Why the Cleveland Cavaliers shouldn’t regret the Wiggins-Love trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers made the right decision in 2014 to trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love after signing LeBron James

The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Kansas guard Andrew Wiggins with the first pick in the 2014 NBA draft. Most first overall picks become top tier players in the NBA, but that’s never a given (does Anthony Bennett even exist anymore?).

Wiggins was traded shortly after the draft in a package to receive Kevin Love. Roughly three years after this trade, many fans are critical of the Cavaliers’ decision to trade for Love. These criticisms are proof that some fans don’t understand the game beyond points in a box score.

Andrew Wiggins is a supreme talent, but anyone who has intently watched his progress since draft day knows that he hasn’t lived up to the hype. He’s still only 22 years old and has the potential to get better, but right now he’s an efficient score-first guard.

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He was drafted as an explosive athlete with elite two-way potential. His offensive game has improved each year, but he’s been a horrible defender since day one. Defense is all about athleticism, effort, and awareness. Wiggins is a top tier athlete, so his defensive issues are due to his inconsistent effort and inability to master a defensive scheme.

Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau is a defensive minded no-nonsense coach. Minnesota recently traded for superstar Jimmy Butler, whose elite defense should help Wiggins learn the tricks of the trade. But that’s not a given. Some players never improve their defense.

Wiggins is a young piece that could fit in Cleveland’s timeline if they decide to rebuild. He’s an improving shooter, but right now is still inefficient at putting the ball in the hoop. Wiggins hasn’t developed any secondary offensive skills to scoring, so he’s more of a talent tease than actual talent at this point in his career.

If Kyrie Irving is traded and LeBron James leaves in free agency after the season, the Cavaliers could use a young piece like Wiggins to build around. But that wasn’t in the cards when LeBron decided to in return in 2014. The Cavaliers were in win-now mode, so they needed pieces that could help them compete for a championship right away. Not only does Wiggins have a skill set that wouldn’t fit in well with LeBron, but he was too young to help the Cavaliers compete right away. They decided to trade him away to obtain Kevin Love, who was a star wasting his career away in Minnesota.

Love initially had issues fitting in Cleveland’s rotation. He was a great interior scorer and rebounder in Minnesota, but had to reinvent himself in Cleveland. Love doesn’t get enough credit for developing a consistent outside shot. He changed his game from an old school power forward to a stretch four that every team in the league was coveting. His numbers weren’t close to his Minnesota output, but he was a third wheel in Cleveland. Critics weren’t impressed with Love, but they were falling victim to the Chris Bosh effect.

Bosh had a similar struggle transitioning from being the star in Toronto to being the third wheel in Miami. Bosh also had to reinvent himself, and wasn’t given enough credit for his ability to transition into a player that fit his team better than his old play style. Both Love and Bosh played with a ball-dominant guard (Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving) and LeBron, a ball-dominant point forward that is arguably the best player in NBA history.

Bosh and Love had to rely on their ball-dominant teammates to give them the ball. They were power forwards that weren’t capable of initiating the offense. Their numbers dipped because of who they played with, both from a talent and stylistic standpoint. People referred to Miami and Cleveland’s big three as the big 2.5, insinuating that Chris Bosh and Kevin Love were half stars. Bosh and Love were clearly the third most talented players on their respective teams, but they were still stars nonetheless.

The casual fans’ misperception about Love and Bosh has caused their reputations to take a hit, but true basketball fans understand how impressive their transitions were from being stars of their teams to third wheels depending on their two ball-dominant teammates for touches.

Now that Cleveland is in the process of self-imploding, it’s easy to criticize the Cavaliers for selling their future for a couple of seasons of contending for championships. But it’s hard to blame them for not foreseeing Kevin Durant joining the Warriors and making them arguably the greatest team in NBA history.

Remember, the Cavaliers won a championship in 2016. Kevin Love’s defense allowed Golden State to scheme him off the floor at times, but they would’ve had the same issues with Andrew Wiggins’ defense. Would Cleveland have won the championship if they didn’t make the Andrew Wiggins-Kevin Love trade? Given Wiggins’ skill set and poor fit with Irving and James, it’s hard to imagine that they would’ve beaten Golden State. There’s a good chance that they wouldn’t have even made it to the NBA Finals.

Now that things have fallen apart and it looks like the Cleveland Cavaliers’ reign of supremacy in the Eastern Conference has come to an end, it’s easy to point the blame at Kevin Love. Ultimately, owner Dan Gilbert is a professional moron and should get the bulk of the blame. But fans rarely blame owners and stick blame on something that they can see – the players themselves.

However, before jumping on the Kevin Love sucks bandwagon, it’s important to look at the alternatives. Wiggins averaged 3.6 more points per game this season than Love on inefficient shooting and more opportunities, played equally poor defense, and offered nothing else to his team.

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Love was able to stretch the floor consistently, pick up the slack if James or Irving was struggling, and rebounded at a high rate. He was the more valuable piece for Cleveland and is the better player in a vacuum. Hindsight is always 20/20, but there’s no denying that the Cavaliers made the right choice trading away Wiggins to obtain Kevin Love and an NBA championship.