Top Five: Landing Spots for Kevin Love

(June, 9th 2016) By: Ira Barasch

It’s time to face an ugly truth, which everyone has accepted except the Cleveland Cavaliers and Kevin Love himself. The experiment has failed. In 152 games played for the Cavs, Love had averaged only 16.2ppg compared to the 26.1 the year before. He never truly found his niche in the offense. His game had dramatically declined, yet he’s still only 27 years old. Finding a place where he fits the system rather than the other way around is key for bringing back his drive and determination. Putting him on a younger team is also ideal, seeing as he can feel like more of a focal point in the offense while providing guidance for younger teammates. Granted, his contract situation isn’t the best, but with the cap rising the next two season teams should be less cautious to take on money for a legitimate star. With that being said let’s take a look at the five best spots for him to be traded this offseason.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers had their worst season in franchise history this past year. The drama surrounding the locker room and the constant coverage of Kobe Bryant’s last season stagnated the development of the young players on the roster. Coming into a new season with the second overall pick in the draft they have a great chance to right the ship. Adding a legitimate star to mentor and become the focal point of the offense would be a great help, and this is where Love enters. The second pick would probably go a long way to helping this trade, and helping this once great franchise return to the playoffs





Boston Celtics

This has been rumored for a while, and it definitely makes sense. The Celtics are on the cusp of becoming a power in the Eastern Conference, making the playoffs the past two years, their rebuild has been swift and effective. Aided by smart trades under the leadership of Danny Ainge and with the next big coach in Brad Stevens this team can utilize Kevin Love better than most teams on this list. The Celtics have the picks to make this trade happen, and with Isaiah Thomas as the floor general, Love would have a young, legitimate, point guard together with a young team to be able to compete in a weak conference for years

New York Knicks

Admittedly this is a longshot, yet it makes too much sense to pass up on. LeBron James is frustrated, wanting to bring a title to Cleveland for the first time in the Cavs history. He has a very close friend in a similar situation by the name of Carmelo Anthony. Calling up Melo in the offseason and asking to waive his no trade clause and come to Cleveland isn’t so far-fetched, and they have the perfect player for the Knicks in return, Kevin Love. A tandem of Love and budding superstar Kristaps Porzingis should make Knick fans excited, especially now that Jeff Hornacek is the head coach seeing as the faster tempo would help his game reach heights not seen in years if ever. Adding a point guard in free agency would not only a scary team with the pick and roll, but a legitimate playoff contender for years. This is a win win trade for both teams.

Miami Heat

With Chris Bosh questionable to return to the court due to blood clots, the heat must start to try and look for his replacement. While Love has less explosiveness than Bosh, he is a good shooter, passer, and can space the floor just as well. Again sticking in the weaker conference will help him, as well as having very solid pieces around him in Dwayne Wade, Loul Deng, Justice Winslow, and good point guard in Goran Dragic. The heat would be a dark horse to make it out of the East and to the Finals.

New Orleans

Again this a longshot, but just the idea of Love being paired with Anthony Davis should make basketball fans giddy with excitement. Davis is in desperate need of a teammate he can count on to help him realize his true potential. Adding Love into the mix, together with Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans, would give the Pelicans a solid core of players to go toe to toe with any team in the stacked Western Conference for years.

“Swing for the Fences”

(February 21nd 2016) By: Ira Barasch

There are rare moments in sports where a trade can truly make a difference for all of the parties involved. Its even rarer when those trades are blockbusters that could shake up the entire league. There is a certain art to making a deal, a kind finesse that only comes out when you try to make the biggest deal possible. You know your team needs that reset button, that star to build around, or that last piece to finally get over the hump, and you go out and make it happen. Fans will riot, cheer, cry, applaud, and various other things that fans do, yet you stick to your guns and make it happen. This is the art of the deal.

Now you can be saying “well gee, the deadline has passed, why is there yet another article about a trade?”. Well there are two reasons for that. 1) this trade can still be made possible in the offseason, however little to no chance there is that it happens. 2) this is a win-win-win (as Michael Scott would say) for all parties involved. So I'll stop with all the drama and build up and lay out my master plan.

