DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs and NBA Discussion Continued

CHS had to say this in the other thread:


While I somewhat agree with you, there were rumors that Chicago was going to trade Taj Gibson to get Love. I'm not sure if it was true or not, but that was really the rumor that kicked the whole Wiggins for Love trade into gear. I would of much rather we waited things out, and bilked a desperate Minnesota in January/February, but if the Chicago rumors were true, then we had to do what we had to do.

I don't get the whole Love leaves speculation either. Couple of reasons:

1) He's been extremely loyal and honest about everything he's ever done. He was loyal to Minnesota for 7 years, and when it came to the point where he wanted to move on to a contender, he was very upfront about it. He let the team know his intentions, which gave them ample time to get trade value for him. He never did anything conniving.

2) He's said NOTHING but the right things about free agency this year. He's always said he plans to stay in Cleveland and will honor his word. Will he suddenly turn Carlos Boozer and go back on everything he says? I think he's here at LEAST for another year. The big Free Agency bonanza isn't until next off-season anyway so even if he DOES leave, he's only going to sign a one year contract anyway.

3) Boston has pretty much sealed their fate on any Love signing and they were probably one of the very few teams that had a legit shot at him.

4) The only other major player is the Lakers. But there are a couple of issues with them ... First, he's not originally from LA (He's from Oregon), so it's not like he has the kind of hometown ties to LA that Lebron does to Akron. And second, what exactly do the Lakers have that's going to convince him to play for them? They have a garbage roster and an over the hill Kobe Bryant sucking up cap space. I have to laugh when people suggest that Love can't get along with Lebron so he'll go to the Lakers ... because you know, EVERYBODY always raves about what a great teammate Kobe is to play with. I mean, Dwight Howard stayed an entire season before he bolted as fast as he could to Houston. And outside of Kobe, the Lakers have what? Basically another version of the Timberwolves ... which Love was pretty much begging to get away from 12 months ago.

Your #2 point is key. Kevin and his agent have gone out of their way to say he's staying. I would be shocked if they go back on their word now.

And yes, he's here at least one more year.

I was watching a Chicago Bulls report and they were talking about the Kevin/Wiggins trade. The moderator asked, "With Kevin out the rest of the year, do you think the Cavs would like to go back in time and not make the trade?" I wanted to punch the guy in the face.

1. Lebron wanted Kevin. Why? Because Lebron doesn't want to play PF. He was sick of that position when Miami would play small ball. Plus, it extends his career to play on the perimeter. Again, without Kevin, we don't have Lebron. And Kyrie probably walks too.
2. There's no guarantee Wiggins doesn't have the same injury on the same day or a different injury that could put him out the year too.
3. After the trades that brought Moz and Smith/Shumpert, the offense with Kevin exploded. There's really a future here.

Why is Love in Cleveland for one more year? He has an opt out that he certainly will exercise.

Kevin Love isn't leaving. He has said he wants to stay. I don't understand why people don't understand that.

No pro athlete has ever lied about wanting to stay in a city. . .

It would be different if there was something bad about the team. The Cavs are the ideal place for him if he wants to win. Nobody leaves a situation as solid as this, without a very good reason. And there are no good reasons.

He can opt in for one more year and be a Free Agent in 2016 where the salary cap will go from 66 million to 89 million.

The smart move is to opt out and sign a two year contract with a player option in the second year.

Yup. He'll be in Cleveland for at least one more year. Anybody watch the first 3 games of the playoffs? Love looked like a little kid out there having so much fun.. and he knows he can pretty much do this every year in Cleveland if he stays. He remembers Minnesota, you think he wants to go a rebuilding team and risk doing that for 2 or 3 more years while he hopes they put the right pieces together?

He will opt out, sign a deal for next year, then at the end of next season he will evaluate where some of these other teams are in their rebuilding and whether he thinks they have a shot.

If Blatt and Co. are smart, they will sit down as soon as the off-season starts and come up with a a scheme to better utilize his skill sets, keep him more engaged, and then sell it to him...

I think it actually benefits the Cavs that he got a taste of the playoffs and then had it taken away.

I am going to post YTown's post from the closed Cavs thread. I think it's a very intelligent post and worth reading:

Said it before, and it's still true, at times Love just didn't look like he had his place, but man, they are just a better team with him.

I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that he's gone, as most of the national media tells you, but I don't think it's the done deal that he's staying, as we were told when the trade went through. I think he'll look at his options, but I could definitely see him coming back for a year, and just worrying about it then.

It really seemed like as the Boston series progressed, he started to really look like he found his way with the Cavs.

Being the third guy on a team is a tough pill to swallow, especially when you were leaned on as the guy for years.

