine vs. Tyson Chandler. He has to stop fouling, though. His 10 per 48 minutes leads all players with more than 10 games. LAST WEEK: 4
6. NERLENS NOEL, F-C, PHILADELPHIA: The scoring and rebounding remain somewhat inconsistent for a player of his size, but the rim protection is coming around. he has at least one block in every game this month, averaging 2.0 per contest. He has overtaken his teammate McDaniels as the rookie leader in that category with 1.51 per game and is 15th in the league, just a shade behind Dwight Howard. LAST WEEK: 6
7. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC, F, BROOKLYN: He returns to the rankings after a prolonged absence as Nets 
coach Lionel Hollins reinserted him as a starter in an effort to stop the team’s prolonged slide. The Nets keep losing, but don’t blame Bogdanovic, who responded with three straight games in double digits – matching a season high – averaging 12.3 points and 4.0 rebounds. LAST WEEK: NR
8. MARCUS SMART, G, BOSTON: The Fanueil Hall Swap Meet has opened up playing time for Smart, 
who averaged nearly 30 minutes in four games this week. He is splitting that at both guard spots and averaged 8.8 points and 4.3 assists this week while shooting a respectable 13-of-30 overall and 7-of-19 from the arc. But with 32 free throws in 514 minutes, he needs to figure out how to attack the rim better. LAST WEEK: 7
9. P.J. HAIRSTON, G, CHARLOTTE: He played just two games this week but made them most of them, 
averaging 13.0 points while shooting 10-of-21 from the field, including 6-of-11 from the arc. He also gave the Spurs a taste of their own medicine with a flop that cost him a $5,000 fine from the league. With Lance Stephenson trade rumors in full effect, Hairston may get a boost in minutes. LAST WEEK: NR
10. TARIK BLACK, C, LA LAKERS: Let’s give the big guy some credit. Despite playing nice backup 
minutes to Dwight Howard, he was discarded when the Rockets upgraded their roster. Since latching on with the Lakers, he is throwing around his wide body in similar fashion, averaging 9.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.8 fouls in 18.8 minutes. Despite the change of scenery, his season PER is a respectable 14.03. LAST WEEK: NR
DROPOUTS: Travis Wear, F, New York (8); Dante Exum, G, Utah (9); Zach LaVine, G, Minnesota (10).
FIVE TO WATCH: Langston Galloway, G, New York; Jerami Grant, F, Philadelphia; Joe Ingles, F, Utah; Elijah Millsap, F, Utah; Shabazz Napier, G, Miami.
Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Mondays, and his Rookie Rankings on Fridays. Follow him on Twitter.
I still believe CLE and LeBron made the right decision to go with Love. Based on LeBron’s contract, Cavs are in Win NOW mode. And as Love showed in Minny, you can’t go by Wiggens numbers for a bad team. He’d be learning in CLE.
Mostly though, CLE needed a strong PF and rebounder, to complement the talents of LeBron and Irving. They are a perfect threesome. They just need to get past trying to get coach Blatt fired, and play as a team, once they are all healthy.
And the loss of Varejao was big, but they should be able to recover with Mozgov (those picks weren’t great).
Finally, Andrei Kirilenko will be desiring to play again for David Blatt and may make himself available in a few weeks. He’s been trying to keep in shape in NYC, until his wife’s delivery. The Sixers just suspended AK47, as they wanted something in return for trading for him (The Nets had been led to believe that AK would be waived by Phila, when they traded him for a 3.4M trade exception). The Nets wanted what was best for Kirilenko – to be able to link up with a competing team, after the delivery.
Dang, I wish Wiggins were balling in Cleveland as well. Can’t believe they didn’t roll the ball with Wiggins first, especially with his defense prominence. It’s almost as if LeBron’s influence is to strong for the GMing to work smoothly. Oh well – better luck next Cleveland superstar with the way things are playing out so far.