Cleveland Cavaliers receive: Carmelo Anthony
New York Knicks receive: D'angelo Russell, Julius Randle
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Kevin Love

Now before all of you start yelling and saying “this will never happen” while snorting and rolling your eyes, let me lay out why each team would do this.
 Lakers:
 The Lakers are losing Kobe Bryant this offseason, the face of their entire franchise for almost two decades. While there is never a simple way of dealing with that kind of loss there are ways of making sure Hollywood has a star. The Kevin Love experiment has completely failed in Cleveland, but that doesn't mean Love is a bad player. The year before coming over to Cleveland he averaged a career high 26.1ppg, 12.5rpg, and another career high in 4.4apg. The man is still only 27 and can ball, but has to have players around him that can play his style of ball. It just so happens that one player will be a free agent in the coming years that would fit perfectly with him in Los Angeles, a player that played with love in L.A in college and who has championships of his own on his mind, Russel Westbrook. These 2 players together in California, who know each other's game so well, would be a dynamic duo that can easily keep the Lakers in championship contention for years to come.
Knicks:
The Knicks are in a strange place right now. They have a team built around an aging star, with another one just on the rise. They are in the playoff race, yet they are still rebuilding. To watch this team say how they should be making a legitimate run for the playoffs while playing under not one, but now 2 sub-par head coaches, having rookies making rookie mistakes, and their superstar wasting away his prime is just mind boggling. This is all on top of the rumors that their president Phil Jackson may be looking for a way out of New York to go back to L.A. The best bet here is to start totally fresh and build around their prodigy in Porzingis. Now how does one do that without any picks this coming year? Just get the number two pick from last year. Having Russell and Porzingis together is enticing enough, but throw Randle in the there? That's the making of a young core that could potentially dominate the east for years to come. The latent potential from all three is to good to pass up, this allows the Knicks to grow at a slower pace, with a new coach in the offseason, in a weaker conference, while having a ton of cap to spend on people who compliment their trio of budding stars.
Cavaliers:
The Cavs never thought they'd have a problem after creating one of the most intriguing super teams to date. Kyrie Irving is the young blood, Kevin love was the missing piece, and LeBron was the prodigal son come home. The story could have just written itself at that point, then Steph Curry decided to show up. The new way of basketball that the Warriors are playing has started to create a panic across the league. Teams are starting to question if their methods are outdated and archaic in light of the new style of small ball that the Warriors are playing. Yet something has got LeBron paying more attention, people calling Steph Curry the best player on the planet. People like James don't take threats to their throne well, they tend to massacre their opponents to leave a message to everyone else that this is his league until he decides to give it up. Getting rid of Love would be a great step in that direction, playing the small ball game the Warriors decided to make, and beating them at it alongside one his closest friends, Carmelo Anthony. They would only have a small window, and they would have to play on a level we have not seen in a while, yet is there any doubt that these two close friends and megastars could make it work? The East would be theirs for years, they would vanquish their foe in Curry, and keep that torch until they decide to pass it on.

Not everyone is going to agree with this, nor should they, we're all entitled to our opinions. Yet you can't deny the underlining points made for each team, and the potential for each team to thrive for years to come. Financially with Kobe on their roster this would be tough to pull off, yet once he retires at year's end, all the money works out. Regardless of if this happens or not, its always fun to dream.

"Blockbuster"

(February 16th 2016) BY: Ira Barasch

I recall last trade deadline pretty vividly, I was covering it intently and was pretty underwhelmed, until all hell broke loose. By 3pm I was stunned by all the trades that had happened, all those last minute deals by a GM tinkering, toying with the hope of fans to get his team to the promised land. Fans love the deadline because anything can happen, its a second lease on life or a nail biter for a fan to see how savvy a GM could really be. This year is different though, with the salary cap set to rise by 20 million next year, teams are more hesitant with making a deal, not wanting to take up too much space and hoping to make a splash in free agency. No need to worry, as here at NBA Sports Talk we love a good juicy rumor as much as the next person, so here are 3 mega deals that we'd like to see happen:

1) Los Angeles Clippers receive: Carmelo Anthony 

New York Knicks Receive: Blake Griffin

This would be a bold move by both teams, and a win win for both parties involved. Melo would have an experienced coach in Doc Rivers, he would get one of the best point guards in the league in Chris Paul, along with a host of solid role players around him on a team ready to make a significant push towards a title.

