More “LOVE” in Cleveland!

Kevin Love’s wishes may finally be coming true. He’ll likely join Lebron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, and become the leagues newest “Big 3”.

If we take a look at last years “Big 3” of James, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh. They were amazing posting 62.3 PPG, 18.2 RPG, and 12 APG.

The new “Big 3’s” combined numbers from last season of Love, James, and Irving: 74 PPG, 23 RBG, 16.9 APG. What does the future hold in Cleveland, possibly a championship?

Love will be heading to Cleveland, Wiggins, Bennett, and a future first going to Minnesota. From what I’m hearing the trade is a done deal – in principle, anyway. (There are also reports of a possible 3-team deal that would send Anthony Bennett to Philadelphia and Thaddeus Young to Minnesota as well). Nothing can be official until August 24, which is a month after Wiggins signed his rookie deal and becomes available to trade.  

The NBA could veto the trade if it is determined that it violated league rules. There are strict guidelines that these two teams have to abide by, especially concerning making deals while the 30-day period of Andrew Wiggins contract situation is in effect. The deal can be made behind closed doors/in principle, but some dealings cannot be made public.

Like a Kevin Love extension for instance.

Yahoo sports reported Thursday that the Cavaliers and Love had agreed to a contract extension worth 120 million over five years. According to league rules (bylaws) trade talks can happen within the 30-day period. However… The Cleveland Cavaliers cannot offer Kevin Love a contract extension until the deal is made official. If it is proven that both sides agreed to an extension before the trade was okayed by league officials, BYE, BYE Kevin Love, and expect some sort of punishment to be handed out to both teams.

Now lets all hope for the sake of Andrew Wiggins and everyone else involved that it actually comes to fruition. Wiggins has expressed a desire to play in Minnesota. He wants to feel “wanted”. He also wants to prove his doubters wrong (aka Cavs new general manager “Lebron James” and the rest of the organization). Obviously the NBA is a business, but I feel bad for the kid. LBJ comes in and basically demands an acquisition of Kevin Love and let’s be honest what LBJ wants, LBJ gets.

Lebron commented on the possible trade:

“I’m going to be very excited to have him. I don’t really care about the 26 (points) and 12 (rebounds). I care about the basketball IQ. His basketball IQ is very, very high. I had an opportunity to spend 32 days with him on the 2012 Olympic team. Its funny, I always told Kevin ‘You’re very good, man’ He always thought I was blowing smoke. I always told him he was going to be a reason why we won the gold medal, and he played a huge role for us. So I’m looking forward to it, He’s a great piece.”

Kevin Love has grown tired of loosing in Minnesota. It’s cold and miserable. Free agents don’t want to sign there. He’d always be alone. People say he can’t carry a team and doesn’t have leadership capabilities. He’s wanted out for years, his heart hasn’t been anywhere near Minnesota. Well guess what… Wish granted. You are about to enter uncharted waters. You were never in the spot light before. You could quietly go about getting 20 and 10 every night, unlace your shoes and hit the showers. In the “lime light” You’re expected to become apart of a “dynasty” you might not need to be a leader, but you must succeed right out of the gate. Because having running mates like Kyrie Irving and King James means it’s championship or bust. And it’s all on you.

Video,

First Take- Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless on Kevin Love trade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yV7muTlHa4

             Becky Hammon the first full time women associate!

           

            The San Antonio Spurs have hired former six time WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon to be an assistant coach. The 2^nd women associate in NBA history. First being Lisa Boyer, who was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching staff during the 2001-02 season. However Lisa never traveled with the team, which makes Becky the first full time women associate to travel with an NBA team.

Becky played 16 seasons in the WNBA, the past eight with the San Antonio Stars. She finished seventh all time in points (5,809), fourth in assists (1,687) and sixth in games played (445).

After a career ending knee injury last year, coach Pop once again invited her to participate in practices and coaches meetings, like she had in prior years. He had this to say about her recent hire  “I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff. Having observed her working with our team this past season, I’m confident her basketball IQ, work ethic, and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs.”

What better place could this have come to fruition? It’s a plus for many reasons, one she learns from the best, whether it’s players like Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker, and Coach Greg Popovich. Who may be the most respected coach in the NBA, he will be her guide. She comes into a great situation, The team just won the NBA Championship, Pop and Tony signed extensions, Tim opted into the last year of his contract. Not to mention they are a favorite in the west to return to the finals again this season. It’s a roster full of Vet’s and good character.

