Kevin Love Free Agency/Trade Thread

[Mattya]

I would rather have Randle than Vonleh. Love Randle's demeanor, the criticisms of Vonleh scare me.

[m83588333]

Either, package the other junk from Boston and grab a SG next

[m83588333]

Iman Schumpert NYK four the remnants of the love trade

[Maefteda]

Vonleh has tools to become a great 2-way player, but he's not that good either way yet and I can't see it changing because of his low basketball understanding. I like Randle, but he's a bit one-dimensional. If we pick him, we probably get rid of Pekovic as well. I prefer Aaron Gordon who is already great defensively, where we need to excel as a team I think if we trade Love and make this into Rubio's team. He also fits offensively with athleticism and potential as a 3 point shooter.

So if we get some expiring contracts from the Celtics in their offer, along with the expirings we already have in Barea, LRMAM, Shved and Turiaf, do we then go all out and try to snag Klay Thompson for the max just to **** with Golden State?

Rubio/Thompson/Brewer/Gordon/Pekovic
FA/Stauskas/Muhammad/Sullinger/Dieng

Rubio needs to take a giant step for us to become any threat in the west. Our own pick would probably be in the 8-10 range with that team without Thompson. so we'd hopefully also have:

2015 #8 + 2015 Celtics 1st (#, 2016 Brooklyn 1st + Damien Inglis (#40 draft and stash)

[Klomp]

It will be interesting to see as we get closer to the draft if Cleveland is willing to part with that top pick in a trade for Love.

Even if they don't get LeBron in free agency, that would still be a pretty good situation for Love.

On our end, obviously getting the top pick would allow us to jump start the rebuild. Potentially getting Wiggins to pair with Rubio would be amazing. I wouldn't even hate taking Bennett in the deal. Obviously he wouldn't be my first choice, but I think there's still upside.

[Feilong]

I think CLE will offer that #1 pick because it doesn't guarantee them a playoff spot at all.
Imagine what will happen if they can't be a playoff team in extremely weak East with 3 #1 picks in 4 years + Thompson + Waiters. Love is the safe route for them.

I am in minority but for me Vonleh is the best PF in this draft. He is a 2-way player, raw of course, but has the higher ceiling and the tools to do it.
Randle is 1-D, uses only left hand/side and a bad 15+ft shooter.
Gordon is super athletic, good defender but he is a twiner, terrible FT shooter 40% and rarely shoots 3p.

[The Rondo Show]

I'm a Boston fan (clearly), so this is the deal I'm most familiar with.

Well written post. It's all blurry at the moment, especially with CLE.
Personally i think Bill Simmons is an idiot but he is a huge BOS fan/historian and if he has some info it will be from BOS.
Here is his proposal for Love: BOS : #6, #17, 1st '15 BOS, 1st '15 LAC, Sullinger, Bogans , Bass
It is quite balanced in my opinion and worth considering.

I'm with Simmons on this one. A lot of Celtics fans on our board seem to think we can get him cheaper and that something like 4 1sts is absurd, but I don't see it at all. That's the price you pay when you don't have a top notch center piece of a deal like a top 3 pick to offer. You have to make up for it by adding in a significant amount of extra pieces/picks, and even if you do, there's always the chance a team like CLE can top you with a quality over quantity type deal by putting that #1 pick on the table, as Simmons suggested.

I think the Celtics chances are pretty solid at winning the Loves sweepstakes if there's no true center piece like a top 3 pick on the table or some surprising name thrown out there like Ibaka or Westbrook or Blake Griffin, but because we can't offer that can't miss center piece, it has to be made up for with a lot of extra picks. So 4 1sts + Sullinger seems reasonable to me.

Only changes I can see to Simmons deal is I think Celtics will want to hang onto Bogans non-guaranteed deal to work out a S&T to improve roster or a trade where a team like HOU takes on no salary for a guy like Asik. Simmons mentioned we can just absorb a guy like Lin with our FA space but that's not accurate since the giant $10.3M TPE has to be renounced to do that, so Bogans is much more key to us than you guys. And I think the Wolves will push for and likely get the Nets unprotected '16 1st round pick over one of those likely late '15 1sts from LAC or BOS. Gotta imagine MIN would much rather wait an extra year to at least have the chance of a significantly higher pick instead of just picking late in the 1st round in '15. Also wouldn't be shocked if something like Bayless at an inflated 1 year salary (S&T) is included to take on contracts like Martin and/or Budinger. Martin, in particular, could actually be quite valuable to the Celtics and Ainge has tried to trade for him multiple times in past.

[criteriado]

I think CLE will offer that #1 pick because it doesn't guarantee them a playoff spot at all.
Imagine what will happen if they can't be a playoff team in extremely weak East with 3 #1 picks in 4 years + Thompson + Waiters. Love is the safe route for them.

