Reaction To Kevin Love Trade Agreement
The big news of the day was the reported agreement between the Cavaliers and the Timberwolves, which would send Kevin Love to Cleveland for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and a protected 2015 first-round pick. Here’s the latest commentary from around the league regarding the soon-to-be blockbuster trade:
- Potential carries no guarantees, writes Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer, who applauds the Cavs’ decision to turn consecutive No. 1 overall draft picks into Love, a proven veteran.
- Love could bolt after one season, just like LeBron James, but odds are he won’t, and one of Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s guiding principles in business is to pounce on an opportunity even if it’s not perfect, as fellow Plain Dealer scribe Terry Pluto points out.
- The Timberwolves’ 2014/15 season will be about their core of young talent trying to reach their potential, writes Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press.
- During his time in Minnesota, Love has been criticized for his poor defense, the perception that he wasn’t a team player, and the Wolves failure to reach the playoffs. Now that he’ll be playing alongside a much more talented cast, Love is officially out of excuses, writes Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report.
- The trade cannot become official until August 23rd at the earliest. Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders runs down five things you need to know about the deal.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Fallout From Kevin Love Trade Agreement
The time between now and August 23rd, when the Kevin Love trade agreement can become an official transaction, makes it possible that the deal could fall apart, but the Cavs and Wolves are under “enormous pressure” to honor the pact, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. A source tells Berger that Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders would listen if the Warriors decided to offer Klay Thompson, but Golden State has been steadfastly against doing so. The Warriors haven’t spoken with Minnesota for weeks, according to Berger, and Sam Amick of USA Today hears that Golden State doesn’t intend to jump back into the fray (Twitter link). Here are more aftershocks from the Love deal:
- Even if the Warriors did offer up Thompson to Minnesota, it wouldn’t cause the Cavs deal to come apart, as the Wolves prefer what Cleveland is set to send them, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.
Earlier updates:
- The Wolves gave the Cavs permission more than two weeks ago to negotiate with Love about a long-term future with the Cavs, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. There are conflicting reports about whether Love has committed to signing a max deal with Cleveland next summer.
- Minnesota maintains interest in Thaddeus Young, but the Wolves wouldn’t end up sending Anthony Bennett to Philadelphia if such a deal materializes, Zgoda writes in the same piece. Minnesota hopes instead to ship the 2015 first-rounder it’s acquiring from Cleveland in the Love trade to the Sixers for Young, Zgoda writes. The Wolves would also like to shed J.J. Barea and Luc Mbah a Moute in a deal for Young, according to Zgoda, who speculates that Minnesota might include Shabazz Muhammad, too.
- Kevin Martin was in plenty of Love rumors, but there’s no indication that the Wolves are looking to trade him or Corey Brewer, Zgoda tweets.
- Most around the league believe that the addition of Love will convince Ray Allen to sign with Cleveland at some point before camp, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, and Chris Broussard of ESPN.com tweets that he heard weeks ago that Allen would come aboard if the Cavs traded for Love. Still, Allen has dismissed similar rumors and his criteria for signing with a team appear to exclude the Cavs, as I explained Wednesday.
- The Cavs aren’t looking to trade Dion Waiters, who was one of the first within the Cavs organization to whom LeBron James spoke after he made his decision to return from the Heat, Amico writes in his piece.
- Cleveland is targeting big men, but the team has faith that Brendan Haywood can contribute, as Amico also notes.
Cavs Consider Signing E’Twaun Moore
Free agent guard E’Twaun Moore is the subject of strong consideration from the Cavs, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Moore reportedly held off on signing a deal with Olimpia Milano of Italy amid interest from two NBA teams. It appears Cleveland is one of those clubs, though the identify of the other remains unclear.
Moore spent the last two seasons with the Magic, carving out a role in the team’s rotation. Orlando nonetheless declined to tender a qualifying offer worth roughly $1.148MM, making him an unrestricted free agent. The 25-year-old Mark Bartelstein client put up 7.1 points in 20.7 minutes per game during his time with Orlando.
Cleveland has an agreement in place to acquire Kevin Love, but that won’t change the team’s inability to offer more than the minimum salary. The Cavs have pursued swingman Ray Allen, but he’s spoken of a desire for more than the minimum. Moore, whose 35.4% three-point percentage is right in line with his career average of 35.0%, is nowhere near the long-range marksman that Allen has been over his career, but it’s possible that Cleveland sees Moore as a fallback option. That’s just my speculation, however.
Cavs Work Out Chauncey Billups
7:28pm: Billups’ visit with Cleveland was a result of his interest in playing there, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Billups worked out for the Cavs, and looked rusty but productive, per Spears’ source. No offer has been extended from Cleveland at this point.
