The Cleveland Cavaliers still have Ray Allen as a free agent target and the team now has made a trade with the Boston Celtics for Keith Bogans and this comes as the team was interested in trading for Timofey Mozgov earlier in the offseason with the Nuggets and in the future the Cavs now have some flexibility, as they can trade Bogans and Brendan Haywood for another star down the line.
According to ESPN.com and Pro Basketball Talk, the Cavaliers have traded for Keith Bogans with the Celtics and now the team has Bogans and Brendan Haywood on the roster as players with unguaranteed contracts into next offseason. The team now can use those deals as attractive trade chips since they offer some cap space and that could be big for the team if they want to add Mozgov or another player down the line.
The Cavaliers have also been interested in signing Ray Allen, as that would add another veteran option off the bench for the team. Allen played with LeBron James in Miami and he can still hit the three with the best of them in the league. Allen is getting chased by a number of teams, including the Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, LA Clippers, Spurs and Washington Wizards. Allen would be a valuable addition to the team and he has a ton of playoff experience and he is looking to win another title, which means his best bet is Cleveland.
The Kevin Love trade has put the Cavs in a great spot and heading into it, some even thought that it could get blocked after reports came out about Love signing a five year contract after he opts out next season, but since that was not on paper, the teams were fine. According to ESPN.com, the Wolves and Cavs made the move after agreeing to trade Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for Love and while the Wolves wanted to get some cap space, the trade was for the main group of players and that was it along with a draft pick.
The Golden State Warriors were one of the first teams into talks with the Timberwolves, but that got hung up on the fact that the Warriors did not want to trade Klay Thompson. The Timberwolves reportedly wanted Thompson more than any other player they were targeting for Love and that put the Golden State Warriors in a tough position to get the deal done. The team offered David Lee and Harrison Barnes in their package, but the team held tight on Thompson and wouldn't deal without him in the trade.
The Chicago Bulls also were battling with the Cavs about Love, but they also lost out to the Cavaliers and that adds some spice to the central division this season. The Bulls had a solid package with Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, but the Wolves liked the potential of Wiggins over those rookies and over the experience if Gibson, who has dealt with injuries in his career from time to time.