Andrew Wiggins

[Heisenberg]

The Love v Wiggins debate is still unsettled, and will be for quite some time, but seeing the kid play does make you yearn for the Cavs to have waited just a bit to pull the trigger on the trade. I doubt Minnesota was going to deal Love to anyone else over the summer (if I remember correctly, Warriors pulled Klay off the table). If Wiggins progressed painfully slowly on the Cavs, I still bet Minnesota would've given us Love for Wiggins, Bennet, and a pick or two during the season based solely off of Wiggins' potential to develop. Really would've given us the chance to see how he would impact our defense/what effect LeBron would've had on the holistic development of his game.

But hindsight is 20/20.

 

[Cavatt]

Man kid is strong. What will he be like in 3 years as his body develops. He looks like an uncoordinated teenager, and he can still do all these amazing things. Can't imagine what it will be like when his body develops.

The stats people are using to show he sucks are ridiculous. His ceiling is still so high. He has great instincts, and his movement off the ball has been good and surprising as his post game.

We didn't really need his size, hustle, defense or shooting. We got KLoves rebounding which is non additive and his good 1st quarter shooting.

 

[Thunder]

Obvioiusly keeping a player like Wiggins and having him on a rookie contract would have been a great thing to have. But no matter how you slice it, Love is the better choice when you're going all-in for the ring. He is a proven superstar and we needed a big 3 in today's league to compete. Wiggins would not have developed this well or quick on this Cavs team.

 

[Jstock12]

Obvioiusly keeping a player like Wiggins and having him on a rookie contract would have been a great thing to have. But no matter how you slice it, Love is the better choice when you're going all-in for the ring. He is a proven superstar and we needed a big 3 in today's league to compete. Wiggins would not have developed this well or quick on this Cavs team.

I wonder if these 30 games is really what changed Wiggins' game... I think it's more due to the newly found confidence, and being THE MAN on that team. The skills were already there even when he was still with the Kansas/Cavs, IMO.

 

[Thunder]

I wonder if these 30 games is really what changed Wiggins' game... I think it's more due to the newly found confidence, and being THE MAN on that team. The skills were already there even when he was still with the Kansas/Cavs, IMO.

Yes, definitely. He was given the reigns on that team, playing heavy minutes and playing through mistakes on a depleted team missing it's "best" player (Rubio). Here, we would not have been able to let him play through mistakes nor give him 35+ minutes per game, realistically. Also with Varejao getting injured, who knows how bad our front court would've been the past month without Love? Lots of what-ifs. At the end of the day we can't have it all and when it came down to it, we chose Love over Wiggins which I support fully because no matter how good Wiggins becomes, our window for a championship is now. Wiggins could've kept us as a perennial contender for the next decade but reduced our chances to win it all in the next three years.

 

[Cavatt]

Either that our we could have used his shooting and defense at the 2 and 3 all year already, which are 2 things Love had yet to show he can do.

 

[Randolphkeys]

You have to remember that LeBron decided on a one year deal, and reached out for Kevin Love within the same weekend. That seemed to be the clear message that he was willing to return to Cleveland for the rest of his prime, but only provided he gets some say in personnel and push for a "win now" philosophy. It is a lot easier to play GM from the comforts of your home laptop without these pressures.

And I do agree Love needs to step up the defense no matter what. Can't be an All Star on one side of the court then demand max money.

 

[I'mWithDan]

Wiggins over his last 10:

18.2 PPG, 5 REB, 2 AST, 48% from the floor.

Been catching them off and on with League Pass. He's been far better than I ever would have expected at this point.

Really happy for AW.

 

[Tlyons]

This would be a non issue if we knew the type of LeBron we were getting back.

 

[Randolphkeys]

It seems that the main difference between the Kevin Love of the past four years and the Kevin Love we have seen so far this season is that Cavaliers fans weren't looking for his faults before, and now you are. His shot attempts per game are down, most likely because he is now the second or third option rather than top option. Everything else is pretty much the same.

And now that Wiggins isn't on the Cavaliers, we stopped looking at the faults in his game, and instead look at the big numbers he is putting up on a 5 win team.

Wiggins will probably win Rookie of the Year, but do see that there are issues to work on for both Love and Wiggins.

 

[Cavatt]

It seems that the main difference between the Kevin Love of the past four years and the Kevin Love we have seen so far this season is that Cavaliers fans weren't looking for his faults before, and now you are. His shot attempts per game are down, most likely because he is now the second or third option rather than top option. Everything else is pretty much the same.

And now that Wiggins isn't on the Cavaliers, we stopped looking at the faults in his game, and instead look at the big numbers he is putting up on a 5 win team.

Wiggins will probably win Rookie of the Year, but do see that there are issues to work on for both Love and Wiggins.

I am not happy with Kevin because it is much easier to overlook faults in a 19 year old rookie than a guy who was anointed "top 5 NBA player". It's also easier for a 19 year old to fix things like turnovers which is one of Wiggins' weaknesses.

Wiggins is raw, but he has so much talent and athleticism it is crazy. He is a basketball player no matter what people say. That's how I know he isn't going to be Gerald Green.

The rationalization of Kevin's defense was really bad on the board just before the trade and everyone bought the above average defender. I knew from his foul rate alone that he didn't contest.

The poor shooting %(worse than Wiggins in the last 10 games) is hard to swallow, and it's not like Love is making us a dominant rebounding team. The decline of our rebounding is something no one seems to understand or be able to explain.

I just don't know how people aren't more disappointed in Love. He just looks so pedestrian out there especially against premier big men and in the clutch.

If Love were a Rookie, I'd be very excited by his potential.

I just get the feeling he is going to be a major let down come playoffs and he will have to work all summer on defense.

 

[clevelandrox23]

He is a proven superstar and we needed a big 3 in today's league to compete.

Wrong. He's not a superstar but that is a whole other conversation. Plenty of teams' have not had a "big 3" and still won a championship. How is the big 3 working for us right now?

Love is the better choice when you're going all-in for the ring.

Disagree. He has the same amount of playoff experience as Wiggins. Seeing Love get pushed around now makes you wonder how he will handle a more physical playoff run. With Love on the roster the Cavs are currently the 5th seed in an awful Eastern Conference. So thus far he hasn't really helped with the "win now" precedent the front office has set.

Shooting 52.2% 22.6 ppg, I wish Love would have an efficient offensive 5 game stretch like that.

 

[Birdy89]

He has the same amount of playoff experience as Wiggins.

 

[mhi]

The best thing about this kid is, if you look at his splits, he has gotten better as the season has went on.

Avg. 23pts/6rbs/2.5ast/2.3stls on 50/37.5/80 for January.

 

[staycoolbruh]

Dude is balling! He will be a super star in this league for sure!