WOJ: Cleveland has agreement to acquire Kevin Love

[SpurPadre]

Love averaged 25 ppg, 11 boards and .411 fg% against us last season and that's fallen in line with what he's usually done against us in his career. His usage percentage is high in the games he's played us, and while his Drtg sucks, he's hounded us with defensive boards and his true stretching of the floor has created several opportunities for his teammates. There's no denying this is the buy a Championship Heat 2.0 and will be a formidable opponent should we meet them in the finals next year but as it currently stands, I still like our chances against them in a tough finals. ing LeBron though so insecure of himself he always needs his team to buy their way into a le for him and get stars left and right. I'll never respect him for that.

[ElNono]

Not worried about Love...

[manufan10]

[kobe4life]

I'm actually glad the Great Satan was stupid enough to trade the next superstar in Wiggins for an overrated scrub in Kevin Love. The Great Satan will be laughed at when Wiggins dominates this league in a year or two.

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

I think this puts them as favorites to come out of the East. I don't buy the Rose stuff yet.

[The Reckoning]

love is too white to be in a "big 3"

[velik_m]

Cavs overpayed. It will probably work out good for them this year, but in the long term i think this trade is a mistake.

[bluebellmaniac]

I'm going to wait until it it confirmed by TSpence before I give any credence to this Woj guy...

[toki9]

They really do look similar to LeBron's Heat teams. Irving/Love is probably a slight upgrade over Wade/Bosh at this point especially if they show they can perform in the playoffs. One of the big things the Cavs lack though is experience.

But neither Irving nor Love play defense...and who's in the middle? Varejao can't stay healthy enough to stay on the floor...and Haywood is already 34...and Waiters and Irving don't get along, especially with Waiters being a total headcase...that team is going to be really interesting to watch, but perhaps not in a good way.

[myhc]

Anderson Verajao/Tristan Thompson
Kevin Love/Shawn Marion
Lebron James/Mike Miller
Dion Waiters/Ray Allen?/James Jones
Kyrie Irving/Matt Dellavadova

If they get Ray Allen, that looks like a pretty good team to me. Bench is a little thin but that starting 5 looks pretty nasty. They should be favorites out East and if they get to the finals, will be a tough team to beat. Their offensive firepower is off the charts.

[timtonymanu]

Leonard guards LeBron, Diaw guards Love, Green guards Irving. Problem solved!

Good trade for Cleveland though. Instantly makes them Finals favorites even if Love wasn't going there.

[Richie]

Anderson Verajao/Tristan Thompson
Kevin Love/Shawn Marion
Lebron James/Mike Miller
Dion Waiters/Ray Allen?/James Jones
Kyrie Irving/Matt Dellavadova

If they get Ray Allen, that looks like a pretty good team to me. Bench is a little thin but that starting 5 looks pretty nasty. They should be favorites out East and if they get to the finals, will be a tough team to beat. Their offensive firepower is off the charts.

I'll be worried when I see Varejao go a season without a long layoff, you just can't count on him to be healthy for the playoffs. Without Varejao, that team looks very vulnerable to a team with any kind of size. If George wasn't injured I'd fancy the Pacers in a series, but I definitely fancy the Bulls with Noah/Gasol even if Rose isn't back to MVP form.

[Sean Cagney]

Lebron. Still needing to recruit superstar player in order to feel secured.

Exactly, I rooted for him when he first went to Cleveland but now this team up crap again and watch Ray Allen and a few more VETS run over there to try to piggy back to another RING.

[Mikeanaro]

Who wants to be lonely? Who wants to be with Lebron tonight? oohh oohhh

[Richie]

The weird one is Marion, why would he take so little to play with Lebron? If he's going to take the minimum I thought he would go back to the Mavericks, they're a contender and he's won a ring there. If he wants more then I understand leaving as the Mavs can't compete on salary.

[timtonymanu]

Exactly, I rooted for him when he first went to Cleveland but now this team up crap again and watch Ray Allen and a few more VETS run over there to try to piggy back to another RING.

Not every franchise has the brains like Pop and RC to build through the draft so of course the other route is building these 'superteams". LeBron was a one-man team his last two seasons in Miami so i dont get why some people still think he had a lot of help.

