Lamarcus Aldridge or Kevin Love?

[crimson_stallion]

Aldridge by a country mile, because:

1. He's a bit taller (6'11" vs barely 6'10")
2. He's a lot longer (7'5" wingspan vs 7'0" wingspan)
3. He's a lot more mobile / agile
4. He's a more capable defender and rim protector due to his size/length
5. He's a more capable P&R defender due to his improved mobility
6. He's a more dangerous 1-on-1 scorer, as his length allows him to shoot over defenders
7. He's less injury prone
8. He's a better locker room guy (Love by now is known to be a diva, a bad leader, a quitter)
9. He's a more versatile scorer (happy to score inside, outside, or off the dribble)
10. He can play PF and spend some time at C (Love can only play PF)
11.  He's shown he can carry a team to the playoffs multiple times as it's #1 option - Love needed to ride Lebron/Irving to get there.

What does Love offer over Aldridge right now aside from being 3 years younger (which given his injury/health risk, is a moot point) and being a slightly better rebounder?  Nothing at all, really.

No he's not.

From where did you hear this?

1: Proof of not being a Leader
Ricky Rubio (Love's own teammate) stated publicly (WHILE he was Love's teammate) that Love isn't a "leader" type.  To paraphrase Rubio, he said he's a great player and all the rest, but he just doesn't have the personality of a leader.  That's fine because not everybody has that in them, but if you are paying somebody the type of money people WANT to pay Love, and giving a guy the type of role that people WANT to give Love, then you want the guy to do more than just score and rebound.  You want him to earn the respect of his teammates, and to lead your team both on the court and in the locker room.

2: Proof of being a quitter
Love forced his way out of Minnesota.  The Timberwolves management made it very clear that they did not want to trade Love and would do everything they could to keep him.  He requested a trade and forced their hand with his justification being that he was sick of losing and not making he playoffs.  When Carmelo took a similar route, everybody bagged him out and labelled him a quitter and a diva - but Love does it and somehow that's OK?

3: Proof of being a Diva
When Love got hurt by Olynyk on a pretty common basketball play, he publicly announced his thoughts that Olynyk INTENTIONALLY hurt him.  Then after Olynyk tried to reach out to him to apologies (a clear sign of regret that things went as they did) Love refused to answer his calls or return his messages for weeks.  That's about as Diva as it gets.  Olynyk is trying to show respect by being a man and apologising/owning for his actions, and Love responds as you'd expect a teenage school girl to - by crossing his arms and saying "hmph...no...I'm not talking to you!!".  The fact that it took something like a month for Love get over this and contact Olynyk says all there is to say.

4. Proof of being a bad teammate
Within about a month of starting the season with Clevleand, Love publicly commented about how hard/frustrating it is playing with Lebron.  He spoke of Lebron needing to have everything done his way, and that everybody else on the team needs to just accept reduced roles, whether they like it or not.  He talked about how frustrating it is not being allowed to play in the post more (not like he did his last year in Minny anyway) and that Lebron's presence forces him to play on the perimeter more, and that the team wasn't using him in the most effective way. 

While nothing directly insulted Lebron, the whole article was written in such a way that it made it sound like Lebron was some big Diva and playing with him was some giant burden.  The comments had enough of a negative tone to them that Lebron himself (the biggest Diva of them all) had to remind him to be careful what he says to the media. 

Of course this all happened when Clevleand were losing games and under-performing.  Once they started winning he stopped whinging.  Typical Kevin Love - when you start losing, just whinge and complain and throw the blame at others.

How many sacrifices did Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen make to their games when they joined Pierce in Boston?  Not one of those guys complained, they embraced it.  They all said "we'll sacrifice whatever we need to individually for the greater good of the team". 

Chris Bosh made similar complains about Lebron too, but at least he did so AFTER Lebron left and was no longer his teammate.  To say things like this about a guy you play with every day (and a leader of your team, no less) is just being a bad teammate.
 
Lets just say that Kevin Love is not exactly the model professional.

[Bucketgetter]

Couldn't you say the same for KG more or less? The West is brutal for a team like Minny.

No. KG led Minny to Western Conference finals.

[crimson_stallion]

Couldn't you say the same for KG more or less? The West is brutal for a team like Minny.

No. KG led Minny to Western Conference finals.

Not to mention that KG came in to the league as a rookie in 1995-96, and the Wolves made the playoffs in 96-97, 97-98, 98-99, 99-00, 00-01, 01-02, 02-03 and 03-04.  In other words, KG led the Timberwolves to the playoffs in 8 of his first 9 seasons.

Love, by comparison, played his first 6 seasons with the Timberwolves and didn't make the playoffs once.  Not even once.

