It's an adorable sentiment I've seen shared by some posters like Shak girl... that we are crazy to give up so many assets for Kevin Love.
First of all, we'll probably get outbid.
Second of all, imo it's a nonsense sentiment. I admittedly slant towards the pessimistic side pretty often, but to me it smells like blatant homeristic overrating of current assets.
Kevin Love is a borderline superstar. He's arguably already a superstar. He'd easily be the best player on this team.
Last year he averaged 26 points, 13 rebounds, 4.4 assists on a respectable 46%/38%/82%. He did this while leading a team to 40 wins in a rough Western Conference. It would have been a playoff team in the East.
His PER of 27 was 3rd in the league behind Durant and Bron. His "Estimated Wins Added" of 21.5 was 3rd behind Durant and LeBron. His efficiency score of 30.3 was higher than LeBron James. 2nd only to Durant. You can build a team around Kevin Love.
Kevin Love by most measures would qualify as a Superstar. Remember folks that our own Paul Pierce (never truly a Superstar) barely shot over 40% in the lean years. Put some quality talent around Love and I'm sure he'd be even more efficient. In a lot of ways, he'd be absolutely ideal with our own Rajon Rondo. Rondo is a poor offensive player and needs shooters to succeed... Kevin Love would be ideal... Love is also probably the best outlet passer in the league... he's an elite rebounder who would work wonderfully with Rondo by starting fast breaks.
Yes, he's a poor defensive player, but we've seen poor defensive star players (pierce and ray, for instance), turn into very capable defenders in the appropriate system.
Also, let's point out that Kevin Garnett was inches past his prime when we traded for him. He was 32 years old. Kevin Love is not an old man. He's 25 years old. This is someone who could be a franchise player in Boston for the next 8-10 years.
As for "overpaying"... I don't buy that. Let's talk about it from the bottom up.
Future draft picks from Brooklyn or the Clippers? Whatever. Crap shoot. Those picks could just as easily end up 20-30. We'd be foolish to hold off on trading for a superstar on account of picks 2-4 years from now from teams that are currently playoff caliber.
The #17 pick? Whatever. Talent might be there, but it's always rare to land substantial players in the late 1st round.
Boston future 1st? Irrelevant if we put together a playoff team.
Sully and/or Oly? I'm excited about them... but their trade value right now is completely overblown. Sully was a late 1st rounder and has struggled with back issues. He's showed signs, but I put his trade value on a par with Houston's Terrence Jones. Maybe he ends up a star. Maybe he ends up a long-term backup. Seems his ceiling is David West/Carlos Boozer... fringe star. Oly was a late lotto pick in a historically bad draft. He has showed signs. He's also 23 years old and might be a long-term role player. It's really unlikely either of those guys ever ends up as good as Kevin Love. Those guys don't have nearly as much trade value as a lot of fans here seem to think. Pretty much every team in the league has comparable prospect assets. For example, Kings have Ben Mclemore... he's got more trade value than either of those guys. Warriors have Barnes... arguably more trade value than either of those guys as well. Plenty of teams have underperforming young players with "potential". Wizards could throw their hat in the ring using a prospect like Otto Porter... again, likely more trade value than either of those guys. Every team has their own binkies.
The biggest chip we could give up would be the #6 pick. It's risky. The #6 pick could very well become a star player. If this draft is as good as we think, it could be a dangerous thing to part with. But it's not a guarantee. And a "maybe really good player" is the price you pay for a franchise talent.
Yes, it's potentially a lot of pieces to give up (arguably not even as good as the offers other teams will be making). But put it into perspective. Kevin Love is likely a Top 5 player in this league RIGHT NOW. He's a mere 25 years old. It's exceptionally difficult to land a Top 5 player in this league. As much as #6, #17, Clips pick, Brooklyn pick, 2015 Boston pick, Oly, Sully, etc SEEMS to be a lot of assets... what's the chances any of those assets will bloom into the kind of franchise-changing player Kevin Love is almost guaranteed to be for the next 8-10 years?
Also realize that talent attracts other talent. If you got Rondo and Love on this team, started to make a little noise in the playoffs... perhaps an opportunity will present itself to add a 3rd star... either through free agency or sign-and-trades. It could theoretically happen as soon as this offseason if someone like Melo or LeBron decided they wanted to join with Love and Rondo... Boston would still probably have a few picks and contracts to make it work.
But whatever. Unlikely we get Love. I'm cool with collecting assets and hoping that one or two of them turn into star caliber players.
Topic: Kevin Love (or Carmello) Makes No Sense (Read 18699 times)