Kevin Love was a controversial selection to Team USA and he’s eager to prove he can still be a high-level player for both the country and the Cavaliers, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Love appeared in just 25 games this season and hasn’t played in more than 60 games in any of the last five seasons.
“I’m very vocal about that in the public saying I wasn’t where I wanted to be, mostly for my team, my coaching staff and for the Cavs in general. For me to come here, I feel like I have a lot to prove, but I feel that way coming into every season,” Love said. “Obviously it’s been unlucky, unfortunate and there’s been injuries that have happened — you’ve seen this whole year that happened with guys — so for me, when I have something to prove it always blends for better basketball for me. Being around these guys I think it helps elevate my mindset and my game in a big way.”
We have from around the Central Division:
- The Cavaliers are “definitely looking into” the possibility of trading with the Pistons for the No. 1 pick and drafting Cade Cunningham but the cost would be high, Fedor reports in a separate story. It’s speculated that the package Cleveland would have to give up would exceed what the 76ers traded in 2017 for the top pick. Philadelphia took Markelle Fultz after giving up the No. 3 pick and a 2018 first-rounder that had some protections attached. Cleveland might have to give up the No. 3 overall pick, an unprotected future first-rounder, and perhaps a good young player to entice Detroit.
- Along those same lines, The Athletic’s James Edwards III takes a look at eight potential trade scenarios for the Pistons involving the top pick. His hypothetical offers include the Thunder trading the No. 6 pick and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as well as the Raptors dealing the No. 4 pick and OG Anunoby for the No. 1 pick, Mason Plumlee and Cory Joseph.
- Jerami Grant was the final selection for Team USA and the Pistons forward sees his role as providing energy when he plays, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press tweets. “I’m going to be playing a lot of defense, hitting open shots, being aggressive when I get the opportunity,” he said.
Some of those trade proposals are ridiculous. No shot thunder give up SGA and future top picks for number 1. If DET can get unprotected future picks plus a top 5-6 pick this year you’d have to consider that.
They may be loading up to go for Michigan’s finest next year, Emoni Bates.
That wouldn’t even be enough to move up to #1.
SGA isn’t as good as any of the top 3 players in this draft.
I mean I get what ur saying.. kinda. SGA may not have the upside of some of the top picks but he averaged almost 24 ppg!!
No matter how much you love a prospect they still have to prove it in the league.
I just want to clear something up. Are you saying SGAs perceived value when he was TRADED wasn’t as high THEN vs any of the top 3s perceived ceiling NOW or are you saying the perceived value of the top 3 is HIGHER than what SGAs is right now? Because if you think an unproven 19 yo is better in the bush than SHA whom you can have in your hand then you sir are insane. If you draft a guy with the #1 pick and he gives you 24pts, 6 assists and 5 rebounds on 50%/41%/80% shooting in his age 22 season then you are certifiably insane and have an unhealthy bromance with prospects. Any GM that gets that kind of production out of its #1 pick by his 3rd season would do backflips, cartwheels and twerk with joy. Prospects are unpredictable and will break your heart. Im not suggesting trading top picks for grizzled veterans but for a 22 year old, assuming can be extended? Alllllll day.
You are totally wrong dude. SGA is not as valuable as the number one pick this year, and it is not close. Period. Cade has potential to be a difference maker and a wing you can build a championship team around, on a rookie deal for 4 years and SGA wants to be paid and soon and has bad injury prone feet.
Honestly I think SGA is better than anyone in this draft other than Cade Cunningham.
CC is STILL potential and far, far, far from being a proven talent. At this point, we can see what SGA can do at the highest level and he’s only 3 years older than Cade.
Anyways, teams rarely make these kind of trades anyway. Detroit wouldn’t because SGA is only under contract for 1 more year and who knows if he’ll sign an extension which also makes him very expensive. OKC would be stupid to trade their young star point guard for what amounts to a wild card. He can be a star, a bust or someone like Jeff Teague. A solid but not spectacular PG
Pick your soft unicorn and try to be a better team than OkC before you start giving them picks in 2 seasons … Makes you enjoy CP3’finals even more ;)
Always too much overthinking with the No. 1, if it’s a player who wasn’t good in college but is the best of a bad situation, sure trade the pick, nobody wants Anthony Bennett 2.0 but Cade was the consensus best available all season. Just take him and add to the young core of Bey, Stewart, Hayes and Grant.
