Call me an idiot, but I would not trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love if I were the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But I seem to be in the minority.
This is not to dismiss Love’s undeniably juicy package of skills. He’s a 6-11 deadeye shooter, who can also gobble up rebounds in bulk and operate in the post with his back to the basket. He would be on paper, and in person, a perfect compliment to LeBron and Kyrie Irving for a new “big three.”
He’ll also be very expensive. Which is why I think keeping Wiggins makes even more sense.
You bring in Love, you are quickly starting to tap-out on max deals. Irving already has his. He’s an $18 million player for the next five years. $18 million!
I mean, he’s good, but not that good. Not within a mere $4 million per year of LeBron James, good. But this is how the NBA now works. You max guys out, just to keep them and see “more of the movie.”
So Love is going to want, deserve, and get a max deal of his own.
Which means Cleveland would look alot like Miami where James just left. Only younger. Still, that’s 3 guys costing $60M between them. Didn’t the Spurs prove that you need a full TEAM of guys to win?
Plus, what if Wiggins is good? Like, insanely good? There seems to be a trend of dismissing the #1/#1 pick in the NBA draft like it’s total crap shoot. It’s not if you properly analyze the caliber of players who enter the draft in a given year.
Nobody thought last year Anthony Bennett was going to be a franchise player. He was just deemed the “least bad choice” in a year that saw perennial under-achiever Alex Len of non-NCAA entrant Maryland as the 5th best player available.
Oiy.
But look at this class. A deep blue pool of blue-chippers, led by the NBA-ready Wiggins, born of NBA pedigree.
Dude. KEEP that guy. See what happens. What if he’s as good as Durant or Kobe, or… dare I say it… LeBron?
Best of all, Wiggins will only cost $5 million per season for the first three years, thanks to the rookie wage scale. If he’s a cornerstone player in this league (like John Wall, Blake Griffin or Derrick Rose – all #1/#1’s themselves) then not only are you getting massive production per dollar, but you might just be able to keep him for the next 10 years.
Look, I’m no NBA fanatic like Bill Simmons. So maybe I’m an idiot and Wiggins-for-Love is the easiest no-brainer for the Cavaliers since putting somebody else besides Craig Ehlo on Jordan for the final shot in 1989.
But then again, if it was such a no-brainer, why hasn’t it happened already?
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Here’s a fascinating angle/raw feed of the Jordan shot over Ehlo that I have never seen before. Enjoy both the “slim” James Brown (CBS did basketball!? Yes, they did…) and the homeriffic Chicago “reporter” who was screaming “you stuck it, Michael, you stuck it!” (#idiot)