In 2008 Pop told the media “ She (Becky) wants to coach after she’s done. Because she’s not just a great player she’s a smart player, a great person in our community, just somebody that we all respect so much, we gave her an opportunity to sit with us during the year. She came to our coaches’ meetings, argued with us, she did everything.” 

This hire opens up opportunities for many other women coaches. People seem to believe that male athletes will have a hard time being told what to do by women. Why is that? We all grew up with a mom, she told us what we could and couldn’t do, and we respected her. Some of us have bosses who are females, yet we listen to what they say and follow their lead. Why should it be any different in the sports world? If coach Pop has confidence in her abilities and knowledge of the game, that’s all one should need.  

WATCH! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLiXOwXeSZI

Team U.S.A Moving Forward

What started off as a pick up game full of anticipation to watch NBA superstars showcase their talent while wearing the Red, White, and Blue. Abruptly turned into a horror film starring small forward Paul George. Only 27 seconds had ticked off the clock at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when Paul George chased down James Harden on a fast break contesting the shot at the rim. Now mind you this had happened multiple times during the week as the two played 1 on 1 after every USA team practice leading up to Friday nights Blue and White scrimmage. But this time Paul came down awkwardly at the bottom of the basket stanchion, which appeared to be closer than NBA regulation. The injury was immediately portrayed as horrific, or gruesome something like a Kevin Ware 2.0. 

Kevin Ware as we all know was injured in first half of the 2013 Elite eight game verses Duke. Oddly enough there was Coach Krzyzewski... Could he be bad luck?

Kevin Ware is now fully recovered playing for Georgia State. He says "it's very possible for Paul to have a full recovery and get back to playing All-Star basketball very soon. Plus P.G. is a lot stronger then i am, so i can only imagine how quickly he'll bounce back."

 George suffered a compound fracture to both the tibia and fibula. It was a clean break and had no ancillary damage. After a successful surgery his doctor's strongly believe he will make a full recovery and return to playing with the same athleticism he's always had. They also say the recovery process will more than likely take him through the entire 2014-15 season. 

  

George took to Twitter to thank his fans and supporters: "Thanks everyone for the love and support.. ill be ok and be back better then ever!!! love y'all!! #youngtrece"

With this injury to one of the NBA's brightest young players, it is sure to bring a mountain of questions. Should the NBA's star players be playing for team USA? Should the basket stanchion be moved back even further, as well as camera operators and photographers for players safety? A definite yes in my opinion, Paul George's injury wouldn't have happened if it would have been at NBA regulation. Will GM's vote to keep NBA players out of international play completely? We already know Mark Cuban's stance, will others join him? Adrian Wojnarowski reported one GM said its a "game-changer".

The Indiana Pacers released a statement on Saturday saying: "There is no question about the impact on our team but our goal is to be as strong-willed and determined as Paul will be in coming back. Our franchise has had setbacks in its history but has demonstrated the abilities to recover. Paul will provide the example of that off the court and it is up to the rest of us to provide that example on the court. Any discussion regarding the future of our team would be inappropriate at this time. Our focus is solely on Paul and doing whatever we can to help.

We still support USA Basketball and believe in the NBA's goals of exposing our game, our teams and players worldwide. This is an extremely unfortunate injury that occurred on a highly-visible stage, but could also have occurred anytime, anywhere."

Much like the stance Coach K. and Director of USA basketball Jerry Colangelo took during a post game media conference. Larry Bird is focussing on Paul and his recovery, not mentioning any roster implications or any other team related issues this injury may have caused. The Pacers can apply for additional money to help add another player to the roster, due to the fact that Paul won't return this season. Who can they get? Are there any free-agent players left that could help this team win? What other options do the Pacers have? Where are Danny Granger and Lance Stephenson when you need them? Many of the questions looming over a franchise that was a favorite to return to the Eastern Conference Finals.  

As Larry Bird said this injury could have occurred, "anytime, anywhere". The only reason these questions are being asked is because it happened during a nationally televised "glorified" pick up game. Is it unfortunate? Yes, but will it impact other players decisions to play for Team USA? I don't think so, and here's why. I can only imagine what its like to put on that jersey and represent your family, your NBA franchise, and your country. Something every athlete dreams of as a child. Not many people get the opportunity that's why everyone who is invited feels so honored and blessed to be apart of something bigger than themselves. It's a brother-hood, a fraternity, an experience that will be apart of you forever. I always think back to '91, (granted it was the year i was born), and the DREAM TEAM. They changed the world, they changed basketball as we knew it. They made it a global game, and gave every basketball fan something to be proud of. USA basketball has dominated the world stage and will continually do so. This is just a minor setback, something that we will have to move on from as Coach K. eluded to during the post game press conference. And i believe we will! #America #USAbasketball 

NBA Off-season!