But playing for a legitimate title contender can go a long way. Bill Simmons was making jokes about what rich suburb of Boston Love was going to live in next year. If he ends up in Boston, they aren't a legiimate title contender. Not with that rest of that roster. I don't think anyone can argue that.

The Lakers? In the west?

The guy said some things after he got traded. He told the reporters in his intro presser that he wanted to be there long term. He also wrote this piece over the summer. Read the last line.

Athletes say on thing and go back on it all the time, we know more than anyone else, but if those things are true, why would he leave?

Being reported everywhere and confirmed by the Cavs, Love had surgery and is out 4-6 months.

From what I've heard, he had a partially torn labrum. I've had the same injury (after a dislocation) and that was with a throwing arm. I was actually able to play softball for a full year, though I couldn't throw overhand and it was extremely painful to play, but it was doable. I'm kind of surprised he opted for surgery so soon. Maybe it was damaged much worse than they though and he really had no choice.

Is it bad that I wish the Browns go 7-9, squeak into the playoffs, and play the Patriots in a first round matchup. Then around the fourth quarter when we're down 35-10, Haden can dive low on Tom Brady and blow out both his knees. Then we can say things like, "Well Haden's never done anything diry before. It HAD to of been an accident." Then watch as Mike Tirico and the other announcers have a conniption mid-broadcast. We could maybe get Mingo to get a couple of chippy hands-to-the-face swim moves on Gronk until he snaps and gets ejected and suspended for the next game. We can then say that Mingo was only playing "hard" playoff-type football and the Patriots just need to get over it. Finally, we could laud Pettine for being such a great coach and getting the guys so motivated to play the Patriots.

j/c

I don't see Kevin Love going anywhere and believe he exercises his option. He is out 4 to 6 months. I believe a wise Kevin Love will take his, what $17 Million??, and not have to throw a basketball around until he is 100% healthy and confident. All he does is rehab, rehab, rehab. The Cavs probably wouldn't even consider playing him until December or January. Who would even want to chance multiple years or max dollars on guy with a busted wing who might not be 100% until 2016, if ever?

It's his non-shooting arm. His shoulder can be 30% the rest of his career and I don't think it would severely affect his game.

I don't wish injuries on anyone but Big Ben, however I find it funny what Boston fans were saying about TJ ward after hitting Gronk (legally btw)

I saw a lot of Boston fans happy that Love got hurt and Cleveland's chances for a title went down. What a classy fan base.

I know people love and hate Tony Rizzo but he was 100% right in saying Boston fans are spoiled rich kids who throw a hissy fit when they don't get what they want. They're quick to credit your team when they win, but when they lose, forget it. Spoiled brats.

I hate it when players get tangled up like that.. very unfortunate.

I think the "C" really stands for "Can't wait to leave."

I couldn't tell if it was "Clippers bound". "Celtics bound", or "staples Center bound".

"Crap, Kobe's still on the team."

Clippers vs. Spurs will be nuts tomorrow.

There's a good chance NBA history will be made. It's a must watch event. And I'm still salty over the whole Kevin/Cavs situation right now.

The whole series, besides game three, has been awesome. It is stupid that these two teams have to face each other in the first round, but I am kind of glad they are because there would have been no other entertaining series.

Remember when no one wanted to come to Cleveland?

I don't expect Love to leave, so that would rule out Aldridge .... but man, Aldridge wouldn't be a bad option if Love did leave.

Free agency: LaMarcus Aldridge interested in joining Cavaliers? - CBSSports.com
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bask...marcus-aldridge

ESPN reports that as we already knew, the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks are on the list of potential bidders for LaMarcus Aldridge, along with the Knicks and Lakers. Maybe more interesting is that for the first time, word has surfaced that Aldridge would be interested in joining the Cavaliers if Kevin Love doesn't return..

But the consistent word on the personnel grapevine at the minute informs us that San Antonio and Dallas not only both believe they have a real shot at signing him but are also legitimately in Aldridge's thoughts.

Answer: We're hearing Aldridge connected to both of those teams so frequently that you can only conclude that neither idea scares him.

Yet sources insist -- at, yes, this early juncture -- that San Antonio sits near or at the top of Aldridge's list ... unless the Cleveland Cavaliers were to lose Kevin Love and then somehow manufacture a way to sign-and-trade for him.

The Knicks and Lakers, of course, also intend to enter the bidding. And there will surely be others.

via Stein's Scoop: Aldridge to bolt Blazers? - Marc Stein - ESPN.

We'll get to San Antonio in a minute. Let's tackle that Cleveland rumor.

Love has openly and repeatedly said that he intends to stay with Cleveland, but rumors remain rampant that he's not happy with the situation in Ohio and will look to relocate.

