Should we pursue Kevin Love now?

[Ilikesports17]

Amir (if we pick up his option) and KO are FAs after next season and will need a substantial raise.

I'm assuming you were referring to KO only with the raise comment because Amir is already substantially overpaid.

No, Amir is not overpaid, not even a little bit. He was arguably our third best player when he was on the floor last year. He's an above average starter, and $12m is a bargain for such a player.

7pts and 6 rebounds per game @ 12 million per season. Please explain the "bargain" we are getting? Let me guess-(intangibles) that can't be quantified.

Here are our three best players-

IT
Crowder (pre injury at least)
Bradley

"Arguably" better-

ET
KO (when healthy)

Even Smart had more impact on the playoffs than Amir.

Thats six players, by my count that are more valuable to the team (and all of them are payed less than Johnson).

Oh, and btw, IT and Crowder's contracts combined get you an Amir "****" Johnson (roughly).

Feel free to argue with that.

That is some terrible logic. Smart is on his rookie contract and Avery Bradley Crowder and IT are owners of 3 of the best contracts in the league.

Amirs contract is not as good as those, but look at the contracts being given out lately. Amir, I would say is paid a bit too much, but when you consider the nature of the contract (2 year deal with the second not garunteed) its a very good contract.

All that said, you are correct, there is no way in hell we should give Amir Johnson "a raise"

[PhoSita]

Making this team work around love would require excellent wing defenders and overall athleticism.

Trading for Love would likely require gutting the team's stock of the exact type of players they'd need to put around Love.

In short, unless the Celts can acquire a player BETTER than Love first, it won't be worth it. Wouldn't move the needle.

[Rosco917]

Love has never been on a team, and provided a positive impact by himself. Kevin Love isn't the guy you follow into playoff battle, he's the guy that follows others. And he makes superstar money while doing it. In fact for the impact he's made in Cleveland since arriving...he's over paid.

Anything he gives you extra on O, he gives back on D. He can't even make an impact on a team with LaBron James on it. Plus, he's now lost his starting job to aging veteran Richard Jefferson.

If you think other top tier players around the league aren't seeing what's happening in Cleveland in this championship series, you're delusional.

I know some NBA team will take a chance on him, thinking he can once again become that 20+ ppg. 10+ Reb. guy, please don't let it be us.

[jambr380]

He's overpaid, but so is Tristan Thompson, so is Demarre Carroll. A host of other ('undeserving') players are also about to be overpaid. I don't love Love's game, but he does provide a lot of what our team needs, and assuming we could get him for a decent price, I would be okay with him on the Cs. The dude looks lost and concerned out there with Lebron and Irving leading the iso-parade. I assume he is still good...right?

[BDeCosta26]

Making this team work around love would require excellent wing defenders and overall athleticism.

Trading for Love would likely require gutting the team's stock of the exact type of players they'd need to put around Love.

In short, unless the Celts can acquire a player BETTER than Love first, it won't be worth it. Wouldn't move the needle.

Idk about that. NY is looking to get draft picks, and chances are they're looking to move Carmelo for the right price. All signs are setting up for a 3 way deal like that. You know LeBron would be much more interested in Carmelo than Crowder.

Looks to me like it'll be something like:

BOS Out: #16, #31 and Rozier
BOS In: Love

CLE Out: Love
CLE In: Anthony

NY Out: Anthony
NY In: #16, #31, Rozier

[walker834]

That's pretty cheap for Love.  I'd like to keep Rozier though.  I don't really want Kevin Love at all.  I don't know. He is a good player.  We have KO and Sully and he'd be an upgrade but why not just draft someone.  Keep Rozier.  We can't use all these picks unless we stash quite a few. 

I'd rather just build through the draft if at all possible.

[flybono]

Any of you Posters want to win a ring in your lifetime  or for some a chance at another?

Maybe most of you are satisfied with playing below .500 ball vs above .500 teams the last few years?

Love is a Top 15 player in this league. If available for the #1 (3) or a combination of picks YOU make the move.

No sorry, people here only want to trade for paul george, westbrook, cousins, or jimmy butler. Everyone else is too flawed

LOL

[Celtics4ever]

We 've won games  with Sully and Love is a tangeable upgrade over him.  So he would help on some levels.   But just like Sully he needs players around him to compensate for his poor D.