Slight difference there lol

[BornReady]

I'd go with love despite liking Aldridge
Chose love because he is younger, and can put up bigger numbers
I also like he's passing ability and ability to stretch the floor for our team

Also I agree that love is not a leader
And that he complains too much (however I think he should be complaining but not to the media, he should be given more post up opportunities as that is his strength - cavs might as well trade love for Ryan Anderson if they wanted a stretch 4)

I'll be kind of surprised if they kept love
With Thompson breaking out and being a better fit
I don't think there is much money to keep love, Thompson, shumpert, delladova and  mozgov (depending how much the cap rises)
And they have shown this playoffs that they play fine without him 

[saltlover]

Couldn't you say the same for KG more or less? The West is brutal for a team like Minny.

No. KG led Minny to Western Conference finals.

Not to mention that KG came in to the league as a rookie in 1995-96, and the Wolves made the playoffs in 96-97, 97-98, 98-99, 99-00, 00-01, 01-02, 02-03 and 03-04.  In other words, KG led the Timberwolves to the playoffs in 8 of his first 9 seasons.

Love, by comparison, played his first 6 seasons with the Timberwolves and didn't make the playoffs once.  Not even once.

Slight difference there lol

True, although we should note the West of recent years was not the West of KG's early years.  The Wolves finished with a record better than .500 once in KG's first four seasons, and yet made the playoffs three of those four years.  It wasn't until year 5 that the Wolves started putting up records that would make them a consistently in the discussion to make the playoffs in today's West, and even then, they'd still be looking at the 8 seed, as opposed to the higher seeds they got.  And if you look at point differential, which isn't an unimportant stat, the Wolves of 2013-2014 beat all but two of those KG playoff teams, and yet that 2013-2014 team couldn't sniff the playoffs, finishing nine games out.  And for all of those years, there were only 14 teams in the West, instead of 15, bettering every team's chances to make the playoffs.  It's true those KG years produced better results than the Love years, but it's tough to say those early KG years would have looked remarkably different than the Love years from a playoff appearances standpoint in the modern Western Conference.  That 36-46 record they got in with once, and .500 record they got in with another time, quite obviously wouldn't cut it today.

[boscel33]

I don't even think this is close.  Aldridge by a mile IMO.

[gpap]

Aldridge by a country mile, because:

1. He's a bit taller (6'11" vs barely 6'10")
2. He's a lot longer (7'5" wingspan vs 7'0" wingspan)
3. He's a lot more mobile / agile
4. He's a more capable defender and rim protector due to his size/length
5. He's a more capable P&R defender due to his improved mobility
6. He's a more dangerous 1-on-1 scorer, as his length allows him to shoot over defenders
7. He's less injury prone
8. He's a better locker room guy (Love by now is known to be a diva, a bad leader, a quitter)
9. He's a more versatile scorer (happy to score inside, outside, or off the dribble)
10. He can play PF and spend some time at C (Love can only play PF)
11.  He's shown he can carry a team to the playoffs multiple times as it's #1 option - Love needed to ride Lebron/Irving to get there.

What does Love offer over Aldridge right now aside from being 3 years younger (which given his injury/health risk, is a moot point) and being a slightly better rebounder?  Nothing at all, really.

No he's not.

From where did you hear this?

I found that bolded part interesting too. All Kevin Love has ever done since he's gotten to Cleveland was put his head down and go to work. He hadn't openly complained, he said from the very beginning that'd he be there the length of his contract, and he's rooting on his teammates though the playoffs.

If anything, the media has falsely painted him this way. Actually, now that I think of it, Celticsblog has. 

Woah woah woah. SINCE he got to Cleveland. You know how he got to Cleveland? By quitting on his Minnesota team! Not a diva? He forced his way out of Minnesota by requesting a trade because they didn't make the playoffs! A good leader, you say? The only thing he led the timberwolves to was right back to the cellar of the western conference.

Stop with all the love for love. He will never be able to be a #1 option on a championship caliber team. He can't create his own shot. He couldn't even get a team to the playoffs as a number #1 option, and he had 6 years to do it.

Sorry but you're illogical and unreasonable hate for Kevin Love obscures any credibility you try to lend to support your argument.

Minnesota is a horrible franchise run by a horrible group of people who have no clue how to run a team.

KG also wanted out for the same exact reason.

So please, stop your hate for Love.

If you want to make an argument that he isn't a franchise player or difference maker, that's one thing.
But to criticize him for wanting out of the armpit of the NBA known as the Minnesota Timberwolves is VERY weak.

[Timdawgg]

We need a poll for this..

[colincb]

Love. Beats LMA across the board statistically by a decent margin and is 3 years younger:

http://bkref.com/tiny/sy3Ba

LMA's defense is nothing to write home about either and Love's a better shooter (57% vs 53% TS%) and much better rebounder  (20% vs 14% TRB%). Career Box +/- 3.3 vs 1.2

[Tr1boy]

LMA > Love

come on.  Love is a poor defender

[SHAQATTACK]

We need a poll for this..

No pole is needed only common sense.

LA is a man

Love is is wussie  , fragile , breaks ,  whines .......that equals a Laker in my mind.