If he does, Aldridge might not be a bad fit with LeBron and Irving. Aldridge can spread the floor like Love does and operate as much in the low block. The question is, after the way Love was used this year, as a decoy for the most part under David Blatt, if Aldridge would be satisfied with that kind of role. Aldridge isn't necssarily looking for a huge market, but playing with LeBron gives him the best of both worlds: a smaller market but a star-studded team.

At the same time, there have been consistent rumors that one of Aldridge's problems was the lack of attention the Blazers have given him. First he was second fiddle to Brandon Roy, then Greg Oden, and now to a degree, Damian Lillard. Would he want to join a team where he'd be third fiddle?

Now on to the Spurs.

Taking over for Duncan is a perilous idea for Aldridge. He's not Duncan taking over for Robinson. Aldridge turns 30 this summer. And he's not Tim Duncan. Even with Kawhi Leonard being the one to take over as the true star, being the guy to take over as power forward behind the Greatest of All Time at that position is a pretty dangerous position to be in.

In Dallas, there's just not a great fit. Is Dirk Nowitzki ready to go to the bench? He... did not have a great playoff series. It's conceivable that Nowitzki would go to the bench, but it's not certain that would make the Mavs the team they want to be unless they add a better rim protector (Tyson Chandler may have passed that point).

Typically speaking, I tend to believe free agents should avoid the Knicks like the plague. It's a massive pressure situation in a major media situation with a roster that's a joke, a superstar that is defined by his overall inefficiency with a lack of defensive prowess, and a President/Spiritual Overlord who bases his thinking on how things were a decade ago.

But Aldridge? Aldridge is a perfect fit for the Triangle. Mid-range jumpers are a huge component. Quick reads and decisions are a part, too. Ball movement is key, and Aldridge has shown he can do that. Aldridge is actually a really great fit for New York.

The Lakers could use him, because they could use anyone with a pulse, even if he and Julius Randle are a positional conflict.

Aldridge will have good options, and some bad ones. Navigating that will be tricky. The same can be said for Love, especially with the confusing way his Cleveland tenure ended.

Wow ... that would certainly take the sting out of Love leaving. But I REALLY doubt he does at this point.

2 things I hope

1 I hope Lebron calls some sort of players only meeting, and gives some sort of motivational speech.

2 I hope Urban Meyer calls Lebron, and gives him some sort of motivational speech

I think we witness the end of an era. Clippers win today and this is Pop and Timmy's last game.

I want them gone simply because if we make the finals, I want no part of them, but I hope this isn't the last hurrah.

not me, i rather play spurs than the clippers. Spurs are done.. That team will get torn down in the offseason. Clippers would run us out of the building I think. But we're getting ahead of ourselves...I don't think we make it out of the east this year...too much to overcome and getting Chicago now won't be good. I think if we got them in the finals with more at stake I think it'd be better...right now we have to play flawless to make up loss of JR and Love. Not looking forward to monday, but at same time I am...Going to be interesting how they do.

Lead when the last time the clippers beat us

The team I would least want the Cavs to play in the Finals is the Warriors. People are really underestimating how good that team is. Everybody talks about the guard play but they also have two DPOY candidates and great defensive versatility. I would see the Cavs struggling on both ends of the floor against them (granted this is going to be true of almost everybody they play.)

The win over the Clippers in LA was kinda the first win to spark the turnaround of the season.

I see no way in the world Love would leave here... Stay here (like he said he would), make 17M, for a team that has either just won a championship or that you feel your injury cost a championship. Become a free agent in a year when the salary cap goes up 35%.

Not even a tough decision.

spurs lost I like to think are chances of winning wet up drastically

lebron plus 25 million more than everybody else no decision

I don't think that anyone beats the Warriors coming out of the West.

This was one heck of an elimination game.

That was one hell of a game and very fitting to a tremendous series overall. Knew it was gonna take a superhuman effort to beat the Spurs.

up until this year constantly.. this year we swept them, one with the female ref fiasco...and the second one eeked out a win. Thats with Love. With Love, I have no doubt we could beat them in a series, Without Love, they are a matchup problem.. More so than SAS would have been

Jordan>/=Mosgov
Griffin<James
reddick>shumpert
paul=irving
Barnes>whatever scrub we end up putting out there

we match up better with SAS without Love. But I guess we are going to find out.. we have to worry about getting there first.. I don't think its going to be as easy as alot of people are thinking replacing Love. Replacing a plus level shooter and rebounder is pretty difficult. I think if we can get past Chicago, we walk through Atlanta/wash. I still think its going to be Memphis or Houston in the west

In what world is Irving equal to Paul?