[BDeCosta26]

That's pretty cheap for Love.  I'd like to keep Rozier though.  I don't really want Kevin Love at all.  I don't know. He is a good player.  We have KO and Sully and he'd be an upgrade but why not just draft someone.  Keep Rozier.  We can't use all these picks unless we stash quite a few. 

I'd rather just build through the draft if at all possible.

I'd like to keep Rozier too, but he's the reason you might get to keep #3.

Look, Love is a flawed player, and he's poor defensively, but very few guys are total two-way players. Amir is an adequate rim protector, we have Mickey to develop and we can use one of our 100 picks on a defensive big man or two, or better yet trade for a guy like Noel.

Love is 27, and on the Celtics he would very likely give us 21/10 at least, providing another legit scoring option, elite rebounding, and additional consistent shooting. Love is certainly a top talent in this league and he fits into the IT/Crowder/Bradley timeline. This team needs more talent, and he's very talented.

I get that he's flawed, and the finals are skewing everyone's mind, but if you can get a guy like that for a couple non-lottery picks and a half decent prospect you really have to do it.

If give them Hunter or Young instead of Rozier but that's not gonna interest them much. The idea is to get Love while keeping all the Brooklyn picks and the ThreeHeaded monster (Smart/Crowder/AB)

[tarheelsxxiii]

Contingent upon a F --> M sex change? Sure, why not...

[crimson_stallion]

The Cavs have been struggling to make Love fit in their team ever since he came on board.

He's been injured multiple times.

The Cavs only won a single game in the finals this year, and it was the one game that Love did not play.  They are 0-3 in the Finals when Love is on the active roster.

Love has never made a playoff roster in 6 years prior to 'joining' Lebron and Kyrie in Cleveland.

Love has always been, statistically, am injury prone loser.  Prior to coming coming to Clevleand, the reason people wanted him was that his stats were outstanding and that he never played on a legit quality team (the latter justifying the poor career win record). 

Now he's spent two years on one of the most talented teams in the NBA, his stats have dropped off significantly, and it's still debatable whether he actually does anything to help his team. 

For those who might want to trade for Love, I get it.  We do desperately need an upgrade at the PF spot, and Love genuinely is better then any PF on our roster right now.  I do also get that his ability to stretch the floor, pass, rebound and score in the post does help us. 

That said, I have major concerns.

Firstly, I am concerned by his injury history. The reason you acquire a guy like Love is that you want to push your team to the next level, from being good to being a contender.  Not sure if Love does that, but even if he does what good is it if he's just going to miss the finals every year with injuries?   He missed the finals last year, he missed one game this year, is constantly getting hurt in one way or other - it's a big gamble. 

Secondly, I'm concerned by his contract length and age.  He's only 28 so he isn't going to fall off a cliff, but he isn't going to get any better either - there's no upside there.  At $20M a year for the next 4 or so years, he is a huge "ball and chain" for us salary wise, even with the rising cap. 

That said I'd still rather Love then Horford.  I think Love could probably still be a 20/10 guy if he came here, and even if I don't like the guy that's a good thing to have.  Horford's days of being anything near a 20/10 guy are long, long gone.

[Bobshot]

That's pretty cheap for Love.  I'd like to keep Rozier though.  I don't really want Kevin Love at all.  I don't know. He is a good player.  We have KO and Sully and he'd be an upgrade but why not just draft someone.  Keep Rozier.  We can't use all these picks unless we stash quite a few. 

I'd rather just build through the draft if at all possible.

I'd like to keep Rozier too, but he's the reason you might get to keep #3.

Look, Love is a flawed player, and he's poor defensively, but very few guys are total two-way players. Amir is an adequate rim protector, we have Mickey to develop and we can use one of our 100 picks on a defensive big man or two, or better yet trade for a guy like Noel.

Love is 27, and on the Celtics he would very likely give us 21/10 at least, providing another legit scoring option, elite rebounding, and additional consistent shooting. Love is certainly a top talent in this league and he fits into the IT/Crowder/Bradley timeline. This team needs more talent, and he's very talented.

I get that he's flawed, and the finals are skewing everyone's mind, but if you can get a guy like that for a couple non-lottery picks and a half decent prospect you really have to do it.

If give them Hunter or Young instead of Rozier but that's not gonna interest them much. The idea is to get Love while keeping all the Brooklyn picks and the ThreeHeaded monster (Smart/Crowder/AB)

Yeah, I think the combination of Noel and Love up front would make them a better team, if they didn't have to give up any of these other guys you mentioned.