With constant speculation on whether the Cavs should keep Wiggins or trade for Love, they are losing sight of the bigger picture.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all: Kevin Love or Andrew Wiggins?
This has been the debate among all local and national sports media, regarding the Cleveland Cavaliers, since LeBron James decided to take his talents back to Northeast Ohio. Love, the proven 3-time all-star versus Wiggins, the raw, athletic prospect, which some NBA scouts dub the next LeBron James. And let’s be honest, it’s a great debate.
Let me be perfectly clear, I’m not saying it is a great debate from a basketball standpoint. No, I’m saying it’s a great debate because of one simple word: gratitude.
Think about it for a minute Cavs fans, you should be absolutely grateful for this debate. In fact, you should be on your hands and knees, thanking the basketball gods for everything that has transpired over the past several months. I, myself, one of the biggest Cavs fans alive, can’t even comprehend the events that ensued the puzzle pieces falling perfectly in line for the Cavaliers.
All you have to do is rewind the clock one year ago to see what I am talking about. Last year, in arguably one of the worst NBA draft’s ever, former Cavs GM Chris Grant tried and failed to trade Dion Waiter, Tristan Thompson and the number one overall pick, to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Love. The Cavs tried to catch lighting in a bottle and signed Andrew Bynum, and it blew up in their faces. They tried to trade for LaMarcus Aldridge and Al Horford, but failed. Hell, they even tried to trade me at one point…okay, I won’t go that far. My point is, the Cavs tried every calculated maneuver they could possibly achieve to make it back to basketball relevancy, and failed at it all. And how were they rewarded with all of their misfortunes? Well, in the span of two months, 17 out of a 1,001 ping-pong balls happened to bounce the Cavs’ way, Irving committed to the franchise for another five years and James returned home. Huh?
Former Cavs GM Christ Grant made a lot of bad moves, but they turned out to be a blessing in disguise. (Photo: Amy Sancetta AP)
{adinserter 2} Nothing was suppose to go the Cavs’ way, and it still did. Sure, if you put a gun to my head and force me to choose between Wiggins or Love, I would choose Wiggins. I love (no pun intended) the idea of a James, Love and Irving big three, but I value life after James even more. I want to see Irving and Wiggins build the Cavs into a long, sustaining franchise for many, many years. However, all it takes to get Love to Cleveland is James storming into Dan Gilbert’s office and say “I want Love” and Wiggins will be shipped to the Timberwolves faster than you can even blink.
However, all of that is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Love didn’t even want to come to the Cavs a year ago, now he’s “intrigued” by the idea and would be willing to sign here long-term.
Sources say KLove remains “intrigued” by chance to join LeBron with Cavs. I’m told Wolves, though, still asking for off-limits AWiggins — Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 13, 2014
Irving couldn’t wait to get on the next plane out of Cleveland, now he’s celebrating his commitment to the Cavs by dancing the night away.
Some of us burned James’ jersey when he left town four years ago, and after that emotional, tear-jerking letter, we are trying to find the burnt pieces and mold them back together again.
Cleveland deserves, but should be grateful, for all of this. So when you are at work debating Love vs Wiggins or when you are about to call-in on sports talk radio and boastfully say “I want Wiggins” or “I want Love”, take a step-back and be happy you are even having this discussion. Everything that could go wrong, went absolutely right. The word isn’t Wiggins or Love, it’s gratitude.