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| Author: | lw789 [ Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:37 am ] |
| Post subject: | altered the NBA landscape when they |
The Cleveland Cavaliers altered the NBA landscape when they re-acquired LeBron James earlier this summer and there were rumours that James would be getting help. Numbers Game breaks down the big trade to bring LeBron a running mate, as the Cavs acquired Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with a follow-up deal that included the Philadelphia 76ers. The Cavaliers Will Get: PF Kevin Love. Love, 25, is one of the games premier frontcourt players, coming off a season during which he scored a career-high 26.1 points per game, grabbed 12.5 rebounds per game and had a career-best 4.4 assists per game. The 6-foot-10 power forward has averaged double figure rebounds for five straight seasons, joining Dwight Howard as the only players to reach that threshold in each of the past five seasons. Already a dangerous offensive threat because of his ability to pass and score, Love has raised the bar as he increases his shooting range. He attempted a career-high 6.6 three-pointers per game last season (making 2.5) and his 37.6% from beyond the arc was the second-best of his career, leading to the highest effective field-goal percentage (.524) of his career. He has played in three NBA All-Star games and ranked third in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating (26.9), behind Kevin Durant and LeBron James, last season. Joining forces with LeBron in Cleveland does seem to set Love up for continued success, though there is going to have to be some accomodation made to get players enough touches. For example, Love has had more than 17 field-goal attempts per game for the past three seasons, topping out at a career-high 18.3 per game last season. LeBron has actually seen his shot attempts go down -- last seasons 17.6 per game in Miami was a career-low -- but thats 36 shots per game coming into the Cleveland rotation. How will those shots be allocated while still placating PG Kyrie Irving (17.4 attempts per game last season) and SG Dion Waiters (14.2 attempts per game last season)? Take out Luol Deng (12.7 attempts per game in Cleveland) and Spencer Hawes (11.0 attempts per game) and it becomes a matter of balancing an extra dozen or so attempts per game among the primary shooters. Expect LeBron and Love to be the leaders, so that likely means Irving and especially Waiters, will have to get used to a lesser role offensively. The price to pay if youre going to be a championship contender instead of a 33-win lottery team, but thats going to be a challenge for first-year coach David Blatt to navigate. While hes a tremendous offensive player who should complement the rest of the Cavaliers talent well because hes a real upgrade as a scoring big man, Love hasnt been much of a defender. He doesnt have the hops to block shots (0.5 per game for his career) and while he holds his own against power forwards, Love isnt as effective defensively when hes forced to play in the middle. (There is some trade-off, however, as Love scored an outrageous 41.7 points per 48 minutes while playing centre last season). Love makes more than $15.7-million this season and has a player option worth in excess of $16.7-million for 2015-2016, which he has reportedly agreed not to exercise in order to sign a five-year, $120-million deal with Cleveland. Thats a long-term commitment to play for the Cavaliers, and presumably that means playing with LeBron for those years, but its at least worth noting that James is under contract for 2014-2015 with a player option for 2015-2016. Having accumulated a supporting cast that makes the Cavaliers the front-runner in the Eastern Conference, presumably LeBron will be inclined to stick around (he has said hes not going anywhere), but there are some contract details to get worked out. In any case, Love is the big piece that the Cavaliers need in order to rise up and contend immediately, making the most of their championship window with LeBron. The Timberwolves Will Get: F Thaddeus Young, SG/SF Andrew Wiggins, F Anthony Bennett and a protected 2015 first-round pick. Young, 26, was one of the few legitimate NBA players remaining on the Sixers roster, coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 17.9 points, with career-bests in assists (2.3) and steals (2.1) per game. His 6.0 rebounds per game counted as the second-best mark of his career. While Young was getting plenty of opportunities on a terrible team in Philadelphia, he was largely inefficient, posting career-low field-goal percentage (45.4%) and True Shooting Percentage (51.2%). Furthermore, Young isnt much of a defender either, so its not like hes going to help the Timberwolves in that respect. What Young will do for the Timberwolves is allow them to take time developing Bennett. Young is signed through next season, making a little more than $9.4-million, with an early-termination option before the 2015-2016 season. With a season to put up decent numbers as a starter for Minnesota next year, Young is likely to opt-out and cash in on a longer term deal. 19-year-old Andrew Wiggins was the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft following a freshman season at Kansas when he showed flashes of brilliance, but was also criticized for not