12:09pm: The Cavs have met with free agent Chauncey Billups, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, confirming an earlier report by Scott Sargent of WaitingForNextYear. It’s unclear whether the sides discussed a playing, coaching or front office role for the 37-year-old who’s spoken openly of the notion of retiring as a player while stopping short of ruling out a return to the court.
Billups acknowledged in March that multiple NBA teams had been in touch about a front office role and said he would consider such an opportunity with the Pistons should the team make it available. The Pistons and Cavs were both reportedly high on him for a job in the front office, though that was before the Pistons removed Joe Dumars, with whom Billups is close, from his role as president of basketball operations.
Nuggets GM Tim Connelly recently had a broad discussion with Billups, but it’s not clear if they spoke about any kind of role Billups might take on in Denver. Coaching holds no appeal to Billups, though Flip Saunders apparently envisioned hiring him as an assistant for the Wolves earlier this summer.
The Pistons declined their team option on Billups for this coming season, and renounced his rights as well, though they’d still be able to offer him the minimum salary, which is likely all he could command after appearing in just 19 games in an injury-wracked 2013/14. The Cavs wouldn’t be able to pay him more than the minimum should they sign him to play.
Cavs Notes: Allen, Waiters, Irving, LeBron
Ray Allen once seemed destined to join the Cavs, but he insists that he’s unsure whether he’ll play again or where he’d do so if he were to return for a 19th season, as I examined earlier today. His apparent criteria for a would-be next team seem to rule out the Cavs, but some of the club’s players hope he’ll reconsider, as we note amid the latest from Cleveland:
- James Jones spent time recently with Allen in Connecticut and is “pretty sure” Allen knows that LeBron James and many of the Cavs would like him to play with Cleveland this year, as Jones told reporters Wednesday, including Tom Withers of The Associated Press. “We talked about those things that are important to us, which are families, our legacies and our careers,” Jones said. “So he has a decision to make. Of course we’d love to have Ray. Hopefully he makes a decision that’s best for him, and hopefully it’s a decision to continue to play. But as far as where he goes and what he’s thinking, I don’t know.”
- James called Dion Waiters a few days before he made his choice to leave the Heat and return to Cleveland, telling the Cavs shooting guard to “be ready,” as Waiters tells Brendan Bowers of SLAM Online. Waiters also dismissed the idea that he and Kyrie Irving can’t co-exist on and off the court.
- The ability for James to hit free agency again next year and his apparent desire for the Cavs to trade for Kevin Love belies the four-time MVP’s assertion that he would patiently await the growth of the team’s young players, argues Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer. It’s clear that James is exerting his leverage over GM David Griffin and company, Livingston writes.
Shawn Marion Visiting With Cavs
WEDNESDAY, 12:00pm: The Cavs remain an intriguing option for Marion, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, even amid Tuesday’s report that the Pacers are in heavy pursuit and that the combo forward is scheduling meetings with other clubs.
MONDAY, 5:22pm: As the Cavs gear up for their most highly-anticipated season in years they’re looking into ways that they can bolster their frontcourt depth. With that in mind, the Cavs are hosting Shawn Marion on a recruiting visit today, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Marion, 36, started 76 regular season games for the Mavs last season and also started in all seven games of the Mavs’ losing first-round effort against the Spurs. While Marion would be a natural target for the Pacers in the wake of Paul George‘s gruesome injury, LeBron James‘ presence gives the Cavs the upper hand in the chase (link).
The Heat had been expected to make a push for The Matrix when free agency began, apparently viewing him as the sort of player whose addition could help convince LeBron to stick around. Now that LeBron is in Cleveland, the Cavs are the ones looking to pair Marion with the game’s top player.
The veteran can still play, but he put up a career-worst 13.7 PER this past season, a drop from his 18.0 mark in the year prior. Marion has ostensibly been holding out for something higher than the minimum salary but Cleveland is one of about a dozen NBA teams that can only pay the minimum. Our own Chuck Myron recently looked at the market for Marion, including possible landing spots.
Cavs Sign Mike Miller
5:53pm: The team has followed with an official announcement.
AUGUST 5TH, 5:32pm: The team still hasn’t made a formal announcement, but the signing has taken place, according to Pincus (Twitter link). It’s for two years and $5.6MM and it includes a 15% trade kicker, according to Pincus, who confirms that it indeed features a player option for the final season.
JULY 15TH: Mike Miller has agreed to join the Cavs on a two-year deal with a player option for the final season, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s for a total of $5.5MM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter), though Broussard says the Nuggets and Rockets offered more. Miller had been torn between Denver and Cleveland, as Wojnarowski reported earlier this afternoon (Twitter link). The Cavs are likely using their room exception on the sharpshooting swingman, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
The Arn Tellem client was reportedly near a deal with the Nuggets when LeBron James decided to return to the Cavaliers, which allowed Miller a chance to play with James again. Miller was ineligible to sign with the Heat, since his previous contract with Miami, which the Heat amnestied, ran through next season. James had apparently reached out to Miller to see if he would be interested in joining him were he to leave the Heat this summer.
