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If we play the Hawks in the playoffs I would roll out this starting 5-

Irving
Shumpert
Smith
LBJ
Mosgov

I'd feel really good about defending Milsap and Horford. Mosgov could play physical with Horford. Lebron could physically keep up with Milsap. He'd also make Milsaps life a nightmare on offense. I also feel like Shump could harass Kyle Korver. That's probably the most balanced starting 5 we could ask for. Love could cancel out Atlantas bench by himself.

That is a nice pipe dream, but there is no way Love is coming off the bench. I agree with you on LeBron and Millsap. Putting a player like Shumpert on Korver is what makes him so valuable, there is no other shooter in the league that has to be guarded like Korver. Irving has no chance at guarding Teague.

Atlanta's bench is among the best in the league. Love cannot take that on himself.

The Hawks would also have a huge coaching advantage.

What a great, interesting series that would be. The Hawks are shooting 39% from three as a team, which is insane and they are also giving up the least points per game in the league. In the end I think the Hawks would win, but I would love to watch.

Their bench would mean much less in a series.

Especially considering the 1st quarter seems to be his best.

I think Wiggins is a little mad we traded him. Quite a half from him.

I expected wiggins to go off. I just want to win the game. We'll need a good 4th quarter to do it.

Who steps up?

Refs seem to be doing all they can to help Minny in this game.

That they are ..... but Lebrion is having none f it.

94-87 Cavaliers.

Man, Tristan with 4 blocks tonight.

Why did Mozgov play limited minutes?

I wonder if the Cavs had kept Wiggins, and still made the same moves to acquire Mozgov, Smith, and company, if they would actually be better?

I tuned in late, but it appears that way.

Thompson was huge tonight though.

So was Delly. His first 3 in the 4th helped ignite the 4th quarter run, and he also had another 3 while the game was still somewhat tight.

I cannot imagine that we would have kept Waiters early on if we would have also kept Wiggins. That definitely could have affected later trades.

Was a good game! Was worried about it being a trap game. 4th game in 5 days, on a road-trip back-to-back, against a team that was probably looking for revenge. Glad they were able to put down the gas pedal and finish them off.

it's funny. The Wolves fans booed Love in the intros, but they should really be thanking him. he could have walked away next year, in some convoluted sign and trade deal, and that could have given the team little in return. Instead, they got Andrew Wiggins, and that is quite a consolation prize.

I understand that they were hurt when he left, but they got quite a player in return for Love.

As to whether or not we would be better with Wiggins ..... we would be starting Tristan at the 4, and we would have been in dire straits when Andy got hurt, because we would have been starting Bennett at either the 4 or 5 at that point.

I am glad things turned out the way they did.

The TWolves fans should be booing their FO.

I can't blame a guy like Love for not wanting to stay there, that team was bad..

And it's not like he went the Melo/Dwight route and forced them to trade him.. He could of just played this year out and went wherever..

Apparently Flip Saunders wasn't a fan of that video..

Kevin Love thought it was funny..

Exactly.

Man, the Wolves added a dynamic young player in Andrew Wiggins, and yet they are the worst team in the NBA. How much better would Kevin Love really have made them? Maybe they are a 15-16 win team, 20 at the very outside, at this point with Love. That might move them up 2 spots in the playoff race. (20 wins would have them in 11th place in the West playoff standings)

Flip Saunders made the decision that he was going to have to trade Love, which was a smart move. I think that he got a great deal for him. However, overall the Wolves have 4 second round picks coming to them in future drafts, and a 1st (2015, protected 1-12, which seems unlikely to convey in '15) and their 2015 2nd heading out. That 1st round pick seems likely to turn into a pair of 2nds, as it is protected 1-12 in 2016 as well, and if it has not been conveyed by then, it becomes a pair of 2nds. (I think) lol

The Wolves are back to the bottom. Their team is not very good. However, I think that they have more talent than an 8 win team. I do think that thy lack a finisher .... someone they can count on to make a play when they desperately need it. Maybe Wiggins becomes that guy for them.

