Apart from a few other small moving pieces, the only big news that we may yet wake to this off-season centres around the whereabouts of Kevin Love.

Rumours surrounding Love have abounded for months now. Will he end up with the storied Boston Celtics? Will the Golden State Warriors put together a package to bring him to the Bay? Will he somehow fill out the rotting corpse that is the Los Angeles Lakers roster?

Or, will Love end up with his most prominent suitor, King James and his newly incarnated Cleveland Cavaliers?

The prevailing opinion, at least early on, was that the Minnesota Timberwolves would not trade Love to Cleveland unless phenom lottery pick Andrew Wiggins was to be part of the package. That proviso was apparently the big factor that would gazump the trade ever happening, as it seems crazy for the Cavs to give up a player with such ridiculous upside as Wiggins, right?

Right?!

Well, contrary to that which our friend Haggard has opined elsewhere at AndRise, I’m here to tell you that the Cavs HAVE to make this deal happen. They simply can not afford not to.

Let me tell you why.

What is the key objective of any NBA franchise? Let me make it simple for those of you struggling at home: Win.

Don’t forget that for a second. Winning is all that matters.

We’ve entered an era in NBA hoops where the emphasis has shifted far too heavily in favour of potential. The future. Ridiculous upside potential.

The future is what losing teams focus on. Teams in a position to win right now, they need to do everything in their control to win. Right now.

If you have LeBron James on your roster — the fairly unanimously accepted best player in the world — then that automatically means that your team needs to be in Win Now Mode. In its current state, the Cavs roster surrounding LBJ is insufficient to take out Western Conference heavyweights the likes of the San Antonio Spurs. Just take a look at how LeBron’s star-studded cast failed in the Finals a month back.

Even with young stars the calibre of Kyrie Irving and Wiggins, the Cavs are not a team that can do better than the top four in the East. Even James himself admitted as much in his “homecoming essay” in Sports Illustrated recently. Pointedly, he failed to mention Wiggins’ name in that same essay.

On the other hand, both he and Love have made well… love, publicly around each others’ talents, and are clearly excited by the potential (there’s that word again) of pairing. Sure, Love lacks in the defensive department in many pundits’ estimations, but the man knows how to score in bunches, rebound like a behemoth, and he throws a mean fast-break-igniting-outlet-pass.

Bringing Love into a core of James and Irving could make for some very interesting basketball. It certainly makes for a much better chance at winning in the next few years. Let’s not forget: James is 29 years old — he’s in his peak. But that peak will only last a couple more years. Meanwhile, Love is only 25, Irving is 22.

These guys are going to be good for quite a few more years. Love has made it clear that he would happily re-sign in Cleveland. Other free agents would presumably be keen to come too.

Conversely, if you hang onto Wiggins with the promise of the future, you have LeBron playing Professor, teaching the young guys lessons, waiting for the day when they can contribute. Meanwhile, the best player in the league is getting frustrated about not winning (remember his last stay in Cleveland?) and is getting closer to the decline of his career.

If Wiggins turns out to be the next LeBron, well, you have a great team for another decade. But what if he isn’t? Talk about a hostile, impatient environment.

Not only will LeBron be anxious to win again, but the city of Cleveland will continue to hunger for the success that they have not seen.

The time is now. Winning is everything. Love is (almost) all you need.

(Credit (almost) to the Beatles)

The post …and why the Cavs should trade Wiggins for Love appeared first on andrise.com.

There is no doubt that the trio of James, Love and Irving would a force to be reckoned with and would be arguably one of the best trios in the game. Having a big guy that can stretch defences creating a huge hole inside for penetrators such as James and Irving to weave magic on the inside is a huge commodity. The concern would be how the Cavs work to cover the huge hole in defence with Irving and Love both on the court. But the 2014 NBA finals showed us that there is more to basketball than having a good trio.

With LeBron heading back home the Cavs have the ideal opportunity to build a team, and a team to win titles. My esteemed colleague, Mookie, will tell you that the Cavs have the perfect opportunity to go into ‘win now’ mode though deep down I’m certain he knows that isn’t what is best for Cleveland right now. James himself has stated that his return to Cleveland is a work in progress.

Wiggins is tipped to be a future star of the league. Let him learn from one of the best players of the modern era. What is the point in shipping him before you have seen the impact he can make in the league? If the Cavs wanted to be in ‘win now’ mode then the more NBA ready Jabari Parker would have been a better option.

A trade for Love is set to cost the Cavs the last two number one draft picks in Wiggins and Anthony Bennett as well as a future draft pick(s). Love would also eat up a lot of cap leading to the Cavs losing flexibility in Free Agencyageddon in 2015.

It makes little sense to trade away Wiggins and Bennett now for a core of James, Irving, Love, Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson when in a year’s time you can have a core of James, Irving, Wiggins, Bennett, Varejao, Thompson, and someone like Lamarcus Aldridge or Marc Gasol with the mountain of salary cap room they are capable of having. Sure, it will be tricky and will need to use a lot of creativity, but it could work. Get your weirdo with the beardo then.

So, Dan Gilbert, take out your Comic Sans font and send an open letter to the Wolves telling them “No Deal”.

The post Why the Cavs shouldn’t trade Wiggins for Love appeared first on andrise.com.

The 2013/14 NBA season is just around the corner. Just as we do with our NFL fantasy advice, we have you all sorted out here at And Rise with our Fantasy Basketball rankings, in preparation for your Fantasy NBA Draft.

We have split the rankings into the categories of point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center, giving you a Top 200 overall. This Mock Draft by category just made your draft day that much easier!

You can thank us by telling your friends on Facebook and Twitter about this article…

Who do we have ranked first at each position? Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), provided he remains healthy, is the top fantasy point guard this season.  Houston Rockets superstar James Harden is your top choice at shooting guard.

Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) is the top choice at small forward, edging out yes, LeBron James. His Team USA teammate, Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) is the best value at power forward, with his well-rounded, safe fantasy game.

And in the all important middle, Memphis Grizzlies and Spanish center Marc Gasol is the choice above Al Jefferson. Here are the full rankings:

The post 2013/14 Fantasy NBA Top 200 Draft Rankings appeared first on andrise.com.