Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski saw Andrew Wiggins play at Kansas last season and has coached Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love at the Summer Olympics, so he’s certainly qualified to talk about two of the NBA’s biggest names involved in trade rumors this summer.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, who selected Wiggins with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, were originally hesitant about giving up the talented young forward in a potential deal for Love, but reports to the contrary have recently surfaced.
Krzyzewski recently told The John Feinstein Radio Show that he would trade Wiggins for Love if given the opportunity.
“I think there’s absolutely not one second of hesitancy,” Krzyzewski said. “I’d trade for Kevin Love. That’s not saying anything about any of the other (players involved in the deal). Love’s an All-Star.”
“You look at LeBron (James) and you have the best player in the world,” Krzyzewski added. “He’s 29. I’m not saying he’s at the end of his career, but he’s in the second half of his career, let’s put it that way. And in the first half of his career, he was becoming a great player. He was a great talent becoming a great player. That takes time – just like if Wiggins or Bennett are going to be great, it’s not going to happen right now. They’re great talents. LeBron is a great player right now. You do not want to waste any year of a great player’s career.”
Coach K makes a great point. The time for James to win in Cleveland begins immediately, despite the surplus of young talent on the Cavs roster.
One of the reasons why James failed to win a championship with the Cavaliers to begin his career was because the front office failed to surround him with other elite players. Mo Williams arguably was the best player that Cleveland added to help LeBron — that’s nowhere near good enough.
Love is 25 years old and just starting to reach the peak of his powers. Cleveland could wait until after the 2014-15 season and try to acquire Love through free agency, but that’s a risk not worth taking. The time to act is now.
