Kevin Love per Wojnarowski

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

(Melo only scores, Love scores and rebounds).

For whatever it's worth, Carmelo has always been a pretty good rebounder at his position.

but what is he 6'8" or 9" small forward?
carmelo is good but he should be much more dominating in all parts of game

I agree. With his height, size, and athletic ability, he should be LeBron-esque (great passer, great rebounder, great defender).

I think you'll be hard-pressed, for a long time, looking for another player to be LeBron-esque. 

could very well be right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[footey]

Well there's this "update"...

The Golden State Warriors are a team of interest to Kevin Love, which will likely trigger a run of trade proposals.

The Warriors would surely need to build their offer around David Lee from a financial perspective.

But the Warriors don't have picks in coming seasons to trade due to the Andre Iguodala deal and will need to offer the Wolves values in the form of Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green.

The Warriors don't want to trade Thompson in any deal for Love, according to a source.

Via Marcus Thompson II/San Jose Mercury News

Perhaps that lessons the competition as no chance just Lee/Barnes gets it done.

I think talent wise that Thompson and Lee is the best they are going to get. To me it really depends on what course they want to take. If they want to make the playoffs next year that package is the best they will get. If they are trying to rebuild from the ground up then the package we put together would probably be the strongest.

Yeah, that's true but according to the article Klay is off the table so I don't see what GS has to offer.

Lee is productive but his contract is ugly and a Lee/Pek front line is even more Swiss cheese than Love/Pek.

Obviously much depends on where the lottery balls fall, but if this is the best GS can offer, and the Lakers & Bulls don't end up with a dramatically better pick to offer, Danny may be able to play a little leverage to keep us with a fairly high pick in this draft.

By that, I don't mean he wouldn't still likely have to give up one of Sully or KO plus our 1st pick (plus salary filler), but by throwing in the #17, he may be able to get Minnesota's pick (likely #13) back along with Love.

There should still be some very good options at #13.

I made this exact same proposal on another thread; or maybe earlier on this thread.  Can't keep track!!  Would love to grab Saric, but at 13, fear he will be long gone.

[LooseCannon]

It's hard to build around two near-max salaries without at least one of them being an MVP caliber guy, especially if you're not doing it by inflating your own payroll re-signing a guy you had on his rookie deal.

Surround Kevin Love with actual talent so he can make the playoffs and he will be seen as an MVP-caliber guy.  We're talking about a guy who has finished 6th in MVP voting before on a 26-win team.  Add Asik to the mix and Asik will be in the conversation for DPOY.

Putting out a Rondo/Bradley/Green/Love/Asik lineup where Jeff Green is the worst starter is going to be much better than a team where Green is the leading scorer.

[footey]

The thing is, Love and Rondo give us two really good pieces, but what is still missing is the go to cut throat scorer, like Paul Pierce (circa 3 plus years ago).  Guys like that take time to develop. It is extremely rare that they come out of the draft.  May be a reason to go with a more seasoned college guy with our 17th pick, or 13th if we work out a swap with Minny. A guy who can contribute sooner rather than later.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

(Melo only scores, Love scores and rebounds).

For whatever it's worth, Carmelo has always been a pretty good rebounder at his position.

but what is he 6'8" or 9" small forward?
carmelo is good but he should be much more dominating in all parts of game

I agree. With his height, size, and athletic ability, he should be LeBron-esque (great passer, great rebounder, great defender).

I think you'll be hard-pressed, for a long time, looking for another player to be LeBron-esque.

I figured someone would respond that way, so maybe I should've been clearer: Not that Melo can be "another LeBron," but that he could be similar to LeBron in that he could be dominant in all phases of the game.

[fitzhickey]

(Melo only scores, Love scores and rebounds).

For whatever it's worth, Carmelo has always been a pretty good rebounder at his position.

but what is he 6'8" or 9" small forward?
carmelo is good but he should be much more dominating in all parts of game

I agree. With his height, size, and athletic ability, he should be LeBron-esque (great passer, great rebounder, great defender).

I think you'll be hard-pressed, for a long time, looking for another player to be LeBron-esque.

I figured someone would respond that way, so maybe I should've been clearer: Not that Melo can be "another LeBron," but that he could be similar to LeBron in that he could be dominant in all phases of the game.

Lebron is basically a 6'8" 250 pound point guard. He can literally do everything. Nobody else in the league takes over every facet of the game like him (except Rondo occasionally).

You can't just become a great playmaker 10 years into your career.

[Casperian]

That's precisely what I fear. I can already see the unholy trinity of Love, Melo and Rondo in green.

If they could get a guy like Asik to go with them, I think they could be pretty terrific together.

Maybe, except for the fact that, in that constellation, Anthony would get the role of a "scorer", and while he can put up some impressive stats in the regular season, he has a rather limited effect in the playoffs, where the intensity is higher and the games are closer.

Whoever wants Anthony on the Celtics, please watch game 4 of last year's playoff series against the Celtics again, and how his hero ball basically single-handedly cost the Knicks that game with a 3-0 series lead...and that's not the only game he pretty much lost on his own.

Not to mention that you're probably already in the luxury tax with those 4 players alone.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

(Melo only scores, Love scores and rebounds).

