It's one of the oldest clichés in sports, the "trade that helps both teams." But according to LeBron James, the one-for-one trade in summer 2014 that sent Andrew Wiggins to the Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love really did turn out to be a success for both teams.
"It’s a lot of things that goes into a trade, and everyone always kind of focuses on the first tier of it,” James said Friday, via ESPN.com. “They just focus on Wiggins for Kevin and how the teams match up. There’s so many things that happen throughout the course of a season.
MORE: Best active player at every jersey number | Lamar Odom released from hospital
“Without Andy (Varejao) going down and being injured, do we get Timo (Mozgov)? And do we make the trade for Shump (Iman Shumpert) and J.R. (Smith)? So, so many things happen throughout the course of a season. I think if both sides are happy with what happened — we’re happy with having Kev and I know they’re happy with having Wiggins — so, that’s all that matters."
Love has proven to be an essential part of the Cavs' core and helped propel them to an NBA title run against the Warriors last season. Wiggins is also enjoying success with the Timberwolves, averaging 20.1 points per game, even though many of his other stats are down from last season.
"I think, regardless, he’s making everybody kind of pay attention,” Love said. “Between him and (Karl-Anthony) Towns, that young core, like my UCLA guy, too, (Zach) LaVine, they’re tremendous talents, guys that are going to get better throughout this league. I think it’s one of those trades that probably will always, always be looked at."