Rumor has it the T-Wolves will send Kevin Martin (3 yrs/$20m) to the Bulls for Mike Dunleavy (1 yr/$3.3m), Tony Snell (3 yrs/$4.5m rookie deal) and a 2nd round pick. I kinda like this deal for both teams though I'm surprised the Bulls want to take back that much salary.
The Wolves will basically be trotting out a brand new team next year: they just traded for Anthony Bennett (PF) and Thaddeus Young (SF/PF), Andrew Wiggins (SG/SF) and Zach Lavine (SG) are rookies, they brought in Mo Williams (PG), Gorgi Dieng (PF/C) is still an unknown commodity, they haven't figure out what to do with Shabazz Muhammad (SG) and factor in that Nikola Pekovic (C) was basically injured all last year, that's all shiny new players to watch next year. Bringing in Dunleavy and Snell would give them 10 dudes in entirely new roles for the T-Wolves this year. The climate in which they signed Kevin Martin has changed completely and now his salary outweighs his potential production; flipping him for Dunleavy (SG/SF) makes long term sense and doesn't really diminish the output; Tony Snell (PG) could be a nice PG off the bench; and everyone loves 2nd round picks nowadays. Dumping salary for players that can be useful is the ultimate win-win.
The Bulls have put together the best roster they've had in eons, adding Kevin Martin just gives them that much more scoring to round out the cold nights. A return to form from Derrick Rose, an avoidance of dropoff from Pau Gasol, any growth from Jimmy Butler, and disaster-free rookie years from Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott should make the Bulls tough to beat in the East (especially considering they finished 3rd last year none of what I just listed above). Martin is a good addition to the squad on the court, but I'm a little surprised they'd be willing to take back a 3-year deal, as that will limit their opportunities next summer and pretty well guarantee (a la the Pacers) that 2014-15's team will be cemented for 2015-16 as well. Going forward they have all of those guys (except Butler) already signed for 2015-16 too (in addition to Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich). Tough call for the Bulls: Martin is a nice fit on the court, but contract-wise I might rather have Dunleavy, Snell and options for next summer. I'd like to think the thinking is: 'let's win now, worry about the money some other time' and I applaud that. But sitting on my couch without team allegiances, I wonder if the future wouldn't look brighter without Kevin Martin (as the T-Wolves are hoping).
Showing posts with label trade rumor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trade rumor. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Friday, August 1, 2014
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.
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.
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