I’m with you, but if you’re the Pistons, why not “say” you’re interested and listen to what teams are willing to throw your way.
Agreed. If you’re the GM of a team, you are doing your team a disservice if you don’t listen on anyone and everything.
Pistons trade: 1st overall, & Josh Jackson (for financial reasons, Sekou Doumbouya would work too)
Cavs trade: 3rd overall, Collin Sexton, 2022 1st round top 3 protected (or 2023 pick, not sure if Stepien rule applies here or not), & 2 Cavs second rounders (they have 7 from 2022-2024)
Not sure either team would say yes, but not sure what else could/would be offered.
Also, not sure how interested the Pistons would even be in Collin, especially if Green is the of trading down goal.
Intriguing trade, even if we landed Green. Sexton would be great off the bench 6th man. Only prob is paying Sexton. Detroit has a nice young team and nice low salaries. No need to pay a guy like sexton to potentially be a 6th man when we can add a potential superstar gaurd with the pick we have.
Stons, Detroit having low salaries does leave room for higher salaries. Weaver would appreciate Sexton’s steady hard effort.
But if the #3 gets the #5 & #8, OR: #3+Sexton for OKC’s #6 and 2022 first+Deck or Jerome,then draft Kuminga, those would be better for CLE. I think ORL at #5 takes in-state Barnes.
You would love Sexton (as most Cavs fans do). He wouldn’t be a good 6th man, he would be a great sixth man, as he wouldn’t need to be too accountable for playmaking. But yeah, do you pay a sixth man $20-25m a year? Probably not, as when you are ready to pay your good young core he will be on the trade block again. Honestly I hope the Cavs find a way to keep him and convince him to be our sixth man.
Why does he need top beer reduced to a 6th man role?? when Garland is on the court he becomes the PG and Sexton the shooting guard.
This team does not have an abundance of talent where we can just trade away talent. If they can overpay Love then they can pay market value for a 24pt bucket getter who shoots at a a.c
Why does he need top beer reduced to a 6th man role?? when Garland is on the court he becomes the PG and Sexton the shooting guard.
This team does not have an abundance of talent where we can just trade away talent. If they can overpay Love then they can pay market value for a 24pt bucket getter who shoots at a 480/
Honestly adding a pick is an overpay for that #1. There isn’t a ton of difference between CC and Green.
But if that Cavs are at three they might not get either, that’s why there are trade discussions atm
Agree with PhillyB… too much for the #1… I would prefer Mobley to Green anyway. Best thing is to wait for Houston’s pick, which may be Green. But have deals for Cade prepared in case HOU takes Mobley.
Trading Sexton to get Green is not that big an upgrade for such a premium pick.
Stepien rule would not apply because they would be getting a draft pick back this year. You can trade this year’s pick and next year’s pick as long as you get a pick back in one of those two years.
That being said, that is way too much to give up for just a jump of two spots. If Detroit asks for much more than Philly gave up for Fultz, just say no and take Mobley or Green or Suggs (who may end up better than Cade anyway).
I agree, there are many potential all-stars in this draft. But it is not about just moving up two spots, it’s about getting Cunningham. Unlike Fultz, he is the consensus best player in the draft (it is to be determined if it ends up that way) and has incredible star potential. If Cunningham ends up like an even slightly lesser version of Luka Doncic, they could be competing for years. Especially since unlike Dallas the Cavs have great young talent to build around in Garland, Okoro, and Allen (and Sexton but who knows where he will be). Suggs and Mobley could be great, but they also don’t show the potential Cunningham does although Green is another story. Giving up a lot of picks now won’t be relevant if they end up being good and developing their core.
Also thank you for the Stepien rule clarification, that makes sense.