The Grizzlies, Clippers, Thunder, Blazers and Mavs were other teams reportedly interested in the 34-year-old, who showed this past season that his body is still capable of handling the rigors of the NBA. He played in all 82 games for the first time since he was a rookie, giving Memphis a valuable shooter in reserve. His 45.9% accuracy from behind the arc was the second-best mark of his career.
Miller’s camp appeared to try to ward off the possibility that the Cavs would claim him off amnesty waivers last summer by advancing talk about back surgery, but now Miller is willingly taking a discount to go to Cleveland, in a twist of events.
Cavs Sign James Jones
AUGUST 5TH: The signing is official, the team announced via its website.
JULY 16TH: The Cavs have struck a one-year deal with James Jones for the minimum salary, a source tells Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). That means another ex-Heat teammate of LeBron James is headed to Cleveland. It’s unclear if the contract will be guaranteed.
Cleveland had been pursuing Jones, a favorite of LeBron’s, in conjunction with Mike Miller soon after it signed the four-time MVP. Cavs GM David Griffin also convinced Miller to take a discount to come to Cleveland, the same place he was reluctant to go last year, and now it seems the team will focus on its attempt to convince Ray Allen, also late of the Heat, to move north.
The Warriors, Wizards, Pelicans and Heat all made offers to the 33-year-old Jones, but LeBron’s recruiting effort led the Miami native to choose the Cavs instead, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). Jones spent the past six seasons with Miami, never averaging more than 19.1 minutes per game, but his 4.9 points per contest this past season represents his second-highest scoring average in a Heat uniform. The Joel Bell client also serves as the secretary/treasurer for the players union.
And-Ones: Bledsoe, Sixers, Seattle
The relationship between the Suns and Eric Bledsoe continues to sour, and as it does, it’s looking like he’ll end up taking Phoenix’s one-year qualifying offer, worth about $3.7MM, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. That route would allow him to hit unrestricted free agency by next summer, but it would also represent a severe discount, not only on the maximum salary that Bledsoe has been seeking, but also from the four-year, $48MM offer the Suns have reportedly made. It’d be a surprising move if he ends up taking the QO, but it doesn’t seem as though the Rich Paul client is any closer to another deal. There’s more on Bledsoe amid the latest from around the league:
- Four NBA executives and two agents who spoke with Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic believe that the four-year, $48MM offer the Suns reportedly made to Bledsoe is fair and don’t think that the 24-year-old point guard has merited the maximum salary. “I’m surprised that they would offer him that much,” one of the executives said. “They don’t need to. It is really fair and, in fact, generous. He is talented, but he has never put it together very long, and he hasn’t been healthy. It’s hard to turn your team over to him.”
- The possibility that the Sixers could acquire Anthony Bennett and give up Thaddeus Young as the third team in a Kevin Love trade, one that Brian Windhorst of ESPN raised in a radio interview Monday, would be difficult to comprehend, argues Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com. Philadelphia’s purge of existing talent has been so profound that such a swap would seem like piling on, Lynam posits.
- Coming up short in bids for the Bucks and Kings prompted Steve Ballmer to pounce on the chance to strike a deal to buy the Clippers and abandon his dream of bringing the NBA back to Seattle, as he tells Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The former Microsoft CEO said he hopes Seattle ends up with a team eventually, though he reiterated that he has no intention of moving the Clippers.
Latest On Kevin Love Talks
10:58pm: Earlier today, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst told ESPN Radio New York (audio link) that a “handshake” deal is in place between the Wolves and Cavs.
8:49pm: A deal that would involve Kevin Love being shipped to the Cavs and Andrew Wiggins going to the Wolves has been in play for weeks, but there is no deal in place yet because there are many other smaller parts of the deal that have yet to be agreed upon, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, the other suitors for Love – including the Warriors, Bulls, and Celtics – took a backseat once it was learned that Cleveland was making the No. 1 pick in June’s draft available (link). Still, while it’s clear that the Cavs are far and away the frontrunners for a deal, there’s still lots of work to be done before Love can be routed to Cleveland.
The core package that has been mentioned often would have the Cavs sending Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and a future first round choice to the Wolves for Love. It has also been said that a third team would likely be brought in to help facilitate the trade and the Sixers appear to be very willing partners. After checking in with a source tonight, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter) believes that Bennett would wind up in Philadelphia if the 76ers are the third team in the transaction. The Wolves instead would prefer to have Thaddeus Young and, apparently, it’s not even close in their minds (link).
Minnesota’s interest in Young was noted late last month, though their interest had apparently been there for quite some time. Young is set to make more than $9.4MM this coming season and has an early termination option he can exercise to hit free agency next summer.