The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off the Kevin Love trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and now the team may look at more deals this season with names like Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson or Erik Murphy if Ray Allen is not signed, as the team wants more support off the bench for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving as they make a championship run.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, no deals have been seriously talked about yet, but both Waiters and Thompson were previously mentioned as possibilities to move before the Love trade went down. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves agreed to a Kevin Love trade with Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett according to media reports and the trade now is complete and speculation was right, as it also included Thaddeus Young and the Philadelphia 76ers in a three team deal since the Wolves wanted to offload salary.
Love and James have played together before when they were in the Olympics and for team USA and now they will be teammates in the NBA. A trio with James, Love and Kyrie Irving is as good as any in the league and that could make the Cavaliers the favorites in the eastern conference and in the NBA overall to win the title. James said he wanted to being a championship home for the first time in years and now he has the chance to do that with Love in the fold.
Love has been one of the most consistent players in the NBA over the past four seasons and he averaged 26 points 12.5 rebounds and his scoring was in the top five in the league and now he could be on his way out of Minnesota. Love had some great performances during the season and at the end he scored 40 points in back to back games and for his career is averaging close to 20 points and over 12 rebounds. Love was the most targeted player in the league, as he could have opted out as a free agent after next season and teams would have been looking to make trades if he remained.
The Timberwolves had tried to keep Love and convince him to stay, but they couldn't get him to sign an extension and that means they had to pull the trigger. Love is a supreme talent and the team could have received a nice package for him no matter what the deal was. The Houston Rockets also were be in the mix but they missed out, as the team was looking to improve after losing in the playoffs and adding Love would make the team a tough out in the west with Dwight Howard and James Harden.
ESPN sources first reported that the move to sign Wiggins does not affect the trade talks between Cleveland and Minnesota and also is not a ploy to get the Timberwolves moving on a deal. Clearly it worked out. Previously, some in the league thought that Cleveland is playing both sides against the middle to drive up the price on Love, as the Cavs finally said they were willing to trade Wiggins in a deal, offering three first round picks between the two number one overall players and a future first rounder. The Warriors had not been willing to part with Klay Thompson.
