NEW YORK: As the Cavaliers creep closer and closer to the NBA’s Feb. 23 trade deadline, there is only one question worth asking, one question that General Manager David Griffin and his front office must answer.
Who gives the Cavs a better chance at beating the Golden State Warriors: Kevin Love or Carmelo Anthony? The answer should be the one wearing a Cavs jersey after the trade deadline. It’s really that simple. But like everything else in life, it’s complicated.
There are plenty of hurdles to clear before June, but the East belongs to the Cavs and most everyone in the league knows it. The Cavs theoretically should handle the Toronto Raptors or Boston Celtics or Washington Wizards with either Love or Anthony. It doesn’t really matter.
But the Cavs and Warriors spend 12 months with one eye on each other, searching the margins for ways to gain an advantage in what has become the NBA’s best rivalry. Anthony in Cleveland could be a game changer.
Anthony is more of a playmaker than Love in the sense of that dribble/pass/shoot player that LeBron James craves. Being one of James’ closest friends certainly helps, too. But he isn’t nearly as effective as a rebounder. Love, remember, grabbed 14 huge rebounds in that decisive Game 7 last year against the Warriors. But he also disappeared for long stretches on the glass. If Love isn’t punishing the Warriors inside and in rebounding, then he can’t be on the floor in the series.
One of the bigger challenges facing the Cavs is how to guard the Warriors when they go small, which is quite often. It’s an open secret by now that Love struggles guarding Draymond Green, which the Cavs knew and fretted over for months leading up to last year’s NBA Finals. Love proved to be terrific in the East playoffs last year and now fits this team well, but they know he is a liability defensively against the ultra-athletic Warriors — his fine defensive stop on Steph Curry at the end of Game 7 notwithstanding.
The Warriors present unique challenges. The fact they go small as much as they do limited Channing Frye to 33 minutes in last year’s Finals. He never played in the last three games, all of which the Cavs won.
Anthony is by no means a great defender, but he might have better success on Green than Love since the Cavs already know Love doesn’t work. It’s a huge risk to take, essentially disassembling a team that has already proven it can win a championship. But it’s a debate the organization is holding nonetheless.
The addition of Kevin Durant complicates how the Cavs can guard the Warriors. James can’t be used on Green so much now because he is needed on Durant. That’s a huge problem and one the Cavs might ultimately decide Anthony helps fix. But the margin between Love and Anthony is thin. They each help in different facets of this series.
There is always the possibility the Cavs could obtain Anthony while retaining Love, but that seems about as likely as either the Cavs or Warriors getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
A third team would almost certainly have to be included, unless the New York Knicks are so desperate to unload Anthony’s contract that a package of Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, Jordan McRae and Frye sounds enticing. Nobody should be that desperate, particularly since Shumpert just came from New York two years ago primarily because the Knicks didn’t want to give him the type of contract the Cavs did.
The most logical package is a deal centered on Love and Anthony. The two teams discussed such a trade right about this time last year and they’re still considering it, championship or not.
There is risk involved, certainly. Love is playing his best basketball since arriving in Cleveland and is headed to his fourth All-Star Game as a reward. That’s a tribute to Tyronn Lue, who has worked hard to integrate him into this system. But Griffin proved last year by firing David Blatt he’s not afraid to take big risks and Durant’s arrival changed plenty in this series. If the Cavs believe Anthony gives them a better chance to beat the Warriors four times in seven games, the choice is easy.
Arriving at that decision, however, is getting complicated.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.