Whew. Timberwolves fans can rest easy now. The last of what little suspense was left has dissipated, and we’re left with 100 percent of the facts regarding the Kevin Love Saga. As previously rumored, Minnesota will get Thaddeus Young from the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as Andrew Wiggins from the Cleveland Cavaliers, this year’s #1 overall pick, per reports from StarTribune.com. What no one expected was for the Wolves to also acquire last year’s #1 overall pick, Anthony Bennett, from the Cavs as well, but that’s exactly what’s happening. The team will also be granted a $4 trade exception, which it can use to sign a player within the next year without the hindrance of the salary cap. Cleveland will get star Kevin Love, and the 76ers will acquire the Miami Heat’s first round pick (via Cleveland) and the expiring contracts of Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexy Shved from Minnesota.
This deal obviously looks a lot better for the Wolves now that Young is involved, and they keep Bennett as well (whose struggles last year were well-documented), because just Wiggins for Love would have looked pretty shabby indeed, as Love is a proven commodity in this league, while Wiggins, having not played a single pro minute yet, is obviously just potential (however high it may be) at the moment. And Minnesota obviously had to shed Love, as reports were he wanted out, and they couldn’t afford losing him for nothing.
Cleveland obviously can’t complain about only getting Love, because if you’re only getting one piece, it would be pretty hard to obtain a better one. Where it all gets a little convoluted and questionable is on Philly’s end, as, being in full rebuild mode, they should want to acquire the youngest talent with the highest ceiling as possible. While Shved is young, he hasn’t exactly showed the he fits that “high ceiling” billing, although it would simply be disrespectful to say that he doesn’t possess any potential at all. And Mbah a Moute isn’t exactly old at 27, according to ESPN.com but that being said, he isn’t young either. And in terms of ceilings, he’s basically reached his in seven pro seasons with three teams, never surpassing 7.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The fact that he is from Cameroon, the same country as this year’s third overall pick, helps us understand this move a little more, as the former can help the latter in his transition to playing pro ball in the states.
But that’s it. That’s all they got. An average (at best) Shved, Mbah Moute, and a Miami pick that’s probably going to be near the back end of the first round, considering they play in the ever-floundering East? All for Young, their leading scorer last year? One can argue that Young isn’t young either (Mbah Moute is but one year his senior) and that even though he put up nearly 18 points per contest last year, his skills and style of play didn’t fit the direction that they were wanting to go with, in regards to fellow high draft picks center Nerlens Noel and point guard Michael Carter-Williams? Regardless, it still doesn’t seem to stack up from where I’m standing. And while in rebuilding mode, teams can’t afford to make those types of moves.
But you’ve got to give credit to two parties here: LeBron James and Minnesota. Instead of waiting until Love fled town via free agency next summer, the Timberwolves got some pretty fine pieces for him, including a replacement (albeit nowhere near as productive) at the power forward position to go along with point guard Ricky Rubio, wings Zach LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad, and center Nikola Pekovic. LeBron succeeded in building his second superstar-laden team in four years, thereby taking the Cavs from an average team with some interesting future pieces to an immediate championship contender most are expecting to duke it out with the San Antonio Spurs in seven games next June; impressive feats indeed. 76ers fans will just have to hope that their team hasn’t set themselves back even further in what’s been an excruciatingly long rebuilding process already.