Cavaliers agree in principle (with MIN/PHI) to win the NBA Championship

[benji]

Known pieces of the three-team trade between Cleveland, Minnesota and Philadelphia (note: trade cannot be official until Aug. 23 at 12:01 a.m. ET:

Cleveland gets: Kevin Love from Minnesota

76ers get: Mbah A Moute, Alexey Shved and a future first-round pick (likely Miami's 2015 first-rounder via Cleveland)

Minnesota gets: Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young

[NovU]

The Wolves really did well here. But this makes the Cavaliers unbeatable in East.

[Rokyn]

Nice to see Love with LeBron and Irving but I would love to have seen LeBron play with Wiggins and mentor him. Would it be correct to say it could've been a Pippen and MJ type of relationship and development? Not saying WIggins and LeBron would be MJ and Pip but they could've had a similar relationship.

[Andrew]

Seems everyone's a winner here. The Cavs get an All-Star, the Timberwolves get a potential future star, and by losing a lot of games, the 76ers will actually be succeeding.

A Wiggins/Rubio duo should be fun to watch.

[Kevin]

Smooth sailing for the Cavs.

[Sauru]

Seems everyone's a winner here. The Cavs get an All-Star, the Timberwolves get a potential future star, and by losing a lot of games, the 76ers will actually be succeeding.

A Wiggins/Rubio duo should be fun to watch.

i actually agree. i think everyone wins as in they are getting what they want. the 76ers want to try to get better by tanking for 30 straight years and seeing how it plays out. the wolves get a steal imo since love was long gone anyway and of course the cavs become legit title contenders

[SoF'nAwesome]

This thread has a great title. God bless benji.

the 76ers want to try to get better by tanking for 30 straight years and seeing how it plays out.

Nice one sir

[[Q]]

The Wolves made out like bandits. They turned a very good player that hasn't taken them very far and who was ready to leave into a good young NBA player, a phenominal rookie and #1 overall pick in the draft, and a former #1 pick that could potentially be a contributor. Even if Bennett works out, that's just icing on the cake.

[NovU]

Read. This is an article from while back though.
Are the 76ers Tanking Too Well?

Their tanking plan is still going strong. Will it pay off in a near future? Yes/No

[[Q]]

They've been tanking so long that you have to stop and think at what point do you stop collecting assets and start trying to win? When you draft a superstar? When you collect a whole lineup of lottery picks? When do you say "enough is enough"?

[shadowgrin]

Tanking so long? Sixers only started tanking last season.

The year before that they took a gamble on Andrew Bynum and that fucked them up but it got them Noel.
Years with Doug Collins may be meh but they were always fighting for that 8th seed.
Eddie Jordan season wasn't a tank season but just a clusterfuck from Eddie Jordan.
Then there were the Mo Cheeks seasons that are the same as Doug Collins', always fighting for that 8th seed.
That about makes up a decade.

If you really want to see a team that tanked for so long then look at the Thunder.
They started tanking when the team was still years in Seattle and in almost half a decade later they had Durant, Westbrook, Harden, and Ibaka.
The drama of the move to OKC covered the fact that the team was tanking for so long and most people didn't notice that the team is such a pro at tanking.

It's not the Sixers fault they got two high picks in just two seasons making the Sonics/Thunder tank jobs look inefficient.

[Nick]

Why is everybody so convinced that the Cavs are going to win the championship? Other than LeBron, who is going to play defense?

[Kevin]

Varejao? Wait- Love? Oh- Marion!

[Andrew]

Why is everybody so convinced that the Cavs are going to win the championship? Other than LeBron, who is going to play defense?

I don't know that everyone is truly convinced they'll win the championship, but it's not unreasonable to put the suggestion out there. At the very least, they're candidates to come out of the East.

[shadowgrin]

Other than LeBron, who is going to play defense?

The other four players on the court? Team defense?
The Cavs coach might not be Larry Brown or SVG when it comes to defense but he's no slouch on it either.

[Nick]

Other than LeBron, who is going to play defense?

The other four players on the court? Team defense?

Lol @ the idea of Kyrie, Waiters, and Thompson playing team defense.

Their offense will surely be top 3, but there's 0 interior defense. Varejao defends pick and rolls well but can't stop anyone in the paint. Thompson is pretty pathetic, though can probably improve with good coaching. We all know Love is no rim protecter. Bosh was good there. Who else is there, Brendan Hayward? He's garbage now. Marion is a good defender but he doesn't fix the interior defense either. If you look at the trends of champion teams they all have elite defense. And you can't have elite defense without interior defense. Cavs seem weak there, unless LeBron has a DPOY type season. Which i guess is entirely possible since he has less offensive pressure on him with the Cavs' roster and can probably afford to reserve energy for beasting on defense. That'd be sweet to see. But anyway the point is-- the notion that they're unbeatable is total hyperbole at this point.

[shadowgrin]

Varejao defends pick and rolls well but can't stop anyone in the paint...rim protecter. Bosh was good there.

Bosh rim protector, lol no. He's best pick and roll defender though, according to Synergy anyway. If it worked well for Bosh then it could also work for Vaginajao, even if the latter is not as good as the former, when playing with LeBron.

the notion that they're unbeatable is total hyperbole at this point.

82-0. QMIA.

[Andrew]

the notion that they're unbeatable is total hyperbole at this point.

Who's saying they're unbeatable though, outside of some overly enthusiastic LeBron/Cavs fans, or people saying it sarcastically?

[Nick]

The Wolves really did well here. But this makes the Cavaliers unbeatable in East.

[Andrew]

OK, one person, possibly indulging in some hyperbole. Not exactly a consensus or popular opinion.

[_Steve_]

OK, one person, possibly indulging in some hyperbole. Not exactly a consensus or popular opinion.

And what if I'd second him on that matter?
I won't. With a healthy Rose and FIBA shape Pau, Bulls are the team to beat in the East.

[Nick]

OK, one person, possibly indulging in some hyperbole. Not exactly a consensus or popular opinion.

Ok, you got me. I just wanted to talk about the Cavs' defense.

[Andrew]

Fair call.

I won't. With a healthy Rose and FIBA shape Pau, Bulls are the team to beat in the East.

It's a nice thought, but...well, I don't want to get ahead of myself on that one. I think ECF is a realistic expectation for the Bulls if they're healthy. With Gasol on board and the East being fairly wide open, anything less than that would be a disappointment. Another first round exit would be well below par.

[Nick]

I'm with Steve, Bulls are the team to beat in the East. Pau has looked in better shape for Spain than he has looked in the past 2 years for the Lakers. Very bouncy and sharp. Plus no more D'Antoni. With Pau on the Bulls roster, then if Rose can stay healthy (which is a legit question mark really) i see Bulls getting #1 seed.

[Sauru]

there is no way the cavs are not considered favorites right now in the east. does not mean they are unbeatable