Now the Knicks would have a scary tandem. Granted they would be a point guard away from making itwork, but the thought of Blake and Porzingis side by side is scary. Blake is more aggressive inside the paint, allowing Porzingis to move around more. Best of all? This trade is financially feasible (via ESPN's trade machine http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=mtxz2xd)

2) Washington Wizards receive: Kevin Durant 

Oklahoma City receives: Nene, Otto Porter Jr, and Bradely Beal

Your superstar is a free agent after the season, you're going through a 'will he or wont he' scenario and you have a shot to bolster the next young core of your team with Otto Porter Jr and Bradley Beal as your starting foundation? Sign me up. The Thunder would be smart to take precautions to protect them from potentially losing Durant in the summer for nothing.

Kevin Durant has been rumored to go back home (sort of) to Washington since last year. The comfort of having family and friends around you is priceless. Also there is John Wall, who desperately needs some fire power around him. Now granted the Wiz can only make this deal if Durant says he re-signs after the season is over, but the idea of Wall and Durant as running mates in a weaker conference would and should put fear into every team in the East

(ESPN's trade machine http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=j3kegnm)

3) Boston Celtics receive: Kevin Love

Cleveland Cavaliers receive: Marcus Smart, David Lee, Jared Sullinger

Another win win deal. While Boston gets a legitimate superstar to pair with Isaiah Thomas, Cleveland gets some nice bench depth in Lee and young players in Smart and Sullinger. This would need to come out of desperation for both teams but the whispers have definitely been out there that this might 

actually happen. (ESPN's trade machine http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=gtn2vwg)

“The Cleveland Outcasts”

(January 23rd 2016) By: Ira Barasch

Minnesota hasn't been every sports player's ideal landing spot for a while now. The cold and dreary weather seemed to mimic the way their sports team would lose year after year. Recently though there has been an awakening in the land of 10,000 lakes. The Vikings have been on the upswing lately, the Twin's have legitimate young talent, and even the Wild have had some bite to them, yet the Wolves have the most interesting situation. The sheer amount of talent on the team is incredible from, Andrew Wiggins slowly realizing his potential, Karl Anthony-Towns having a fantastic start to his rookie year, Ricky Rubio staying healthy and playing like the superstar point guard he was hoped to be, Zach Levine, Shabbaz Muhammad and more. The presence of their greatest hero, Kevin Garnett is felt with the intensity that is brought nightly. Yet since the unfortunate death of Flip Saunders, they have struggled to find the right coach in Sam Mitchell. This kind of talent needs more of a push then what is being given. So why not get some fresh blood? And in the coincidence of the day there just happens to be a new head coach on the market. This very head coach has an unusual connection to the Wolves, specifically that of Andrew Wiggins.

David Blatt has had a couple of hard days, he was ousted by his job, after starting 30 – 11 this season (and 83 0f 40 overall), by his star player and his own assistant head coach. Blatt was brought in and  told he would have a young team to coach up in his style of play which has young championships overseas. Although once LeBron decided to come back, Blatt's world crumbled. Andrew Wiggins, his prized draft pick at #1 was off too Minnesota with former #1 pick Anthony Bennet and in came Kevin Love. Love is an incredible player but didn't mesh well with his new teammates, Blatt found himself in the title hunt and a public feud with his newly returned icon in LeBron and on top of it all, his point guard and newly acquired power forward, Kevin Love, was injured. His tenure in Cleveland has been uncomfortable to watch to say the least, and it has thankfully ended right when a young inexperienced team could use an experienced coach.

The reunion for Blatt and Wiggins could potentially be explosive.

Blatt's many years coaching overseas could be a great stepping stone, but more so could the now newly formed chip on his shoulder, an identical problem as that of the other Cleveland outcast Wiggins. They were both brought in at the same time to the same team in desperate need of a new start, and both forced out by the same player. It was originally the plan for these 2 to be player and coach, to combine the untapped potential of Wiggins with the knowledge of Blatt. This feels too much like destiny to let it pass.