producing on a more consistent basis. Consider the end of the season, for example. Wiggins dropped a season-high 41 points on West Virginia in his final regular-season game before scoring 52 points in two games in the Big 12 tournament and 19 in his first NCAA Tournament game before falling flat, scoring four points (on 1-of-6 shooting from the field). Its not the end of the world, by any means, but the contrast over merely a few weeks shows the ups and downs that are part of Wiggins game at this point. Nevertheless, there is still ample reason that he was the number one overall pick in the draft this year. Wiggins has rare athleticism, with tremendous speed when he breaks out in the open floor and spectacular leaping ability when he attacks the rim. Wiggins athleticism should allow him to become a quality defender and, while ball-handling and shooting are areas for improvement, Wiggins has a chance to be great. It should take some time (considering he averaged 15.5 points on 40.5% shooting in NBA Summer League play), but Wiggins has the physical gifts to become a star player in the league and thats an exciting prospect for the Timberwolves, who sacrificed an already-established star in Love. With Wiggins signed for two years, plus two more team option years, on his rookie deal, the Timberwolves have time to watch Wiggins grow. There arent a lot of options in the T-Wolves rotation right now, so Wiggins should start on the wing, alongside veteran shooting guard Kevin Martin. With Love leaving, there will be lots of touches available offensively, and Martin, C Nikola Pekovic and Wiggins figure to be the players getting the most looks. Anthony Bennett, 21, was also the first overall pick, in 2013, but went through a miserable rookie season, finishing with 4.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, shooting 35.6% from the field. Those numbers were undeniably terrible, but he doesnt have to be a lost cause altogether. He was out of shape at the start of last season, as he recoverd from shoulder surgery and, following the season, had surgery to help with his sleep apnea. A healthier, leaner Bennett put up 13.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, shooting 42.6% from the field in NBA Summer League play. Thats a far cry from being ready to start, or fill a rotation spot in the NBA, but Bennett should have a chance to compete for rotation minutes in Minnesota, where there isnt a whole lot, aside from Young, in terms of competition for minutes. It should also be noted that Bennett did start to come around a little bit, late in his rookie season, averaging 6.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game from February through the end of the season. With the T-Wolves a long way from contending, they can afford to give Bennett the reps he needs to improve and its kind of important that he does because, after the 2014-2015 season, Minnesota will have to decide what they are going to do about the team options on Bennetts contract. The first-round pick, reportedly Miamis, is protected. If its a pick that ends up in the bottom 10 of the first round, it provides a little value, but is no difference-maker. From the 2003-2012 Drafts, picks 21-30 yielded, give or take a bit in each category, maybe two stars (Rajon Rondo, Kyle Lowry, David Lee?), 18 starters and 31 rotation players. That results in at least a rotation player slightly better than half (51) the time. Young offers some value, though he may be little more than a stopgap measure in the wake of Loves departure. If Bennett turns out to be a solid NBA player and Wiggins is an above-average starter (with star potential), then the Timberwolves get an adequate return for a player that they were potentially going to lose for nothing following next season. Its never ideal giving up the marquee player in an NBA trade, but rolling the dice on the potential of Wiggins and, to a lesser degree, Bennett, is a fair approach for Minnesota under the circumstances. The hard truth, though, is that its nearly impossible to win an NBA trade that sends a star player away, so doing their best under the circumstances still leaves the T-Wolves in a worse spot. The 76ers Get: F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, SG Alexey Shved and a first-round pick. Mbah a Moute is a 27-year-old journeyman who had some relative success in a defensive role earlier in his career, but he struggled to handle power forwards last season. In a reserve role, defending on the wing, he could be useful, but hes mostly a warm body who can fill minutes in Philadelphia. Shved, 25, is a shooting guard who has trouble with the shooting portion. Hes one of two NBA players to log more than 2000 minutes over the past two seasons, shooting under 40% from the field (35.8%) and under 30% on three-pointers (29.5%). But, like Mbah a Moute, Shved really just fills a spot on the Philadelphia roster. Hell make a little less than $3.3-million next season, which is the final year of his current contract. Winning seems like an afterthought for the 76ers at this point. Adding the first-round pick will help them stock talent, but Philadelphia keeps taking steps away from being competitive. While giving up Young isnt disastrous to the long-term fate of the franchise, theyre worse without him and that, unfortunately, is probably part of the plan. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. . While Minnesota takes aim at its eighth win of November, the Canadiens will try to post just their third victory in nine games this month. . But luckily for the Canadian squad, one goal was all it needed. Winnipegs Sophie Schmidt scored the winner off a Diana Matheson corner kick to seal Canadas third-place spot in the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino in Brazil on Sunday. http://www.flyersauthority.com/authenti ... rs-jersey/. Adam LaRoche will take that. "I like our position in the standings and I like how our team is playing," LaRoche said after Washington swept a day-night doubleheader from the Cubs on Saturday. . - The Chicago Bears have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent centre Brian de la Puente. .S. military base for UFC: Fight for the Troops 3. This fight card, which takes place in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has had a number of changes, including headliner Lyoto Machida replaced by fellow Brazilian Rafael Natal. ORLANDO, Fla. -- As well as the Wizards have played at times in the past month, Washington coach Randy Wittman said he expected a team that had never been in a tight playoffs race to go through a few growing pains. After two tough losses to start the week, Washington showed the kind of bounce back ability it will take to survive if they do eventually make it there. John Wall survived a poor shooting night to score 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, Trevor Ariza added 21 points and 11 rebounds overall, and the Wizards hung on to beat the Orlando Magic 105-101 in overtime Friday night. "I wasnt making shots the whole game," Wall said. "The only shots it felt like I was making were 3s." The victory ends the Wizards two-game losing streak overall, and a seven-game road losing streak to the Magic. Bradley Beal added 20 points and a game-changing block before being helped off the court with sprained right ankle in overtime. Marcin Gortat finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. "We realize that its about time for us to start winning," Gortat said. "Its about time to clinch that spot and get those wins, especially against teams like Orlando." Beals injury looked a lot more serious when it happened, with him having to be carried off the court by teammates. He is day-to-day. Orlando led by as many as nine in the second half before seeing that lead evaporate down the stretch. Tobias Harris had 21 points and Arron Afflalo finished with 18 to lead the Magic. Orlando has now lost five in a row and 11 of their last 14. "Its painful, it hurts, but you learn from it," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. Wall was fined $15,000 for inappropriate comments toward officials at the conclusion of the Wizards loss against Charlotte on Wednesday, and he had another run-in with the referees Friday. He was whistled for a technical foul in the third quarter for continuing to argue a non-foul call with referee Joey Crawford after Wall had walked back to the sideline huddle. It punctuated a mostly frustrating night for Wall, who finished just 7-of-18 shooting. But he picked it up when he had to. Jameer Nelson hit two free throws for the seventh lead-change of overtime to give the Magic a 97-96 lead.dddddddddddd He got a steal on the Wizards next possession, but had his layup attempt blocked from behind by Beal. It was rebounded by Wall, who found Ariza in the corner for 3 to put Washington back up 99-97. "That was just hustle play, one that we definitely needed. John got a pass deflected, and my first instinct was to just go chase it down," Beal said. "He had a head start on me I guess I kind of baited him into it, and I was able to jump up and get it before it was (goaltending)." Soon after that play was when Beal went down with his ankle injury. It didnt stifle the Wizards momentum, though, with Wall sinking a jumper with less than 30 seconds to play. The Magic were forced to foul after a miss and the Wizards closed out the victory at the foul line. The Magic led 60-51 in the third quarter before the Wizards ended the period on a 16-6 spurt to take a 67-66 lead into the fourth. Orlando regained its footing, though, getting seven straight points from Victor Oladipo to start the quarter. After several lead changes Harris sank a pair of free throws to put the Magic in front at 85-79 with just 1:55 to play. Wall cut it to three with a 3-pointer, but Harris responded with tip-in on the other end. Wall was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the Wizards next trip down the floor, but got only two of his three free-throw attempts to fall. A missed jumper by Oladipo on the Magics ensuing touch gave it back to Washington and Wall then tied it at 87 with 10.6 remaining. Oladipo got up a 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired in regulation, but it bounced off the side of the rim. But in the end, the Wizards felt as though Beals big block was the biggest reason they were able to walk out with their first victory in Orlando in over four years. "Hes making a name for himself," Gortat said. "Hes one of our rising stars." NOTES: Orlando dropped to 1-5 in overtime games this season. ... Orlando is 0-32 when being outrebounded this season. ... Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripken Jr. sat courtside. ' ' ' |
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