I meant two things plus 3 more things. Plus these two:

6) How funny is it that so many of us completely dislike Love as a person? It completely drives our motivation and rationale for wanting to trade him. It certainly makes me irrational at times.

7) Would OKC do Love for Ibaka this summer? Straight up. I'm serious.

daddyfatsax wrote:
Absolutely most of the reason for the trade talk. There really isn't anything else. And if anyone wants to trade him for his defense, they can kindly observe the multitude of players who are labeled as bad defenders throughout the league. Case in point on this issue:

Ricky openly complains about playing time last night despite really struggling for the most part since his recovery. Fans side with him, blame Porter. If that were Love, people would be calling him a diva, etc.

THEN AGAIN, Love has done a lot to earn this scrutiny with the fanbase. He largely brought it upon himself by blatantly and obviously lying about his knuckle pushups, coming to camp out of shape, and slamming his team to Woj at the most unusual of times. So, the scrutiny is largely warranted. If he comes back at the 25 and 15, 80% FT, 40% from 3 we know...there is hardly any reason to complain, or even consider trading him for Disney F-ing Lopez. That is what is at stake.

daddyfatsax wrote:
Can we at least get Lamb and Perry Jones thrown in too? If so, I'd for sure do that trade in a heartbeat!

College Wolf wrote:
1. Ask for all three.

2. Ask for one.

3. Ask for the other.

4. Settle for just Ibaka.

5. Win more games with Ibaka, Pek, and Cunningham - three very complimentary pieces.

daddyfatsax wrote:
Yes. I love that plan. Seriously, I'd do the 5 steps above, in that order. Throw in some 2nd round picks or something too. Hell, if we can get all 3 of those guys I'd maybe even throw in one of those crappy protected first round picks that are owed to us.

1. OKC wouldn't add a 3rd max contract to their payroll even if it meant preserving a Finals-level team. Recall the Harden situaish. So this conversation is already out the window.

2. Pretending that isn't the case, for what this team needs, dependable offense (you just can't deny it) I would say Disney is the better fit than Ibaka if we are really going to sell low like this on Love. Who needs Serge when you have Chris Johnson?! Call me crazy, but Serge doesnt exactly provide points in key moments of need (the main problem facing the injury depleted Wolves, especially in 2nd halves.). Both are critical players on really good teams.

3. The answer was Harden and Ibaka, a trade that looks genius in hindsight and makes me look like a fool for violently arguing with CW about it last year. Probably wouldnt have even been a remote possibility, though.

4. However, there must have been a reason why I was so vehemently against it last year and that is because Love was playing out of his damn mind for two years. Everyone is forgetting that. I'm all for trading him before his deal is up, but I a) want to see this team at full health, b) know for certain Love has much more value than Serge or Lopez.

Love is disliked, but no need to sell low on the guy for fear of what will happen two years from now or because he is a"bad defender" or becuase he f-ed up his season. Just play Johnson 40 mins next to him, or trade PEK for Ibaka. Championship.

WallyWorld wrote:
But did you watch last night's game? Ricky has a valid point. He was playing well in the 3rd quarter, and then Barea came in, and one of the most comical and ridiculous situations I've ever seen ensued.

From 10:20 remaining in the 4th quarter to 7:36 remaining, Barea picked up 2 offensive fouls, 3 defensive fouls, and a delay of game penalty. He was out of his damn mind, We actually still had a chance of winning up until that point. The fact that Terry Porter didn't take him out after about the 2nd or 3rd foul tells me all I need to know about his coaching ability. It was clear as day that Barea was throwing some kind of selfish temper tantrum out there. In the post game interview, someone asked Porter why he never put Ricky back in, and he said because Barea was "hot" and couldn't take him out. Lololol. There is a reason he failed miserably as a head coach in Milwaukee and Phoenix.

How is trading Love for Lopez "selling low"? He has the 4th highest PER in the entire league, behind only Durant, Lebron, and CP3. He's legitimately over 7 feet tall, plays solid defense, and hasn't missed a game due to injury in 3 years.

Yes he's a boring player, is obsessed with Disney crap, and his voice sounds stupid as hell, but Love is a egotistical douchebag. So which is worse?

roundhouse wrote:
Oh I absolutely watched and 10000% agree with how dumb it is. More using it as an example to emphasize the differences with how fans view each player.

roundhouse wrote:
Being a boring player and obsessed with Disney. Love is one of about 300-400 egotisatical douchebags who play in the NBA.

It is selling low. Not terrible low, but low. As I said, I personally want to see this team with a healthy Love before trading him if it comes to it. If it does come to it, a package around Brook with other pieces is definitely something to think about.

WallyWorld wrote:
I just can't get mad at a player for calling out the coach when they have a legitimate complaint. The same reason I can't be mad at Percy Harvin for yelling at Frazier on the sideline. Whe your QB is throwing for 90 yards per game and singlehandedly losing games, and your coach keeps him in the game, something is wrong with the coach.

It's certainly a far cry from Love's antics: sounding off to a reporter talking trash about the team, not hustling back on defense because he's always complaining to refs, being mad at the organization/fans/reporters because they don't believe him about his broken hand story even though it's an obvious lie, etc etc.

WallyWorld wrote:
Ibaka has a near-max deal though. So if they trade him + 2 rookies on guaranteed contracts, it's not much difference in salary from what Love makes.

Win-win for both teams if you ask me.

roundhouse wrote:
Lopez is balling out of his mind this year. His rebounding has vastly improved from past seasons (a prior big weakness of his game), and he is very solid defensively.

Love probably has more trade value than Lopez, but at this moment in time I am not sure Love is the better player. Especially since he's injured and all.

roundhouse wrote:
Ricky calling out a terrible coach for an absurd situation is totally justifiable in my mind. Love's stupid antics are of a different ilk, and much harder to justify.

College Wolf wrote:
Yeah, there really is no disagreeing with this I suppose as it pertains to the specific issue.