[crimson_stallion]

Love. Beats LMA across the board statistically by a decent margin and is 3 years younger:

http://bkref.com/tiny/sy3Ba

LMA's defense is nothing to write home about either and Love's a better shooter (57% vs 53% TS%) and much better rebounder  (20% vs 14% TRB%). Career Box +/- 3.3 vs 1.2

Nobody said Aldridge is a good defender..but he's a decent one and can hold his own.  Love is not, and cannot.

Also how are Loves stats better across the board?  Love averaged 16 / 9.7 / 2.2 / 0.7 / 0.5 and Aldridge averaged 23.4 / 10.2 /   

Fair enough his outright scoring numbers were expected to drop due to the diminished role, but but I also expected his percentages from the field and from three to increase significantly based on the fact that he's no longer the #1 guy drawing all the defense's attention. 

Given the circumstances, I expected him to shoot at least 48/38/80, but that never happened.  In fact he did the opposite and managed to put up one of the worst shooting seasons of his career at 43/36/80, which are Avery Bradley type numbers. 

Labelling Love a better shooter is also debatable.  Love shoots well from some distances, poorly from others.  Aldridge shoots pretty well from everywhere.

[JohnBoy65]

Aldridge by a country mile, because:

1. He's a bit taller (6'11" vs barely 6'10")
2. He's a lot longer (7'5" wingspan vs 7'0" wingspan)
3. He's a lot more mobile / agile
4. He's a more capable defender and rim protector due to his size/length
5. He's a more capable P&R defender due to his improved mobility
6. He's a more dangerous 1-on-1 scorer, as his length allows him to shoot over defenders
7. He's less injury prone
8. He's a better locker room guy (Love by now is known to be a diva, a bad leader, a quitter)
9. He's a more versatile scorer (happy to score inside, outside, or off the dribble)
10. He can play PF and spend some time at C (Love can only play PF)
11.  He's shown he can carry a team to the playoffs multiple times as it's #1 option - Love needed to ride Lebron/Irving to get there.

What does Love offer over Aldridge right now aside from being 3 years younger (which given his injury/health risk, is a moot point) and being a slightly better rebounder?  Nothing at all, really.

No he's not.

From where did you hear this?

I found that bolded part interesting too. All Kevin Love has ever done since he's gotten to Cleveland was put his head down and go to work. He hadn't openly complained, he said from the very beginning that'd he be there the length of his contract, and he's rooting on his teammates though the playoffs.

If anything, the media has falsely painted him this way. Actually, now that I think of it, Celticsblog has. 

Woah woah woah. SINCE he got to Cleveland. You know how he got to Cleveland? By quitting on his Minnesota team! Not a diva? He forced his way out of Minnesota by requesting a trade because they didn't make the playoffs! A good leader, you say? The only thing he led the timberwolves to was right back to the cellar of the western conference.

Stop with all the love for love. He will never be able to be a #1 option on a championship caliber team. He can't create his own shot. He couldn't even get a team to the playoffs as a number #1 option, and he had 6 years to do it.

Sorry but you're illogical and unreasonable hate for Kevin Love obscures any credibility you try to lend to support your argument.

Minnesota is a horrible franchise run by a horrible group of people who have no clue how to run a team.

KG also wanted out for the same exact reason.

So please, stop your hate for Love.

If you want to make an argument that he isn't a franchise player or difference maker, that's one thing.
But to criticize him for wanting out of the armpit of the NBA known as the Minnesota Timberwolves is VERY weak.

Sure Kevin Love demanded a trade. Lot's of NBA Superstars have. You act like Kevin Love is the first to do it. 

Let me name a few:
Chris Paul
Shaq
Baron Davis
Wilt Chamberlin
Dwight Howard
Melo
Kobe Bryant

It happens all the time. So that list above, you wouldn't take any of them in their prime because they're 'Divas'? Give me a break, secondly, I found a little quote,

It's going to be very difficult for him," Bosh said of Love's new task. "Even if I was in his corner and I was able to tell him what to expect and what to do, it still doesn't make any difference. You still have to go through things, you still have to figure out things on your own. It's extremely difficult and extremely frustrating. He's going to have to deal with that.

That's Chris Bosh saying it's going to be hard for Love to play with James right after the trade. Finally, the only thing Love has really said is he's expecting to be back, and he's expecting to be a Cav next year, and he's excited to win as many championships as possible.

Again, it's CelticsBlog that puts the unnecessary hate on Kevin Love.

[greece66]

Reality check

http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/38tpq5/im_kirk_goldsberry_from_grantland_ask_me_anything/crxs5mu

[Celtics18]

They're pretty close.  Aldridge had a better year this season as Love regressed a bit in Cleveland.

Love's considerably younger, though, and I expect him to be closer to his career numbers again next year.

They both are fairly poor at defense.  Aldridge shoots too much for my liking.

I'm calling a draw.