[Vic Petro]

No defense and still nobody in the paint. Not sure Kyrie will transition to playing more off the ball so smoothly. Some injury prone guys there. If the Derek Rose stories are true then Chicago is still the favorite imo. Big gap after Chicago and Cleveland though.

[r0drig0lac]

lol, some guys here finding some way to criticize cleveland for catching the best rebounder in the world

[hater]

If Lebron can make this team contend in the NBA Finals then hes easily the 2nd best player in history

[timtonymanu]

The weird one is Marion, why would he take so little to play with Lebron? If he's going to take the minimum I thought he would go back to the Mavericks, they're a contender and he's won a ring there. If he wants more then I understand leaving as the Mavs can't compete on salary.

They have Parsons and RJ () now. Marion could get more playing time in Cleveland.

[DPG21920]

Cavs have to throw in a 2015 first rounder too? As if two #1 picks wasn't enough? Cavs just didn't learn anything from last time they lost Lebron did they? They are so insecure about Lebron leaving that they are willing to sacrifice their entire future to bring back short term gains. Trading away two #1 picks and another first rounder for a 6'8 PF who doesn't play defense when the Cavs had all the leverage? I still think the Cavs should probably have made some trade for Love that involved some of their young players but to give up so many young assets, they could have made a far better deal. But they are just too scared of Lebron being unhappy for one year that they negotiated terribly. Should have played hardball and offered Waiters, Bennett, and 1 or 2 first round picks. That's still a comparable package that the Magic got for Howard... and Howard was the best center in the league at that time.

Cavs did not have all the leverage. There were plenty of options and teams who wanted Love. Minny had Love and even though he advised them he would leave, they still had plenty of leverage. Especially when you consider that CLE would not have the money to sign KL in Free Agency. The only chance to get him was via trade and there were plenty of teams lined up.

[DPG21920]

Love averaged 25 ppg, 11 boards and .411 fg% against us last season and that's fallen in line with what he's usually done against us in his career. His usage percentage is high in the games he's played us, and while his Drtg sucks, he's hounded us with defensive boards and his true stretching of the floor has created several opportunities for his teammates. There's no denying this is the buy a Championship Heat 2.0 and will be a formidable opponent should we meet them in the finals next year but as it currently stands, I still like our chances against them in a tough finals. ing LeBron though so insecure of himself he always needs his team to buy their way into a le for him and get stars left and right. I'll never respect him for that.

This is the world's strangest argument to me. It's so odd. It would be like saying you don't respect Tim because he didn't request that Manu/TP leave when they were superstars and got paid well because Tim was insecure he couldn't win without a bunch of crap.

Whether it comes via draft (which Lebron has no control over) or trades (about the only way guys will come to CLE knowingly) or FA (Spurs have added FA's to help them win with Finley, ect..) it is just a hateful argument with no real substance. There is a punitive salary cap and it's not like CLE or MIA for that matter have exploded past it into BKY territory. Even if they did, so what?

There have been plenty of big 3's and guys taking less money to win (Duncan), so it's just silly to me.

[cd98]

Stephen A. Smith proclaims that Minny got screwed and should have taken Klay Thompson.

I think Minny made out great. Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a 1st round pick (albeit toward the end of the round).

That's much better than Klay Thompson.

Except that Klay is a proven commodity and Wiggins and Bennett are not. And Minnie got more than Klay. He was one piece, but the deal also involved Harrison Barnes and David Lee. Or some combination of players that were good and proven.

[DPG21920]

Cavs overpayed. It will probably work out good for them this year, but in the long term i think this trade is a mistake.

What do you think would have been "fair"? Keep in mind, that CLE, if they wanted Love could not sign him in FA. They had to trade for him if they wanted him.

[Sean Cagney]

Not every franchise has the brains like Pop and RC to build through the draft so of course the other route is building these 'superteams". LeBron was a one-man team his last two seasons in Miami so i dont get why some people still think he had a lot of help.

The good thing is the Spurs doing it the so called right way can compete and win les in this so called super team league! That part right there is a good thing and the throwback teams still have hope (OKC built theirs as well on their own and can compete IMO). I am glad the Spurs are around!

I agree on the last two years as well, Wade did help him in last years finals though bigtime although he didn't show up at all this year. Wade is just pretty much done as a star in the league, got old and yes Lebron carried them through a weak East.