For whatever it's worth, Carmelo has always been a pretty good rebounder at his position.

but what is he 6'8" or 9" small forward?
carmelo is good but he should be much more dominating in all parts of game

I agree. With his height, size, and athletic ability, he should be LeBron-esque (great passer, great rebounder, great defender).

I think you'll be hard-pressed, for a long time, looking for another player to be LeBron-esque.

I figured someone would respond that way, so maybe I should've been clearer: Not that Melo can be "another LeBron," but that he could be similar to LeBron in that he could be dominant in all phases of the game.

Lebron is basically a 6'8" 250 pound point guard. He can literally do everything. Nobody else in the league takes over every facet of the game like him (except Rondo occasionally).

You can't just become a great playmaker 10 years into your career.

Maybe it's too late now, but I think he could've been like that, had he had the right mentality from the get-go.

[tstorey_97]

Tim Welch (Comcast)...."Through my contacts in the NBA, I understand that Kevin Love is wide open to playing in Boston...." This was followed with a comment that he is a basketball historian and wants to play for a championship organization.

Yes, all "correct statements," but, better than silence or "I wanna play on the west coast..."

A second point would be T-Wolves reluctance to trade in conference. Sure they'll accept highest bid regardless.

[jdpapa3]

I legitimately think we are neck and neck with Cleveland if it comes down to a bidding war and no one else is really in the picture.

The 1 pick is obviously significantly more valuable than 6, but their second tier assets don't add up to much. Thompson is their most intriguing young guy, but he is one year away from Restricted Free Agency. I don't think he's that good anyways. Bennett might even be looked at as an expiring  at this point.

That Pierce TPE is obviously huge in acquiring a starting caliber player, but has anyone figured out a sensible Asik alternative yet in case Houston isn't willing?

I have seen in this thread a few times that people are worried that the acquisition of Love kills future flexibility, but we will have a stash of picks and one of Olynyk/Sully around in any scenario. The Pierce TPE obviously is a huge chess piece as well.
Someone like Green had a horrific season, but I am still slightly encouraged by his play in the second half of 12-13 as a 3rd/4th option. I've blatantly stolen this from elsewhere, but I think the PHX Suns model of Nash & Amare can play with Love at the 5(JG at the 4 at times) if we can't find the right fit for a center. Green can be playing for free agency if he has a strong year as he has a player option next summer.

Minny's been in the 12th/13th area as far as DRtg the last 2 seasons and doesn't drop off w/Love on the floor so I think his defensive issues are possibly overstated. Has issues with postups by bigger players, but I actually am a fan of his rotations and help.

[hwangjini_1]

bump, big bump.

i wanted to bring back the days of the "love love" versus "love hate" debates in the light of an article i read today.

no doubt love can score and rebound, we all knew that. indeed this season teamed with lebron, love is putting in 16.5 points/g and pulling down 9.9 rebounds per game.

yet, as some posters pointed out, does his poor defense negate a goodly portion of these stats? that is, when we look at love's offense contribution, then subtract the points his defense allows, does he really impact a team as an elite player?

the article below discusses the cavs defense in general, but points out that love's lack of interior defense is an important key to their poor start. (and yes, the writer does say the cavs record will improve.)

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/cleveland-cavaliers-interior-defense-kevin-love/

"They’ve been an absolute sieve in the paint, ranking 28th in the league with opponents converting 61 percent of attempts inside of eight feet. Simply put, if this doesn’t improve, the Cavaliers won’t win the championship."

the opposite end of the debate could argue "olly aint no good on defense, so love would still be better." and i would agree. but i wanted to revisit this debate once more with this eye:

as good as love is and will be, would he really have been a player that would have pushed the celtics from a lottery team beyond being marginal and made the celtics a good team capable of going past the second round of the playoffs? or put another way, given the price ainge was willing to pay, would love have been worth it?

discuss.

[indeedproceed]

I don't think that Cleveland's failure to find a good rim protector has much to do with Love's value at all. Love needs a good rim protector. It would be like if you surrounded Rondo with bad shooters and then was like, "Is Rajon Rondo really a great passer? Look how poorly the Celtics are shooting!"

[Chris22]

No Kevin Love.

It's obvious now that he isn't a winner.

[Chris22]

Cleveland has lost four in a row.

Last night Lou Williams destroyed Lebron.

[hwangjini_1]

I don't think that Cleveland's failure to find a good rim protector has much to do with Love's value at all. Love needs a good rim protector. It would be like if you surrounded Rondo with bad shooters and then was like, "Is Rajon Rondo really a great passer? Look how poorly the Celtics are shooting!"

not sure i follow your argument here, though if i missed your point please accept my apologies.

the rondo passing analogy did not seem apt since it deals with something rondo is NOT doing as a sign of something he is doing, other people's shooting versus assists in this analogy. a better analogy might be if rondo did NOT pass, what would happen to shooting percentages of others?

but the love discussion is exactly about defense/rim protection and his role in that for cleveland. the point is that BECAUSE love is a poor defense forward, does not protect the rim, nor have a deleterious affect upon other teams' shooting, the cavs interior defense sucks.

one key article's point seems to be that that cleveland has really poor interior defense, and love is a culprit in it.