My friend Fultz was as much a consensus #1 in his year as Cunningham is this year…
Being a consensus #1 doesn’t tell the whole story. Most everyone thinks higher of Cade now than they did with Fultz back then. And he had more red flags as well (FT% and the form on his threes).
Being a consensus #1 doesn’t tell the whole story. Most everyone thinks higher of Cade now than they did with Fultz back then. And he had more red flags as well (FT% and the form on his threes).
I recall writers/fans/experts Not being very high on the Fultz/Lonzo year, as compared to this year.
Yeah, that was one thing Ainge got right for sure. Everyone was on Fultz.
Exactly. Fultz was consensus #1 and Lonzo was consensus #2. And almost everyone had Josh Jackson at 3 and Jayson Tatum at 4. Danny Ainge was about the only one that differed in that thinking. Luckily for him, he was right.
Going against the majority and being right makes you a genius, but going against the majority and being wrong makes you fired.
That’s why if someone goes against the order of Cade, Green, Mobley, Suggs, Kuminga, Barnes this year, they better be right. A couple of those guys are going to flop, it is statistically inevitable, but if you go with the conventional wisdom you might be able to buy an extra year or more at your job for being wrong.
@Hi-Flew That’s Certainly one of the smarter comments I’ve seen on these boards. Good post
Thank you. I have been called a lot of things on this site. Finally, I can add “smart” to the list.
Coleangelo is an idiot. Fultz had a trash workout, and I can’t imagine he interviewed well, he was so immature. I wanted that kid to be the next D Wade as much as anyone, but that’s because they were going to pick him No Matter What. I had Fultz, Tatum, and Fox as my top choices that year and Isaac as 4th if they traded back to 5 and 10 with the Kings.
Fultz was taken with the idea of being a combo guard along side Ben.
Now there have been 6 busts IMO since 2000. Fultz, Bennett, Oden, Bargnani, Bogut, and Kwame Brown.
Busts at No. 3 overall – 4 by my count. Miles, Dunleavy, Morrison, Okafor.
With this draft they can’t go wrong sitting at 3 or moving up.
I wouldn’t call Bogut a bust. He has more career win shares than Derrick Rose and John Wall and I don’t think too many people think of them as busts. At least not many intelligent people.
And it is probably still too early to tell on Fultz. He may not be a HOFer, but I don’t think he should be saddled with the bust label yet either.
I definitely wouldn’t call Mike Dunleavy a bust. The guy played 15 years in the league.
In the last 10 years, this year’s pick is trending as unlucky, bennett in ’13, fultz in’ 17, thats a 4 year gap between them…
If you keep going with that line of thought
2009 – Blake Griffin
2005 – Andrew Bogut
2001 – Kwame Brown
Griffin and Bogut had good, but not great careers. Brown was just not good at all. So maybe you do have something with your theory
1997 – Tim Duncan
Oh well, maybe not.
Who wants the selfish chucker Sexton?
I’d take him on the Sixers. Would love a player than is willing to take a shot versus one that’s afraid to shoot or even Dunk the ball and soiled his panties in the playoffs.
Weaver is a deal guy. I doubt he’s ever encountered a trade proposal he didn’t want to discuss. But the top pick in this draft has a name (CC) and, without him having played an NBA game, he’s, right now, one of the top 10 assets in the sport. He should be traded (vs discussed) ONLY IF the Pistons’ like a different player (that they know they can get) better. The compensation is irrelevant until the Pistons’ make that determination. The Magic traded Webber (1st) for Hardaway (3rd) and got 3 other 1st round picks. But the deal doesn’t get made (regardless of the number of other 1st round picks are involved) if the Magic didn’t prefer Hardaway to Webber. Starts there.
Could Kevin Love be a fall back option for Miami Heat.
Extend the team options on Dragic and Iggy plus give up Achiwura and a second rounder for Kevin Love and Collin Sexton?
Sexton Herro Butler Love Bam that’s a strong starting 5. Some good veterans and solid young talent. Good mix of offence and defence, high potential to do well and upset some teams in the east.
