Either way, we’ll have to wait 30 days for a trade …
and by then NFL preseason will have started
By RICK SOLEM
In a race to be the first person to say, “I told you so,” the news surrounding LeBron James hooking up with Kevin Love, while dumping Andrew Wiggins before they’ve even gone on a date is getting exhausting.
Friday, a bunch of news outlets “reported” not only were Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett on the table for Kevin Love, but, “one source said the Cavs also are willing to give up a first-round draft pick…”
Today, The Morning News Journal, which includes “corrections” as one of its “hot topics” on its homepage banner, said the Cavs haven’t even included Wiggins in a deal for Love, let alone a first-round pick.
Of course, the same reporter wrote three days prior the complete opposite, siting, I’m guessing, a different “source.”
Where’s the integrity? Who are these sources? They’re not even depicted as a source with one team or another, let alone the NBA, basketball or Earth. Are they sourcing janitors? Parking attendants? Who, dammit?
Let me, first, sum up all the B.S.
1. If Wiggins was on the table, he’d have been traded, and …
2. That can’t happen until he signs, to make salaries match, and …
3. That can’t happen until 30 days after he signs, as per NBA rules. And, once that happens, he’ll be traded, because …
4. LeBron is turning 30. He doesn’t have five great years left, as some say. He has three. He’s a lightning quick, 6-foot-8, 250-pound bull playing nearly 40 minutes a game deep into the playoffs 11 years in a row without ever being significantly injured. That can’t last.
… back to the story.
Grantland did a roundtable feature on whether or not to trade Wiggins for Love? One take was wait, because maybe Wiggins turns otherworldly as the season progresses – and then they either don’t trade him or ask for more than Love – while the Timberwolves get more desperate, possibly losing Love for nothing.
Another take said, as Arnold would put it, “Do it now.”
Trade him. It’s Kevin Love. He’s a Top 7 player in the NBA and Wiggins isn’t anything. What are you waiting for?
I agree with both, but lean toward the latter for one simple reason: It’s basketball, team sports. Anyone who’s played knows it takes a while to get used to your teammates. You’re not throwing a team together midseason and winning the title. Look what it took to win the title last year.
James is 30 in December. He doesn’t want to waste a year figuring out the team when they can achieve that with Love early this season.
Everyone’s consensus with James is that he has five prime years left in him. I say it’s more like three.
Kobe Bryant began breaking down at 34 and finally busted at the end of the 2012-13 season – his 15th averaging nearly 40 minutes a game. Bryant weighs 200 pounds. James weighs 250 or more. Year 15 for James will be his fourth in Cleveland, but the beating he’s put been put through is far worse than Bryant.
That’s why I say it’s three. Wasting one because you didn’t trade for Love early enough would be foolish. Wasting three bringing Wiggins – a shooting guard who can’t shoot, dribble, dress (below) or talk (he said “you know” over 50 times introduced with the Cavs media here) – is out of the question.
Of course Cleveland wants Wiggins and Love, but that’s not going to happen. Of course the Timberwolves would trade Love for Wiggins, Bennett and a first-rounder, but, despite the janitor, receptionist or whomever the ‘source’ was that said that was offered, it wasn’t.
I have no source for that fact. I’m the source. Logic is the source. It hasn’t been on the table yet. The Timberwolves aren’t that stupid. Well, maybe. But David Kahn isn’t there anymore. That’s who we all got into this mess in the first place.
On top of everything else, Wiggins hasn’t even signed yet. Cleveland will need him to do that, then need to wait 30 days to trade him. The Cavs aren’t trading him before that, because the salaries don’t match.
Love makes about $15 million. Bennett makes about $5 million. Cleveland needs Wiggins estimated $5.5 million, along with Bennett’s, along with something/someone else just to make it all work.
In other words, if Cleveland signs Wiggins this week, as my ‘source’ (my friend Brad who was reading the internet) said they will, then we’ll have to drudge through these trade talks for at least 30 more days.
Sources say we’ll all go mad before then. Bring on Tim Tebow II, Johnny Manziel, please. Something else. Anything. NFL camp opened this weekend. Packers camp opens Friday. Sources say it’s football season.