Thoughts on a Rumor

Late last night I caught a story on the Net (not sure the source) detailing a potential Love-Wiggins trade that had the Sixers stepping in as a 3rd team.  I thought it was intriguing, check it:

Cavs get K Love, Dario Saric
Sixers get Wiggins
Wolves get Anthony Bennet, Dion Waiters, Thad Young, Sixers unprotected 2015 1st round pick

Or the other way:
Cavs give up Bennet, Waiters, Wiggins
Sixers give up Young, Saric, 2015 1st rounder
Wolves give up K Love

The Cavs get the big stud they want and a bonus European prospect, while giving up a prospect that never played, another prospect that played only a little bit and another prospect that has as much chance of being a headache as a contributor.  Not a bad deal for them.

The Sixers get the intriguing prospect they coveted, while giving up their most expensive contract and two prospects that never played for them.  They'd be trading two prospects for one better prospect--hell, getting rid of Young is just a bonus to this team.  And since it actually makes them cheaper, they'd still have plenty of money to make a run at some veterans (Eric Bledsoe, for the love of god, go get Eric Bledsoe!).  Not a bad deal for them.

The Wolves give up their superstar that they're clearly going to lose next summer anyway for an interesting PF (Young), a SG that can play right now (Waiters), a great draft pick next year (seeing as the Sixers lose as well as anyone in the league, that could be a top 5 pick) and--this is the key--a chance to make something out of Anthony Bennet.  In the long run Bennet might turn out to be the biggest surprise of this deal, if only because right now no one is convinced he'll be any good at all; last year he was injured early for the Cavs and by the time he got in the rotation the team had already made wholesale changes (out with Bynum, coach Brown and the GM, in with Deng, Hawes) and the locker room was falling apart.  Not exactly ideal conditions for a guy with high expectations.  Maybe he's good.  Maybe he's really good.  Maybe he goes to the West and plays better than you think.

Sure, the Wolves would rather have Klay Thompson but they've got no need for David Lee or Harrison Barnes (certainly no more intriguing a prospect than Bennet at this point), so wouldn't they rather have Young and Waiters (which would make them cheaper and set them up for next year)?  Would the Wolves rather have Wiggins (a project that might not pan out) or Young (a modest talent but you know what you got) with a bonus draft pick?  Or, to put it another way, what could the Cavs get for Wiggins that the Wolves might prefer? Would the Warriors give up Klay Thompson for Wiggins?  And would the Wolves prefer Klay Thompson to Young and a draft pick?

I like this deal, it makes sense to me for all parties involved.  And while it probably doesn't need to be done today, I do think that the longer it lingers the less possible it gets.  Why?  Because Bennet and Wiggins in Cavs uniforms will either be awful or too good to trade, either way the deal gets scuttled.  Or some other suitor emerges with a deal that makes sense (maybe in 6 months the Lakers could figure out how to make Love to LA happen, maybe the Hawks or Pelicans or some team no one's thought of roll out something eye-popping).  Can the Wolves do better for Love?  Can the Cavs do better for Wiggins?

But what's most noteworthy is that now I cannot find the story, nor did any of my usual sites mention it making me think I made up the whole thing.  I don't think I did, I'm not good enough to come up with a deal this good.