Cleveland 100% has to do something unless they like the idea of Lebron leaving them again. And my bet is he goes to Spurs which makes Kawhi happy and the rest of the West really unhappy.
Isaiah Thomas has barely played and when he has, he's been VERY underwhelming. He's not the same player he was last year in BOS. Whether that's injuries, poor fit, or both, a player with a PER = 13.8, a TS% of .508 who is a sieve on defense can hardly be considered the member of anybody's "Big 3".. I'm sure CLE hoped he'd be a major contributor, but tight now, the BRK pick is looking like the only thing of value CLE got from BOS in the Kyrie Irving trade. Crowder and IT have both been terrible in CLE, while Kyrie has led BOS to the best record in the East. BNM
If he plans to sign for the MLE, perhaps. The Spurs have no real cap room after re-signing Mills and Gasol last off-season.
And even that Brooklyn pick, which was supposed to be a golden ticket, is starting to look like a mid-lottery pick rather than a pick that will land a franchise player (barring huge lottery luck).
He seems to be the scape goat for CLE's defensive problems. Sure, his defense sucks, but they knew that when they traded for him. He wasn't brought to CLE to be a defensive monster. He was brought there to score and rebound, which is exactly what he's doing. It seems hilariously ironic that his teammates called a team meeting to call him out, immediately after they collectively gave up 148 points in a regulation game. Talk about a lack of self awareness... CLE lacks a rim protector. That's not Love's fault. They are playing him out of position at center. Their roster is OLD and full of holes. Crowder has been a TERRIBLE fit. J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert have been worthless. Wade is a solid back up, but not close to the star he once was. Jeff Green, the guy nobody really expected much from, has been the third best player on their team this season. Regardless who they start at PG (Calderon, Rose or Thomas), they have ZERO on-the-ball defense from that position. They get beat off the dribble, leaving Love as the last line of defense between the rim and the Russell Westbrooks, Steph Curries, John Walls, Kyrie Irvings, Damian Lillards, and Chris Pauls of the world. How can anyone think that's going to end well? They are what they are - a poorly constructed OLD roster and a locker room full of drama queens and idiots. As far as this season goes, they got fleeced in the Kryie Irving trade. They need another trade (or two) to balance out the roster. Ideally, that would mean bringing in a real center, moving Love back to PF, James and SF and Crowder to the bench. However, given their tendency to go for the big names over what they actually need, they will probably end up trading Love for another big name and still have the same problems. Guess they'll have to find a new scape goat. BNM
He seems like a good teammate on the floor--he makes good decisions, is a great and willing passer--and potentially at least a problematic one off the court (subtweeting, passive aggressiveness, getting involved in teammate's futures with the team).
He is their 3rd star. They traded their 3rd star from last season for him. They consider him their third star. We don't have a crystal ball to see if he can produce like last season or not. He's only played 8 games since coming back from his injury. Too small a sample.
Start straight up CJ for Love. Add Davis as a scrappy Vet PF for Cleveland then see what else needs to come back to work financially. I know it isn’t a 2K trade but it’s pretty close to even and done right saves us money. Lateral overall trade but it’s a step towards balancing the roster and Love would be ideal in Stotts system.
4 guards + Turner 1 forward + Harkless + Turner + Layman 5 centers 1 gleague forward VS 3 guards + Turner 1 forward + Harkless + Turner + Layman 1 Love 4 Centers 1 gleague forward. Yeah not sure that balances the roster away from the mass amount of bigs Portland has.
If you trade for Love then you start with Collins not CJ. I personally like both CJ and Collins but if you are giving up value for a Big then we need to move a Big. If you think Collins is a center and can play next to Love...then start with Nurk. (and of course filler in both scenarios) And of course there is no way Love is worth moving both Collins AND CJ.
I think giving up Collins would be a huge mistake. He's showing alot of promise right now, he's cheap, and he isn't a valuble bargaining chip anyway. He has the potential to be a phenomenal player, he needs to be given some time. Fuck bundling up a promising rookie in a package with some scrubs and trading him away for some player past their prime.
I agree that we should keep him. I disagree that he is not a valuable bargaining chip. If we can see his potential, so can other team's scouts.
Remind me again what Boogie (who is far-far-far-and-way a ridiculously more impactful and valuable player than DJ and Love, especially with the team issues) got just 11 months ago? Buddy Hield, 18mpg/9ppg Tyreke Evans, a 1st and a 2nd. What did Melo (way more impactful than DJ and not much different than Love, either way) get? Dougie Fresh McDermott, Penis Kancer and a 2nd. I won't even bring up CP3, Melo the first time, etc. Just the last 12 months. I'm not saying we have the horses to get one of those guys without CJ, I'm saying that there's NO WAY CJ goes straight up for Love or DJ, based on the last 12 months, much less with 1sts added.
