dpodoll68 said:
This is all completely off the point of the original post, but I had to chime in here. Scher215, I like you and your relentless optimism re: the Gophers, but your Kevin Love take is, to put it bluntly, terrible, and is way off base. Did you know that, in the month of March, Kevin Love became the first player in the history of the NBA to lead the league in points, rebounds, and made 3-pointers in the course of a single month? First player, ever, in the entire history of the league. And the NBA has been around a while. The point of bringing this up is that Love has a unique skill set that is rarely seen in the NBA. Bill Simmons, a very knowledgeable NBA writer and unabashed Celtics homer, considers Larry Bird nearly a deity. He has been talking about Love a lot lately and saying he's seeing Love do things that he hasn't seen a player do since Bird was in his prime. He's not saying that Love is as good as Bird was, but even bringing them up in the same sentence is unbelievably high praise coming from the biggest Celtics/Bird ball-washer on the planet.
As others have said, he possesses every single NBA skill at at least a "good" level with the exception of on-ball defense. He and Al Jefferson are not even remotely comparable. As Bob said, no one has ever called Al Jefferson the greatest T-wolf ever, nor anything close to it, so that straw man has no place in this argument. Kevin Love is a much, much better player than Al Jefferson ever dreamt of being. There is also no one in this draft who will come close to "Top 3 player in the NBA" status, and almost certainly no one who will be as good as Love is right now. Keep in mind that Love is only 23 years old. Trading him for any pick in this draft, even the #1 overall, is a colossally stupid idea and would demand that the perpetrator (Kahn, presumably) be immediately fired.
Don't get me wrong, I think Love is a VERY good player.
Jeremy Lin however also did something no one in the history of the league had done and I won't crown him top 5 just yet either, yet many including Simmons, hopped right onto that bandwagon.
I usually agree with Bill Simmons though (he's easily My favorite writer even with all the Lakers hate), but I just don't here. I realize I am in the minority, I accept it. I think Love for OJ Mayo was absolutely the right call (I didn't at the time, but Love has changed my mind).
I just don't see what Love does that a guy like Pao Gasol or Chris Bosh doesn't? He can shoot threes which gives him an edge, but throw Dirk in there and he is an excellent 3 point shooter. (I do think Love is better than Pau or Bosh though) but I don't want to anoint him as the greatest player just yet. I hate KG, but he did things on the court Love just can't at this point. KG had an excellent post game and a killer fade away and could create his shot almost like a guard. He also had a great defensive game.
I don't think you can take a guy like Love, who again, is a good player in his own right, and make him the MVP, best player in the NBA when his game isn't fully complete and he doesn't have one great great skill and he hasn't taken a team to the playoffs yet. I can't imagine a scenario where the MVP doesn't even make the playoffs. He does rebound well, but who is he competing for rebounds with? Darko?
And as far as this years draft, I agree, I doubt there is top 3 talent here, but say a guy like Shabazz Muhammed comes out next year and is said to be better than LBJ, and it were pretty common knowledge that that were true, I'd pull the trigger there. Granted that's rare, and I think ole Pat's point was "I've heard this is a deep draft, and i do need to piss some people off, so let's do it now!!!!" but I don't think Davis or Sullinger will be as good as Love is right now or going forward.
If you swap KG prime with Love right now I think that team wins more games and knowing that I just can't make Love king right now (not that it is my decision or anything though). other players have won more games with the same or worst supporting casts, to me that makes them a better player.
I love Kevin Love and I love the Wolves. But I think Rubio is more important to that team with his ability to make below average guys look good, than Love is and that Love isn't at KG (prime) or many current players level yet and people want to make him the MVP and the best player in the NBA. I just don't buy that he is. And
Maybe my definition of an MVP or a franchise player is different than many others, which is fine, but I just don't see him there yet.
