Gentlemen, start your calendars!
The 30-day mandatory moratorium on a Cavaliers-Minnesota Timberwolves potential trade, the centerpieces of which would be Cavs top draft pick Andrew Wiggins for Wolves double-double machine Kevin Love, is officially underway.
It began July 24, when the Cavs announced the signing of Wiggins, the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. Wiggins will make $5.5 million in the coming season.
Per NBA rules, such trades require a 30-day waiting period before becoming official. That, however, doesn’t mean that teams can’t agree on the framework of a deal. It also doesn’t preclude the Wolves from shopping the Cavs’ offer to other NBA teams, in hopes of getting an even better deal.
So while the trade itself is on the calendar, the Cavs’ offer, whenever they settle on its final version – Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, a first-round draft pick next year? – is on the clock.
Indications are that the Cavs are probably inclined to include Wiggins in the trade, if for no other reason than it would be difficult for another team to offer rebuilding Minnesota a younger player with more intriguing superstar potential than the first overall pick in a loaded draft.
In his one year at Kansas, the 19-year-old Wiggins averaged 17.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 32.8 minutes per game. He was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was a First-Team All-Conference selection.
In four games with the Cavs’ summer league team, Wiggins averaged 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 1.5 blocked shots and 29.9 minutes per game.
The Cavs on July 24 also announced the signing of second-round pick Joe Harris, a 6-6 shooting guard who played four years at Virginia. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Harris’ deal is for three years and $2.3 million with the first two years guaranteed.
The 33rd player selected overall, Harris, in his four years at Virginia, averaged 12.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 30.3 minutes per game. In four games with the Cavs’ summer league team, he averaged 7.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 24.6 minutes per game.
In this, the Cavs’ history-making summer, the Wiggins signing rings the bell on last call in the Love auction, which should be very spirited, given that in his six NBA seasons Love has averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds per game and is only 25 years old.
Golden State and Chicago appear to be the two biggest threats to derail the Cavs’ hopes of acquiring a third superstar to pair with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. A James/Love/Irving troika would instantly stamp the Cavs as the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, if not the NBA Finals, which would be a staggering, if not unprecedented achievement for a team holding the first overall pick in the previous year’s draft.
Love can become a free agent after the next NBA season, so Minnesota’s leverage isn’t the greatest, especially if Love were to make it known that his desire to play with James is so great that he would consider signing a contract extension only with Cleveland.
But that won’t prevent the Warriors and Bulls from pushing large piles of chips into the center of the poker table. Talks between the Warriors and Wolves seemed to hit an impasse when Golden State refused to include Klay Thompson in its package, but, again, there are still 30 shopping days left until Kevin Love Christmas.
The Bulls have reportedly sweetened their offer in the last few days by indicating a willingness to include their No. 1 pick, Doug McDermott, the national Player of the Year last season at Creighton and the 11th overall pick in the NBA draft. Other names mentioned in a potential Bulls package include some, but not all of a group that includes Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, and 6-10 Nikola Mirotic.
Other reports (Yahoo Sports) suggest that in addition to Love, the Wolves also wouldn’t mind dumping the contracts of Kevin Martin and J.J. Barea, which might necessitate finding a third team willing to enter the fray in any potential Love trade.
In other words, if you thought the Love trade rumors were out of control before the Wiggins signing, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
