Cleveland is allowed by NBA rules to trade newly signed No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins on Saturday, when the following will be completed, according to a person with knowledge of the trade:
• It will be a three-team deal involving the Wolves, Cleveland and Philadelphia.
• The Wolves will receive Wiggins, 2013 No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett, 76ers forward Thaddeus Young and a trade exception believed to be worth at least $4 million that they can use to acquire a player in the next year without being strapped by salary-cap rules
• The Cavaliers will get Love to team with superstar LeBron James and guard Kyrie Irving.
• Philadelphia will receive Miami’s 2015 first-round pick that the Cavaliers own as well as the expiring contracts of Wolves players Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved. Like 76ers lottery pick Joel Embiid, Mbah a Moute is from Cameroon and has mentored the gifted but injured center chosen third in the June draft. The Sixers expect Mbah a Moute’s presence to ease Embiid’s NBA transition.So what this likely means is that you'll see the following guys on the floor:
Point guard: Ricky Rubio
Off guard: Andrew Wiggins
Small forward: Anthony Bennett
Power forward: Thaddeus Young
Center: Nikola Pekovic
Bench guys: Zach Lavine, Corey Brewer, Kevin Martin, Chase Budinger, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, J. J. Barea
On paper, it looks like a good trade. The Wolves never really used Mbah a Moute last year and Shved was buried on the bench, so they won't be missed. With the notable, glaring exception of Pekovic, all the top guys can really run and jump. I don't know how well the Wolves will mesh, but they at least have some guys who might show up on the ESPN highlights.
1 comment:
I'm not a big NBA guy, and watching the Wolves is about as maddening as watching the MNGOP shoot off one foot after another, but I don't think the Wolves will be through making moves after this trade. There's still a lot of money on the bench in Martin and he stands in the way of youngsters Muhammad and LaVine. I think LaVine is supposed to be able to play a little point, but right now the only back-up PG is Barea and he's likely gone one way or another before the season starts, so someone has to be brought in there. Pek has value and perhaps can be leveraged for something useful (or in disposing of another ugly contract). Deng and Turiaf likely aren't enough in the middle right now, but Pek is wasted on this team and takes up playing time. The stat-heads say Young is even more of a defensive liability than Love, and is lesser scorer and rebounder. Brewer is likely a nice piece for this team as a veteran with energy and a team-orientation, but it will be interesting to see if Muhammad or Budinger have any 6th man capabilities or if they're going to be shooting specialists; if that's all they are going to be then you don't need both of them. I have to imagine Martin and Barea are gone; they'll be headaches as bench players on a bad but developing team. Wolves will have to eat part of Martin's contract, but both these guys have some value to a contending team that needs some depth.
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