Each NBA team’s best trade in franchise history

Cleveland Cavaliers

Kevin Love as part of a three-team trade (2014)

When LeBron James announced his intentions to return to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, he mentioned several members of that roster that he couldn’t wait to play with. He talked about helping Kyrie Irving become one of the best point guards in the league — which surely stuck in Irving’s craw.

He talked about “elevating” promising youngsters Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters. He also “couldn’t wait” to reunite with longtime teammate Anderson Varejao. However, James’ lovefest/mission statement had one notable omission: Andrew Wiggins, the man the Cavs drafted first overall in that season’s draft.

From there, pundits speculated whether Wiggins not being mentioned signified that the former Kansas Jayhawk wasn’t a part of Cleveland’s future plans. Coincidentally, this was also around the time when Minnesota Timberwolves star and double-double specialist Kevin Love’s name began popping up in trade rumors.

As was/is their M.O., the T’Wolves couldn’t build a competitive roster around Love, so when it came to trading talented forward, it was a matter of when rather than if.  It was this mutual need for a trade that ultimately led to a three-team trade that is too long to list here (specifics are available here).

All you need to know is that the trade sent Wiggins to Minnesota — where he has been a major disappointment — and Love to the Cavs — where he filled the tertiary star role next to James and Irving and helped the Cavs win their first NBA championship. Even with Love now entrenched as the best player on a rebuilding, post-LeBron Cavs team, that title makes this trade worth it.