This off-season has been one to remember! The protocol son returns home to Cleveland, Melo stays in New York for some extra coin, Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons got paid!! Still surprised that the Rockets let him go to Dallas, but hey Dallas got better this off-season. The East is finally going to be competitive its as wide open as its ever been! Lance Stephenson makes the move to Charlotte. Looks like MJ may be figuring it out. Miami looses big time with Lebron but picked up some good pieces with the Luol Deng signing, as well as Danny Granger and the big man/shooter McRoberts. Don't be so quick to leave them out of the picture in the East!! 

I think the team to watch out for are the Bulls. Their rookies are great especially McDermott, Tony Snell looked good in the summer league as a second year player. And with the addition of Pau Gasol an amazing passer and low post player who can step out and knock down the occasional three not to mentions he's someone with a championship pedigree. What more could you ask for? You resign sure handed Kirk for the back up point duties behind Rose who i might add has been impressive this week At the USA camp. His bounce is back he says he's not sore, and he's playing MVP like basketball that we saw in 2010-11 when his team won 62 games! With their starting five is looking like D-Rose, Jimmy Butler, Tony Snell/Dunleavy, Pau Gasol, and raining Defensive player of the year Joakim Noah. Bench has Kirk, Mirotic, Mcdermott, And Snell and company this team is stacked! If they can stay healthy keep an eye on them In the Windy City! 

Now to the trade saga that is Kevin Love will he be joining King James in Cleve town? All sources point to yes. But does that make them a championship caliber team? look at their other additions.. James Jones who can shoot the three and thats about it. Mike Miller same story, possibly signing another guard in Ray Allen who is the best 3 point shooter ever to play the game, but might be a down grade here though because of his age and the inability to keep up with faster guards. But Ray Ray is a good player and a crafty veteran he could make an impact on this team. Rumors that recently signed Timberwolve Mo Williams will be added in the trade as well as Kevin Martin. Makes them a scary team in the East. Basically the same type of team he had in Miami but much younger with Kyrie, Thompson, and Waiters. 

Now to the team i hold closest to my heart, the Utah Jazz! After what we would call a major loss in the lottery dropping to 5th we were pretty much out of the race for any major upgrade at any position. or so we thought! But magically the International man of mystery fell into our lap, Selecting a young player in Exum was a major boost to hopes of a better team in the near future. Not to mention the fact that a projected late lottery pick in Hood would fall to us at 23. A players who is somewhat of a veteran and a leader coming in. Playing under coach K. at duke really turned Hood into a player that can do multiple things on the floor. So basically the Jazz had what we would call a Home Run in this business. 

With the Jazz not making a deal to extend Hayward before last season that made him a restricted free agent. Charlotte came in and Mike swept Gordon right off his feet, offered him a max deal and forced the jazz's hand. hmmmmm Seems like Mike still hates Utah. Now this was a no brainer for the Jazz to match in my opinion, yes its a lot of money to pay any player but when he's the best player you had last year and he had a terrible true shooting percentage  of 51% it can really only get better.  And with renewed confidence he's gaining this summer with team USA expect him to come in and make an impact! I know many of you are saying we should have let him walk... do you only want to win 12 games next season and not get any better? With Hayward on the floor he takes pressure off Exum who is holding lofty expectations. He will help distribute the ball, Both Derek Favors, and Alec Burks had better shooting percentages when playing with Hayward. He's just a guy who makes teammates better and just plays good basketball all around! He's solid on defense, passes exceptionally well, and can Knock down shots. (even though he didn't show much of that this past season) I'm excited to see him back in the fold as we continue to develop this young up and coming roster! 

This season is one I'm most excited to watch in recent years, with power in the east not solely with the Heat. The West is always wide open. I can't wait to watch the Spurs once again. Coach Pop the best the game has to offer is a joy to watch on the bench. Not to mention his post game interviews with the media. Its always Hollywood in LA, young players like Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins coming into this league expected to be stars in the near future. Lebron returning home to Northeast Ohio where he knows he can make a difference and give a fan base hope that hasn't had it for four years. Cuban continually making his team better down in Dallas its a joy to see the NBA getting even better then it has been. Never has a season really been this wide open with so many teams chomping at the bit and in contention to win a championship. #NBACARES!