They still look like a team that is fairly far away from being a good team. (even with some "decent" talent)

Flip runs every aspect of that franchise. I find it hard to believe that he knew nothing about it.

"I was not aware of the video a lot of people are talking about," Saunders, the Wolves' coach, president of basketball operations and part owner, said before Minnesota hosted the Cavaliers on Saturday night. "Didn't know about it, didn't approve of it. I think as an organization we should be above that." ESPN

Well, Love said that Flip has quite a sense of humor, and he thought that it came from him .... so take it for whatever that's worth.

On another note ...... I was thinking about this earlier today. Right now we are in the midst of a 10 game winning streak.

Think back about 2 games prior to when the streak began ...... to before the 2 trades took place. It wasn't that long ago that the players supposedly hated Blatt, Lue was in revolt against Blatt, calling TOs or something .... and Blatt was about to be fired.

It's amazing what a 10 game, often dominating, win streak will do for a team.

I read something the other day where some players were quoted in saying that it was never about Blatt, they were just frustrated with the way the roster was constructed back then. Not sure how much truth there is to that, but you have to wonder how much friction there was with Dion.

I assume there won't be that many more moves made.. Mostly because we have few assets to give up..

We now have 33 games left. 33 games to figure everything out..

Yeah, I think that there is a great deal to that. Look at how JR Smith, a guy who came to town with a reputation as a notorious shot-chucker without a conscience. What has he done here though? He has learned the offense and defense. He has passed up fair to good shots for a teammate to take a better shot. He has played defense, and done so well. In his last 10 games, (the winning streak) Smith has a total of 28 assists. He has 81 for the entire season. In other words, he has 1/3 of his total assists this season, in the past 10 games. Dion has a total of 91 assists for the entire year. Smith has 15 steals in the past 10 games. He is playing excellent defense. He is also playing excellent team defense. He understand when to leave his man to help, and when not to. Dion was really just a rumor as far as Dion was concerned.

I had really high hopes for Waiters. I think that he is a very talented kid. I think that he can become a great player. However, he has to realize that he will never be Lebron James or Michael Jordan. If he works on his complete game, including understanding how to be a great teammate, then he has a chance. If not, then he'l just be a shot-chucker.

I think that the players had to be frustrated with the roster, especially after the loss of Andy. Suddenly Thompson was the starting Center, a role that fit him about as well as boots fit a mermaid. Unfortunately, there was no one else. Now he is back to a super-sub role, energy off the bench, and a guy who has a true role on this team.

However, as much as players were frustrated, I think it is good that Griffin waited until he could put together the right package to help "re-balance" this team. He could have made panic moves, but instead he waited, and when he had his chance to get what he wanted, he struck. I think that he almost had to make both trades in order to make the Waiters trade. An additional 1st round pick in the low end of the draft isn't going to help this team all that much, and absolutely not this year. I think that he got the price for Mozgov, and then put together the deal with Dion, making sure that it was structured so that he would get that extra 1st round pick back. He had to wait until he got a definite price from Denver. Once he got that, then *bam* trade 1 ... trade 2. He could have made moves earlier, but I doubt that they would have been as impactful. It certainly appears that he held out for exactly what he wanted, making sure that he supported his coach all along, and then made his moves. I think it was a masterful pair of moves, as it filled 3 major roster holes perfectly, and it cost so little.

People make it seem like Lebron is the "pseudo GM, and while I am sure that he is consulted on moves, the moves themselves are decided upon and worked out by Griffin. Frankly, I think that he deserves executive of the year, although he probably won't get it because of Lebron just deciding to come back. However, I think that really diminishes the work he has done to make this a championship caliber team. This team just might be better and deeper than the Miami Heat teams that won 2 championships. 2 of our big 3 don't have playoff experience, and that is a difficulty, but man, we have talent everywhere. I am excited about this team, for this year, and beyond.

We would have to find a veteran who would take a minimum deal.

I suspect that we will probably leave that 15th roster spot open for the right opportunity. Maybe a guy becomes available and we jump. However, it really has to be the right deal, not really for us, (as we can only add a minimum contract) but for the player we bring in.