“The Super Team's Fatal Flaw”

(June, 17th 2015) By: Ira Barasch

  Any child dreams of a world where all of their favorite heroes  assemble. In pop culture you have the Justice League and The Avengers, and in sports you have the big three. In layman's terms; it's the grouping of three All Stars together on one team, with the mindset of winning a championship. The concept of having really good players around each other has actually been around for a while. Magic Johnson (Kareem Abdul Jabar and James Worthy) and Larry Bird (Kevin McHale, Robert Parish) both had one, and even Michael Jordan (Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman) had one. The Spurs have had one for years with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili. Yet it's only been fairly recent where players, rather than general managers, have started to manipulate the roster movements by forcing themselves out of losing situations. 

The first modern day “Big Three” were the 2007 Boston Celtics, where they combined Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett with an already productive Paul Pierce (and a young budding point guard named Rajon Rondo). The three combined players took the Celtics from winning a total of 24 games in 2006 to wining 66 games in 2007, and eventually the NBA finals the very same year. The accomplishment was unprecedented, never before had a team changed that drastically. Teams began trying to copy the formula, but more importantly, player's tried as well. As I've written before (see: The baby faced champion) and NBA title is what most players dream of their entire career. The allure of being on a super team is tempting to many. Evidence of that became apparent after “The Decision” when LeBron bolted from the Cavs to the Heat to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The Heat made a remarkable four straight finals, winning two of them, in what can only be described as dominance. Carmelo Anthony then tried it with the New York Knicks, literally forcing his way out of Denver to join with Amar'e Stoudemire and eventually Tyson Chandler, to a lesser degree of success. Dwight Howard forced his way out of Orlando to join with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol in L.A to disastrous results. However, most recently has been LeBron returning to Cleveland, and Kevin Love forcing his way out of Minnesota to join him, with an already talented Kyrie Irving. There are a few obvious flaws with the concept. First off is the money. Believe it or not every player in the NBA is not playing for free, and the better they are, the more they want to get paid. The players that make up a Big Three are All Stars, demanding high salaries, thus depriving the team of any cap room for other players to compliment them. Second is ego. Again, when dealing with stars they are used to playing a certain style, and more importantly, used to carrying most of the burden of scoring themselves. When joining with a few of these kinds of players you never quite know what you're going to get. It can work beautifully such as with the Heat, or it can be a train wreck like with the Lakers. 

Lastly is the sad example of what we saw this post season with the Cavaliers, which is the venomous injury bug. If an injury bug bites your team its bad news, yet usually you can have another player ready to step up to take his roll, or be able to at least make a trade or signing to supplement the loss. Yet when you have a Big Three; if one goes down, let alone two, your entering a nightmare. You have no money, no players to replace that kind of talent, and a whole different kind of cohesion with this team. After Love went down, we all knew the Cavs would be in a tough spot, and when they lost Irving it was only a matter of time till it they lost. Iman Shumpert and J.R Smith are not second options, they are roll players. As is Matthew Dellavedova and Timofay Mozgov. They can play well with a team, yet don't think that they can salvage a season. 

In the end be it trading an arm and a leg for an all star, or paying for one in free agency, you compromise your future. It's a risk that sometimes seems too good to pass up. Sometimes that's actually the case, LeBron can attest to that, other times it never really comes to fruition which LeBron can no attest to as well. Either way, buyer beware, the age of the super team is coming to a close. Whats next? Well we'll find out on October 27th, when the whole season starts over again.

Hey Blatt! Go Deep!

(June, 10th 2015) By: Efraim Graber

If you take a  look back at the Cleveland Cavalier players in the middle of the 4th quarter of game 1 of the Finals, something seemed to be different about them. Fast forward to the end of the 3rd Quarter of game 2. Something is up with these players. Now we're in the first 2 minutes of the second half of game 3. These Cavs players are absolutely exhausted.