I am in minority but for me Vonleh is the best PF in this draft. He is a 2-way player, raw of course, but has the higher ceiling and the tools to do it.
Randle is 1-D, uses only left hand/side and a bad 15+ft shooter.
Gordon is super athletic, good defender but he is a twiner, terrible FT shooter 40% and rarely shoots 3p.

I like more Vonleh too.

But if we get the 1st pick of the draft I'd have a really hard time passing on Embiid, really hard. He's the best prospect by a mile for me.

If we can get 3&10 for the one and select Jabari or Wiggins and then Gordon (as a 3).I'd like that. And then at the 13, Tyler Ennis to be the backup. Dreaming way too much here.

If we can't get Gordon, I'd like Anderson at the 13, too. Let's see what happens.

[Klomp]

Back to our overnight discussion...

Sure in Joerger super slow-paced style, he played in Memphis, a Pek-Dieng frontcourt would probably work on offense

Here's something about Joerger that's a misconception though...he doesn't necessarily want to play slow.

SI: What tweaks will you make?
Joerger: I hope that we'll play a little bit faster and get the ball up and down the floor a little bit quicker and play with a quicker pace, and not for the reason of getting a quick shot unless something presents itself at the rim. But by getting up and using a larger part of the shot clock, we hope to be able to move the ball more and then attack inside with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph or creating better opportunities for drives with Mike Conley.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/ne ... h-q-and-a/

[serevei]

Back to our overnight discussion...

Sure in Joerger super slow-paced style, he played in Memphis, a Pek-Dieng frontcourt would probably work on offense

Here's something about Joerger that's a misconception though...he doesn't necessarily want to play slow.

SI: What tweaks will you make?
Joerger: I hope that we'll play a little bit faster and get the ball up and down the floor a little bit quicker and play with a quicker pace, and not for the reason of getting a quick shot unless something presents itself at the rim. But by getting up and using a larger part of the shot clock, we hope to be able to move the ball more and then attack inside with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph or creating better opportunities for drives with Mike Conley.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/ne ... h-q-and-a/

To be fair they did that this year just in a different way.... always rolling the ball up the court off the inbounds
meaning they still had a good 20+ seconds in the half court offense
disclaimer: think i only watched one grizz game outside of their playoffs...

[Klomp]

To be fair they did that this year just in a different way.... always rolling the ball up the court off the inbounds
meaning they still had a good 20+ seconds in the half court offense
disclaimer: think i only watched one grizz game outside of their playoffs...

He changed things up early in the season when a few players came to him and said they were playing too fast. He adapted.

Here, with guys like Rubio, Brewer, etc., playing too fast won't be an issue.

[serevei]

To be fair they did that this year just in a different way.... always rolling the ball up the court off the inbounds
meaning they still had a good 20+ seconds in the half court offense
disclaimer: think i only watched one grizz game outside of their playoffs...

He changed things up early in the season when a few players came to him and said they were playing too fast. He adapted.

Here, with guys like Rubio, Brewer, etc., playing too fast won't be an issue.

aware... i just find it interesting how he managed to get the same result (more time on the shotclock for the half court offense) while still going slow

[AQuintus]

I like Randle, but he's a bit one-dimensional. If we pick him, we probably get rid of Pekovic as well.

To be fair, there's a very good chance that we trade Pekovic regardless, and that's even if we don't trade Love. Flip has already said that they'll be fielding offers for Pek and that they'll only keep him (and play him limited minutes) if they don't get any offers they like.

He's already 28 years old, is getting paid a ton, and has a pretty nasty injury history (due to his size, so it won't go away). He makes way more sense for a team like NOP or OKC.

[pfm]

What about Love for Vonleh. Boston has #6 and Lakers #7 whoever takes Vonleh gets Love. Min can dump Barrea too. Try to get more but the trade is Vonleh for Love.

If that was Minny's stance or if there was one (or two) guys they are targeting specific, then obviously that gives the Celitcs the leg up being that they pick ahead of the Lakers. It would probably have to be a deal that is agreed upon before the pick, where Boston then picks for Minnesota and the deal is completed after the draft, which would allow Boston's 2015 pick to become available as well. The Lakers also have pretty much nothing else to offer besides #7 and cap relief, so IMO Boston just has a lot more to offer. Plus trading Love out of conference wouldn't hurt.

Well written post. It's all blurry at the moment, especially with CLE.
Personally i think Bill Simmons is an idiot but he is a huge BOS fan/historian and if he has some info it will be from BOS.
Here is his proposal for Love: BOS : #6, #17, 1st '15 BOS, 1st '15 LAC, Sullinger, Bogans , Bass
It is quite balanced in my opinion and worth considering.

I'm personally not the biggest Simmons guy (even as a Boston fan). I think he let's his emotions get the best of him, and sometimes fails to look at logic. For instance, he was adamantly against the Pierce/KG to Brooklyn deal, when clearly that deal was a huge win for Boston (emotion aside).