Cavs are 8-1 with Mozgov on the team and LeBron in the lineup

I believe later in the article he was quoted as saying he had to spend a few hours the last couple of days discussing the video and it was a distraction. Either Flip is lying or I misinterpreted the quote.

I've been wondering, what is Kyries maximum ceiling? He's already a scoring machine.

Keep wondering. He's just impressive all around. Now his short jump shot game has improved a lot to add to his weapons to put up points. His defense has improved a lot.

Kids playing at a high level.

I don't know. His defense is already better than I ever expected it to be. He is also becoming a better leader than I thought he would be. He has adapted his game to blend with James perfectly. I am so impressed with how he has modified his game, without complaint or resistance. He wants to win, and is doing whatever it takes to win.

I am just glad that we signed him for another 5 years. IIRC, that extension doesn't start until next year, so we have him for 5 more years after this year. We could have our big 3 together for quite a while to come.

Cavs looking unstoppable thus far! If they keep this up, they can just play the bench the whole second half lol...

Dayummmmmmmm that was a great series of three actions. A destroyer block by Mozguv, a deep touchdown rainbow by K Love and then a dunking JR Smith! GO FREAKING CAVS!!!!!!!!!!!

Mozgov only has 5 blocks so far tonight. Man, Mozgov just got blasted in the jaw, and called for the foul.

He has been a force in the paint. A tower of destruction!

This game closed up quick. Good guys by three.

Strong finish. Dellabudva (sp?) and Irving came on when we needed it and so did that spurt of defense.

THE STREAK CONTINUES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Delly was huge down the stretch. Man, he played a great 4th quarter, on both offense and defense.

Way too inconsistent with the ball tonight though. I believe the Cavaliers had 18 or 19 turnovers, and definitely did not shoot well, and yet still almost scored 100. That's amazing and kinda scary.

They cannot play like that and win against the Clippers though.

For a guy that everyone wants to cut or replace (me included) he seems to make big play after big play. He hustles from the time he steps on the court til he steps off. Wish he had a little better measurables, LOL.

Cavaliers are now riding an 11 game win streak. What a difference getting a real rim protector has made. Adding a pair of SG who can shoot and defend hasn't hurt either.

The Cavaliers did not shoot well tonight, and they were really careless with the ball. They had 18 turnovers, and shot 44%. (which was only saved by their shooting late in the game) They also played some really sloppy defense, which was really disappointing. They can't play like that against the Clippers and expect to win.

They did have 6 guys in double digits in scoring. (Kyrie 24, Lebron 18, Smith 12, Delly 12, Shumpert 11, and Mozgov 10. Love only scored 5 points, but he grabbed 15 boards! Kyrie and Lebron played too many minutes, again. Kyrie played 39 tonight, and Lebron played 36.

If they can get the win against the Clippers, then they stand a really good chance of running the win streak to 14, with games at the Pacers, and home against the Lakers. Oh, by the way, the Hawks lost tonight, so the Cavaliers now have the longest current win streak in the NBA.

The Cavaliers are 30-20, with 32 games left to play. We are 1/2 game behind the Bulls, and 1 1/2 games behind the Wizards for 4th and 3rd place, respectively. We are 3 1/2 games behind the Raptors for 2nd place. Being 10 1/2 games behind the Hawks makes it all but impossible to catch them, but this team could get to the 2nd or 3rd spot by the end of the season.

Man, if not for that 8 game losing streak when Lebron was out, we might well be in 2nd place right now.

Anyway, let's get #12 tomorrow against the Clippers. Go Cavs!

One other thing i wanted to mention. Kevin Love's defense is improving. He may be struggling with his shot right now, but he is improving on defense, and is rebounding like a beast. I am impressed that he has not only not let his offensive struggles affect him, but he seems to be using it to force himself to become a better defender. He'll never be a great defender, but it will be huge if he can be a solid defender. That would make our starting defense very, very good. We are on a 9 game streak of allowing 98 points or less. The game against the Clippers will be a huge challenge, especially on defense.