FanPost

A Love / Bledsoe trade that makes sense

Phoenix Suns:

Out: Eric Bledsoe (S&T on a 4-year max), Miles Plumlee

In: DeAndre Jordan, Kevin Martin

E-Bled has veto power here, but in this situation he gets the max he can realistically fetch, gets his trade to a contender, and gets to go somewhere he is both comfortable and familiar. Eric signs off, and this resolves the issue of his contract holdout.

Meanwhile, the Suns trade an elite defensive guard for an elite defensive center. That's a win. DeAndre massively upgrades team defense and rebounding instantly, and is offensively a bit ahead of Miles Plumlee. Thomas / Green / Archie / any of the other 9 guards on the roster step in to take the Bledsoe minutes without huge dropoff, and the problem of being guard-heavy but frontcourt-lightweights is resolved.

LA Clippers:

Out: Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan

In: Eric Bledsoe, Kevin Love

Why would the Clippers trade Chris Paul? Chris Paul is 29. Eric Bledsoe is 23, already a better defender, already knows the offense, and plays a similar style to Paul, who was his mentor anyway. Paul is also purportedly threatening to hold out if the Sterling legal situation is not resolved before the season starts.

Love is about the same age as Jordan, but a radically different player. The Clips suffer no loss of rebounding with this trade, and while team defense takes a hit, their offense is vastly improved with Love's shooting/spacing. Blake is ready for more offensive responsibility, and this trade makes him THE MAN, and simultaneously gives him a lot more space to operate.

Minnesota Timberwolves:

Out: Kevin Love, Kevin Martin

In: Chris Paul, Miles Plumlee

The reasons for the Wolves to trade Love and Martin are already well discussed.

Getting back Chris Paul, a bona-fide first-team all-NBA player who is capable of leading their team to the playoffs? That's the best return possible. Flip Saunders has asked for a star in return for a star. This lets him live up to his own rhetoric.

Yes, they already have Rubio. But, you may have noticed that 2-PG lineups are all the rage these days. Especially when both those PG's are top-5 defenders for their position, and one of them is tall enough to play off-guard.

Some might think that a re-build around Wiggins, etc is better, but the long-suffering fans of Minnesota have been stuck in a near-permanent rebuild mode. It's tough to build in Minnesota, where you can only get free agents by vastly overpaying.

Plumlee steps in as a rotation big man to add to Pek and Dieng, filling some of the minutes vacated by Love, and upgrading the defense a bit.