29 Trades for the Detroit Pistons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
By Cary Gahm
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
Cavaliers Send:
- Kevin Love – $21,165,675
- Iman Shumpert – 9,662,922
Pistons Send:
- Tobias Harris – $17,200,000
- Aron Baynes – $6,500,000
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – $3,678,319
Cavaliers New Lineup:
C – T. Thompson | A. Baynes | C. Anderson
PF – T. Harris | C. Frye | L. James
SF – L. James | R. Jefferson | J. Jones
SG – K. Caldwell-Pope | M. Dunleavy | J. McRae
PG – K. Irving | M. Williams |
Pistons New Lineup:
C – A. Drummond | J. Leuer | B. Marjanovic
PF – K. Love | J. Leuer | H. Ellenson
SF – M. Morris | R. Bullock | M. Gbinije
SG – S. Johnson | I. Shumpert | D. Hilliard
PG – R. Jackson | I. Smith | L. Brown*(R. McCallum)
Why the Cavaliers do it:
If you’re the Cavs, your single focus has to be on beating the Golden State Warriors. This offseason the Warrior landed Kevin Durant and in doing so, they took a giant leap forward. During this same stretch, the Cavs lost Timofey Mozgov, Matthew Dellavedova and potentially J.R. Smith.
If the Cavs are going to repeat as NBA Champions they need to have a plan to replenish their depth, and a strategy for containing Durant and a healthy Stephen Curry. This trade would do just that. The Cavs would finally move the often ill-fitting Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert, who is coming off one of the worst statistical years of his career.
Related Story: Should the Pistons make a play for Kevin Love?
With the Addition of Harris, Caldwell-Pope and Baynes, the Cavs would add significant depth, youth and athleticism. Moreover, Caldwell-Pope proved to be one of the most effective players at defending Steph Curry last year, holding him to some of his lowest shooting numbers all season. On top of that, Harris would provide spacing similar to Kevin Love, while bringing significantly better defense. In the end, the cavs agree to this deal because a starting lineup that features Kyrie Irving, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, LeBron James, Tobias Harris and Tristan Thompson seems to be much better suited to compete and even beat the Warriors than the lineup they sport today.
Why the Pistons do it:
Kevin Love is hands down the best stretch four in the league. Coupled with his dominant rebounding, and his ability to be the star once again, he would be a perfect fit on the Pistons roster. While moving Caldwell-Pope, Harris, and Baynes is a lot, Love would prove to be a match. The freedom for him to play his game as the focus of the Pistons offense, while becoming the unquestioned veteran leader, should lead to a resurgence of his career and some of those gaudy double-double numbers he put up in Minnesota.
Shumpert will be a low-risk throw-in. Best case, the change of scenery will lead to him to having a breaking out season and he will start draining threes again, worst case, the Pistons will clear his salary in a couple of years.
Potential Trade Outlook: Sure Shot
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