Then off the bench you have some holes to fill, potentially Oladipo is kept? Ariza is coming back? Duncan Robinson is extended? Okpala is he healthy, turn Gabe Vincents two way into a full? Is Dedmon a fit?
Alternatively is Dallas maybe a destination?
How much of a difference in value is there between KLove and KP?
Would Prince and Love for KP and Powell work?
Cavs would be interesting with say Sexton/Garland Jalen Green Okoro KP and Allen.
Dallas would be Doncic Hardaway Prince Love and a big… Loves production might not match KPs but he’s got championship experience and has stepped up in the past, can bang from inside or outside, and I trust Prince as a role player a lot more then Powell.
My gosh Sexton is not a giveaway and Gilbert and/or Altman would be fools to attach him just to get rid of a contract they never should’ve extended in the 1st place. You’re a super fan I see. totally ridiculous
By trading him with Love you’d save so much money in cap space.
Love already cost you 31mil and Sexton is going to cost you a good amount too soon. If you don’t agree on a figure he likely hits FA and you’ll have to overpay to match another teams offer. So your using him to not only clear Loves huge deal but to not tie yourself to two ugly deals which can’t be traded.
In return you don’t get much but two expiring contracts with a little bit of value which total just over 30mil. Former first round pick Precious Achiwura who’s would serve as a good impact player with potential and you get a second round pick too.
Clearing that money allows for Allen’s extension and creates future flexibility
Here’s an idea…
Kevin Love and #3 for John Wall and #2. Then flip #2 for #1 and give up less (i.e. don’t trade Sexton to the Pistons).
Rockets would recoup 13M this year and 18.4 M the following year.
Cavs, yes they’ll have John Wall. But he’s better than Kevin Love at this point.
You’re trading Sexton anyway. But you can do so to fill a different need. So you’re going to have to figure out minutes for Wall – Garland – Cunningham.
They’ll probably dump Prince and they are dealing Sexton. If they don’t take back salary… 86M before re-upping Allen and signing CC.
I doubt it actually will happen, but it’s not a bad thought. Although if I am the Cavs, I take the Rockets deal and just select Jalen Suggs at #2. ThenI would let John Wall mentor him for a year or two. I still believe Suggs, in the right environment, will end up as the best player in this class. He has already proven he can handle the pressure of being in the spotlight…something none of the rest of the top 5 have really shown. Maybe Cunningham, but Okie State is not what it used to be.
That being said, if I am Houston I would also take Suggs and have Wall mentor him without taking on Kevin Love.
I like Suggs too. I think PGs are the most valuable players in this league, but as you said earlier, bucking the consensus will gee your fired so I doubt a new regime would take Suggs over Green or Mobley. I THINK Green is gonna be a bust, but I wouldn’t risk my job over it.
Fair point. But as I also said, if you believe in your “genius” evaluation enough, you have to go against the majority sometimes. It’s gambling on yourself. It’s the same thing as the 52nd ranked prospect deciding to stay in the draft instead of going back for his sophomore or junior year. It could turn out badly, but if you believe in your ability enough, you just may turn out to be that genius.
I think Suggs could be the type of player that I would take that gamble on. Then again, in 2017 I was the guy that thought Josh Jackson would be the best pro out of the entire class and was claiming Ainge was an idiot for passing on him.
LOL yeah it happens. I was 100% certain Josh Allen for the Bills would be trash
I thought Markelle Fultz could have been Dwayne Wade-lite, and he ended up as a Top-10 all time bust.
I also thought Luka and Trae had the biggest boom or bust in the draft, and I was leaning mostly to bust (mostly with Trae b/c he’s was not a good shooter % wise coming in, but they let him chuck anyway).
It’s all speculation anyway. And honestly, our guess isn’t that much different than GMs – esp with so much being reported and video’d – they just have a bit more first-hand knowledge to guess with from workouts and interviews.
if im Houston id prefer Wall over Love.
I for once, hiflew, I believe Green has actually proved more, as he had some great playoffs games for the G-League Ignite team, & that was playin’ against better opposition & in a pro environment, which counts for a lot more, at least for me, right?