The Cleveland Cavaliers won the first overall pick in Tuesday's 2014 NBA draft lottery, making it the second straight year Cleveland will pick first in the draft. Needing to turn around their franchise, the Cavaliers should trade their pick for Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love.
Cleveland now has had three No. 1 picks in the last four years. All-Star Kyrie Irving panned out well, but Anthony Bennett - the 2013 No. 1 pick - has been a bust. The Cavaliers haven't had a winning season since LeBron James departed for Miami in 2010, and if the franchise wants to win now they need to trade for a proven player and not risk drafting another dud.
Enter Love. The All-Star power forward reportedly plans to opt out of his contract next summer, which will likely prompt Minnesota to deal him before February's trade deadline. If Minnesota wants the maximum price for Love, trading him before the upcoming draft makes the most sense.
For Cleveland, there's no once-in-a-generation player in the 2014 draft like James was in the 2003 draft. Joel Embiid, the 7-foot center out of Kansas, has a questionable back; Andrew Wiggins, who's viewed as a 2-guard, is talented but is not a guaranteed difference-maker; and Jabari Parker isn't, at least yet, a solid perimeter shooter.
Seemingly with that in mind, Cavaliers general manager David Griffin has already acknowledged the team would be open to trading the No. 1 pick.
"I actually got calls right afterward, while I was standing there doing media," Griffin told ESPN on Wednesday. "Teams were already reaching out and texting, so I think it will be an active period of time. ... We're going to be open-minded to whatever it is that advances our cause the furthest."
The question is whether Cleveland could convince Love to re-sign next summer. He isn't going to single-handedly lead a team into the playoffs; he wants to play for a championship-contender with a strong cast in place. Having Irving, who looks like a perennial All-Star in the making, and young talent could be enough to convince Love to sign an extension in Cleveland.
The biggest knock on Cleveland is they're a small market team, which reportedly isn't a factor to Love.
"(Love) is not one of those guys that's saying, 'I want to go to Miami. I want to go to L.A,' the hype cities," Comcast SportsNet analyst Tim Welsh said, via CSNNE. "Now would he prefer L.A.? His girlfriend loves there. She's an actress. He went to college there (at UCLA). He was born there. ... But he's a professional. He wants to go where there's the best opportunity for him..."
Cleveland would have a lot of competition for Love, but not many teams have the assets to facilitate a trade with Minnesota.
