The Kevin Love-Golden State Warriors trade saga ended in an abrupt, dramatic fashion this summer in the 2014 free agency when the Warriors declined to include Klay Thompson as part of the deal. The Minnesota Timberwolves had wanted a young talent in exchange for Kevin Love but the Warriors don't like the idea of losing Thompson. In the end, it was the Cleveland Cavaliers who were willing to take in Kevin Love in exchange of their No.1 draft pick, Andrew Wiggins.
The question now is are the Warriors right in their decision to hold on to Thompson? AlthoughtThe answer is debatable, Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry believes that the front office made the right decision not to trade his teammate to Minnesota for Kevin Love.
In an interview with Boomer and Craig in AllState Studio on Tuesday, CBS News New York reported and was quoted as saying, "Obviously Kevin Love's a great player and they were making the decision whether that would make us a better team to let him go, bring Kevin on, and I think they made the right choice that me and him in the backcourt and core that we have, we've got a legit shot at winning the championship next year, and I'm ready to take that on. I think all those rumors are gone now, and we'll get back to business."
Scott Burns of Bleacher Report believes that the Warriors front office did not like the idea of including the other Splash Brother in the trade because of Thompson's consistently evolving game every season. From a pure catch-and-shoot player, he was said to have elevated his game to a versatile weapon who can handle the ball, slash to the rim, and has risen as one of the Warriors top defenders and the NBA's better perimeter defenders. Moreover, Kevin Wang of Blue Man Hoop also said that while Love offers an instant upgrade over David Lee and that his unique skill set is a perfect fit to the Warriors needs, losing Thompson negates any real progress from Love's addition.
The Golden State Warriors may have improved significantly in the Power Forward position by bringing in Love to replace David Lee but losing Thompson in the process will hurt the team both offensively and defensively. With that being said, the Warriors are wise on holding on to Klay Thompson this summer in the free agency.
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