1. LeBron didn't make any demands when he came to Cleveland. He said he wanted to help the young talent get better, and he wanted to help the city of Cleveland. He said he wanted Cleveland to become a place where young stars want to come and play. Cleveland can still contend without trading for Love. By keeping Wiggins, this makes them contenders now and contenders in the future. If they trade Wiggins, they will be better now, but much worse in the future. LeBron said wants to help Cleveland be better for the long term. Keeping Wiggins will help you stay contenders for a long, long time.
2. They have a lot of cap space right now. Adding Kevin Love and resigning him would take most of their cap space. Then they'd be stuck with the team they have right now and wont have the cap space next year.
3. It'd be better to wait for next year to pull the trigger. Again, LeBron came to Cleveland with zero demands. He said himself he doesn't expect to win a championship right away. Next year there will be a lot of great free agents (starting with Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge). If you wait one year, you can keep Wiggins and still get a Love or an Aldridge next year with all your money you still have from not trading Wiggins.
4. There's a great fit out there they could sign right now and still keep Wiggins: Greg Monroe. If they Cavs have to make a move now, they should go with Monroe, not Love. They could sign Greg Monroe with all that cap space AND keep Wiggins. Monroe is a great rebounder, he's a good defender, and he's 6'11" with a good wing span. Monroe is a perfect fit when it comes playing with LeBron James. I love Anderson Varejao, but Monroe plays bigger and stronger. With Monroe and Varejao playing big, LeBron and Wiggins on the wings and Kyrie at 1, there's a real good looking starting lineup! (Or go small with James at the 4 and stick Waiters and Wiggins on the wings.) Monroe would also (probably) be cheaper than Love. I think I'd rather have Monroe+Wiggins (and whoever else you keep) than just Love+two bad contracts.Conclusion. The Cavs have some great options right now and most of them include keeping Wiggins. Wiggins is the number one pick in what's being called "the best draft since LeBron's 2003 draft." He is super athletic and has such high potential. There's no reason to trade him and take on bad contracts to get Kevin Love right now. The Cavs could go get Greg Monroe right now and keep Wiggins. Or wait till next year when there's a plethora of unrestricted big men (Love, Aldridge, Tyson Chandler, Roy Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Omer Asik........) and sign one of them, and still keep Wiggins!
My sports friend Mo said it well: "LeBron went to Cleveland supposedly to rebuild a franchise. Kevin Love makes them mortgage their future for now."
What do you think?
