32 wrote:The Warriors have reiterated they won't trade Thompson. The deal to Cleveland is just a matter of time now.

Not to mention we're witnessing an early sighting of Joe Lacob's future pretext for firing Kerr; multiple outlets are reporting the Warriors' hesitancy to part with Thompson is at the behest of Kerr; a first-time coach whose record as a GM is iffy at best.

When Love goes to Cleveland, 3 scenarios arise:

1, Love regresses and Thompson becomes a star... In which case, Lacob will suck up all the credit for not trading him and Kerr will have to make due without even a scrap of commendation despite being the driving force to keep Klay. I find this scenario very unlikely.

2, Thompson regresses (or stays the same), but Love is unspectacular; either due to injury or a lesser role. This might be the most likely scenario and if it comes to fruition, nothing in the media will be made of it.

Or 3, Thompson stays the same (or, God help us, regresses) and Love kills it in Cleveland; helping lead them to a title (or at least deep in the playoffs). This is also a pretty likely scenario and if it happens, Kerr will have a MASSIVE strike on his Lacob-resume... And, unless Joe Lacob is a closet racist slash God-o-phobe, he'll be bringin the wrath come contract time. Cause we can all agree: roadblocking a trade for the best PF in basketball is a helluva lot more agregious than winning 50+ games and taking a twice-as-high seed to 7 contests in the playoffs. If Mark Jackson got publically humiliated en route to a coaching castration, imagine what'll happen to Kerr if he flops as a first-year coach AND becomes the face of 'Why the Warriors Didn't Swing a Trade for Kevin Love.' It'll be a hanging in the town square... That is, provided the universe has any real cosmic justice, cause I swear if Lacob let's a travesty like that slide after canning Mark Jackson for having a good-but-not-great year, I'll have an extremely difficult time clapping for our majority owner and I was one of the few to actually have his back on Chris Mullin night 3 years ago.

rockyBeli wrote:Never been on the fence about any other trade than this one I think.
Literally fine with either way this goes.
Consolation prize is still being a contender and Curry, Klay, Barnes, Green developing and growing as a team.
Risks both ways. Is Love = Bosh on the Raptors? Kind've a pretend superstar + team chemistry unknown + Curry's mindset (trading or firing everyone he knows).
I don't think it should be understated that Klay + Lee + Barnes is A LOT of proven talent -- 2 allstar level players + prospect with high ceiling. It could bite us down the road.
Wasn't there a guy named Tom Gugliotta who was kind've the Kevin Love of his day that the Warriors traded for. Do we listen to Jerry West?
Then of course if you don't do the deal, did the W's miss a chance to pair a top PG with the top PF -- both in their prime - for years to come, etc.

Ok with either way this goes. Would be cool with a Love deal but I'm not going to pretend that Lee + Klay + Barnes + 1st isn't A LOT of talent for a player not named Durant or LeBron (btw would Harden trade from Thunder get this much in return?) and doesn't carry risks down the road.

PAWNO wrote:Klay Thompson also just asked for the MAX.

I don't want to be locked down on a contract like that knowing Curry needs a extension soon etc.

Upgrade the PF position from Lee to Love whilst sacrificing the SG spot and lets just go from there.

The Warriors and Timberwolves got close on a deal that would have sent Kevin Love to Golden State, but the main sticking point was reportedly Minnesota’s demand that Klay Thompson be included as part of the package.

Those inside the Warriors organization were split on whether or not to give up Thompson, and on the surface, it appeared as though the team didn’t want to break up its promising young guard tandem for offensive purposes — after all, they are the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game.

But the real reason for keeping Thompson, according to the latest report, is that the Warriors are actually concerned about the defense.

From Sam Amick of USA Today:


The Mark Jackson firing and Steve Kerr hiring in mid-May were undeniably driven in part by the desire to improve offensively, as owner Joe Lacob and so many others within the organization grew tired of seeing their wondrous scoring talents so often struggle in the former coach’s system. But the post-Kerr question about Golden State’s third-ranked defense and what lied ahead on that end of the floor has been quietly answered during these seemingly-endless discussions about Love.

In short, they’re not willing to ditch the defense.

Their recent refusal to include guard and Timberwolves target Klay Thompson in the deal is rooted in this reality, as losing Thompson would not only leave Curry overexposed defensively in the backcourt but is compounded by the fact that Love — much like incumbent power forward David Lee, who would head to Minnesota if this deal got done — isn’t exactly known as a two-way player. From Lacob on down, this is a major part of the Warriors’ internal analysis and something that belies all the initial speculation about how this Kerr era might be defined.

Offense is easier to fix than defense, especially when the talent is already in place. With Kerr and associate head coach Alvin Gentry, who ran the top-ranked Clippers offense under Doc Rivers last season, the Warriors are likely to see a noticeable jump from last season’s effort that saw them finish the year there ranked just 12th.

The other issue that’s favorable to the Warriors where Thompson is concerned is his contract, because even though he’s likely to push for a max extension, his max deal would cost the team less than would one for Love, which would be required at the conclusion of the upcoming season.

If the brain trust in Golden State really believes that adding Love at the expense of Thompson doesn’t immediately vault the team into the realm of title contention, and that the overall drop on the defensive end would cancel out any benefits offensively, then standing pat is the way to go.

Superstars of Love’s stature aren’t made available in trade every day, however, so everybody better be on the same page in making this decision in case the Warriors keep Thompson, and end up going in the opposite of the desired direction.

migya wrote:Getting a SG to replace Klay is easier than getting a great PF because 6'5-6'7 guys are more common than 6'9-6'10 guys. Being able to replace Klay easier is what tips it in favour of making the trade for me, that is, if Love agrees to sign an extension before any trade.

migya wrote:There is a valid point with the issue of defense. Klay is very good at it and at his age likely only going to get better at it, especially with Iguodala, a great defensive player for almost a decade now. Love is a great offensive player and rebounder, one of the best in the nba at both aspects but average defensively and that means the team loses one side of the ball. Klay is not Love offensively but he is one of the best sGs offensively and at his young age will only get better, at least a bit. Who knows how Love would be on the team, he could score and rebound less, with many more scorers and rebounders than the TWolves have.

The only factor that influences my decision to trade Klay and Lee for Love and KMartin is the age of Lee. Lee is some five years older than Love and though he realistically could perform the way he's performing now for three maybe four more years, Love has at least another eight to ten years of his current level left. Getting a SG to replace Klay is easier than getting a great PF because 6'5-6'7 guys are more common than 6'9-6'10 guys. Being able to replace Klay easier is what tips it in favour of making the trade for me, that is, if Love agrees to sign an extension before any trade.