LeBron is averaging over 45 minutes a game, granted there were two overtime games. There is no excuse for that. Shawn Marion is a more than capable player who actually has finals experience himself. The same can be said about the two big men for Cleveland. Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov are huffing and puffing down the court in the first three games in the 4th quarter. It's just going to get worse as each game goes on. An alternative for them is Kendrick Perkins, throw him in for at least 8-10 minutes as a viable rim protector. Then again, there might be something we don't know about these players that Coach Blatt is not telling us.

To further this case, we saw Mathew Dellavedova put up 20 points last night in Cleveland's second win in the finals. He was then immediately shipped to the hospital and put on I.V. with severe cramping and dehydration. These Cavs players are being overworked. Golden State has been throwing out some very weak lineups, giving Blatt the perfect opportunity to leave in a scorer like J. R. Smith and bring in some bench players to give the starters a rest. If the series goes to 6 or even 7 games, this team is going to be in trouble.

For your information LeBron cramped up in the 4th quarter of last night's game. Imagine it was like last year where he couldn't get back up. This is from playing 48-50 minutes a night (overtime). 

Rhetorical question time! Is Joe Harris that much worse off than James Jones? Can you leave Shumpert out there to guard Curry a little bit longer? Can Perkins come in and make a difference defensively for this squad? Nobody knows, but David Blatt better try it out soon before they ship the whole Cavs bus to the hospital for I.V. fluids. 

“I'm coming home”

(June, 8th, 2015)  By: Ira Barasch.       It took three words for LeBron James to shock the world, three words that made free agency last summer turn into a frenzy. The Cleveland Cavaliers then acquired Kevin Love by actually trading their past two number one overall picks in Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. He also joined an already blossoming point guard in Kyrie Irving. The beginnings of a super team seemed to be in the making. From James getting his buddies James Jones and Mike Miller to come for reduced salaries, to the Cavs hiring David Blatt from overseas to coach, this team seemed primed.

Yet the struggle that ensued was incredible; Love was not fitting in, his game was just not conforming to LeBron's. Anderson Varejao went down with a season ending injury before even playing in the regular season, thinning their front court dramatically. David Blatt and the team was hovering near a .500 record when January came along. 

Again the team changed, with the Cavs acquiring J.R Smith and Iman Shumpert from the Knicks, and Timofay Mozgov from the Nuggets. Suddenly they were blowing out teams; their record skyrocketed. J.R. Smith looked like his old self, he was playing with confidence and making his shots. Mozgov was finally living up to his potential and looked like a dominant big man and a rim protector. Things started to look up for the Cavs as they entered the post season. Until Love went down with a dislocated shoulder vs. the Celtics, and Irving's injuries started to act up, eventually leading him to fracture his kneecap in the first game of the finals.

So where does that leave LeBron? It seemed like he was playing a five on one at times in game 2 of the finals. Back to carrying the whole team on his back. He has mostly role players around him and no other All Stars. This is dramatically different than when he won his two other titles with Miami. There is no Dwayne Wade to rely on, no Chris Bosh to turn to, and no Ray Allen to make a clutch three. This is all on LeBron's shoulders now, yet it seems so fitting that it should be. This is his team, it's his city, and most importantly, it's his time to prove his worth. Never before has so much been on the line for James as far as his legacy is concerned. This is his chance to pick up a team, practically by himself, and bring them to the promised land, like he wrote about in his article last summer. This is his chance to bring the city he spurned their first title since 1964 when the Cleveland Browns won it all, and complete his tale of redemption after being swept by the Spurs in '07. Finally, this is also his chance to establish a legacy that won't be in the shadow of the older “23” so many compare him to. The time for excuses are over, it's time for LeBron James to officially establish himself as the best player in this generation. If he can overcome the odds, if he can push the distractions and the detractors away, he can finally establish himself to be among the great players to ever play the game.


However for James, who has been blamed for not being a clutch player over his career, this is a huge task. So what will it be LeBron? You said you're coming home. Talk is cheap, and actions speak louder than words. Now is the time to show all the people who don't believe in you, who hate you, an

d root against you, that you are the player we knew you could be when you came into this league. It's not going to be easy, but if you win, the glory is all yours. It's right there for the taking, now we will just have to sit back and see if you can.