With the return of LeBron James, the Cavaliers could aim to make a trade for star power forward Kevin Love, but a report from ESPN's Brian Windhorst indicates Cleveland "has no plans" to include No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins in a possible deal.
Cavs intend to keep Andrew Wiggins amid Kevin Love trade whispers
With Kevin Love more open to commit long term to Cleveland thanks to LeBron’s return, a trade could happen. But a report says Cleveland would not be open to including Andrew Wiggins in the deal.
With an immense corps of young talent and top-10 picks in Wiggins, Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters, the Cavs have plenty of upside and talent that they can build on and that can be guided by James. But a trade for Love would push them to the forefront of title talk even quicker.
Looking Ahead
Why keeping Wiggins makes sense
Wiggins has loads of talent, and giving up his cheapest years well below market value could be a major loss. Love’s defense is pointed to as his biggest weakness, and Wiggins is expected to be a dynamic two-way player. There’s no better player for Wiggins to learn from than LeBron, and with the space to develop, Wiggins could become an amazing player alongside James, capable of cementing a terrific perimeter defense. His ceiling is hard to predict, and trading that away could eventually be something the Cavaliers wish they hadn’t done.
If the Cavs can figure out how to make a deal work that doesn’t include Wiggins, then all the more power to them. They should probably jump at it if it doesn’t include Irving or, of course, LeBron, or Dan Gilbert’s children.
Why refusing to trade Wiggins doesn’t make sense
When you can add a player with the scoring prowess and rebounding ability of Love, can you really pass that up, especially when word is he’d commit long term if he were to be dealt to Cleveland? Love is still only 25 and can push Cleveland to the next level immediately, rather than waiting to develop Wiggins. This isn’t dealing Cleveland’s future for the present, but trading high risk or reward for someone whose abilities are already known and who can still contribute at a high level to help now and later, too.
For more, check out our deeper analysis of whether such a trade would be a good idea for Cleveland.
Likelihood: 2/10 for making the deal without Wiggins, 8/10 if Wiggins is included
I tend to think if push comes to shove, the Cavaliers will not completely refuse to make Wiggins the centerpiece in a trade for Love, should one come to fruition. Love’s well worth it and can immediately solidify Cleveland’s frontcourt. However, the chance of the deal getting made without Wiggins is minuscule. If they truly are open to making a deal with Minnesota including Wiggins, I think the Timberwolves wouldn’t turn it down.
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