That said, I don't disagree that this is a relatively fair deal. It's just hard to know really, especially when it comes to the picks. Does Minny want as many picks ASAP or would they prefer them stretched out over longer a period of time? Are there specific years where they want or don't want picks? What picks hold what amount of value?

Who knows. Getting #17 in addition to #6 could be hugely important to the Wolves. Maybe they put a high priority on getting a Brooklyn pick (as another poster suggested). Maybe they hate the 2015 class and have put little value in 2015 1st rounder. It's hard to tell, which I kind of tried to convey in my original post.

I just wanted to get the perspective of Wolves' fans and your thoughts on what is best for your franchise. Because personally, I don't like the GSW package for Minny, even if it includes Klay. Obviously, potentially getting the #1 pick from Cleveland would be huge, but I'm skeptical because if I was Cleveland I wouldn't take that risk. But of course I understand why that is a fun/exciting situation to discuss.

[AQuintus]

Personally, I'd choose dumping Martin and/or Budinger over taking back the #17 pick and/or the 2015 Clippers 1st.

I would think that Boston might prefer that, too, since both Martin and Budinger would be quality depth for a playoff run.

[The Rondo Show]

Personally, I'd choose dumping Martin and/or Budinger over taking back the #17 pick and/or the 2015 Clippers 1st.

I would think that Boston might prefer that, too, since both Martin and Budinger would be quality depth for a playoff run.

When you say dumping, does that mean it has to be for this year using the TPE and/or Bogans or would you be open to something like Jerryd Bayless on a Keith Bogans style inflated 1 year S&T salary? Which gets them off your cap for '15-'16 instead of '14-'15.

If it's the latter, I think the Celtics would just let you guys keep the pick(s). But I highly doubt they want to use the TPE and/or Bogans in this deal. Both are very important to the Celtics off-season if they land Love.

[JonFromVA]

I think CLE will offer that #1 pick because it doesn't guarantee them a playoff spot at all.
Imagine what will happen if they can't be a playoff team in extremely weak East with 3 #1 picks in 4 years + Thompson + Waiters. Love is the safe route for them.

They'll win the lottery again?

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to me that the TWolves hold out until July.

Once free-agents can start talking to teams with cap space, they can start also talking about deals that would bring in Love as well.

[The Rondo Show]

I think CLE will offer that #1 pick because it doesn't guarantee them a playoff spot at all.
Imagine what will happen if they can't be a playoff team in extremely weak East with 3 #1 picks in 4 years + Thompson + Waiters. Love is the safe route for them.

They'll win the lottery again?

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to me that the TWolves hold out until July.

Once free-agents can start talking to teams with cap space, they can start also talking about deals that would bring in Love as well.

Only problem with that idea is Minnesota presumably wants to be able to draft for themselves and the vast majority of suitors are including picks in this year's draft.

[AQuintus]

When you say dumping, does that mean it has to be for this year using the TPE and/or Bogans or would you be open to something like Jerryd Bayless on a Keith Bogans style inflated 1 year S&T salary? Which gets them off your cap for '15-'16 instead of '14-'15.

I'd take an expiring, but I don't see why Bayless would agree to do a 1 year S&T.

Bogans would likely have to be included just to make a trade straight up for Love work. Love for Sullinger, Anthony, and Bass doesn't quite work salary-wise.

With Bogans in the mix, Minnesota can then send out Budinger but not Martin, which works for me, since Martin could probably be moved to the Charlotte Hornets. The TPE would then still be intact to try to get Asik (and Lin).

Edit:

If Boston would rather take back Martin (who would probably be more useful in a playoff run), it would work with Pressey or Chris Johnson (both unguaranteed) included in the deal.

[The Rondo Show]

When you say dumping, does that mean it has to be for this year using the TPE and/or Bogans or would you be open to something like Jerryd Bayless on a Keith Bogans style inflated 1 year S&T salary? Which gets them off your cap for '15-'16 instead of '14-'15.

I'd take an expiring, but I don't see why Bayless would agree to do a 1 year S&T.

Bogans would likely have to be included just to make a trade straight up for Love work. Love for Sullinger, Anthony, and Bass doesn't quite work salary-wise.

With Bogans in the mix, Minnesota can then send out Budinger but not Martin, which works for me, since Martin could probably be moved to the Charlotte Hornets. The TPE would then still be intact to try to get Asik (and Lin).

Bayless would agree to do a 1 year S&T because he's looking at near league minimum contract offers this off-season. The Celtics could offer him $10M plus add in Vitor Faverani's $2M expiring to match the $12Mish that Budinger+Martin are due. No chance Bayless sniffs $10M as a FA. It's basically the Keith Bogans situation a year later: he's lucky enough that we have his bird rights and could make the salary match by drastically overpaying him on a 1 year deal.