It is the new NBA game: Find a free agent, and figure out how to get your favorite player to them. Call it the CPU Overriding of the NBA trade market.
LeBron James‘ decision, Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams pushing their way to New York, Dwight Howard forcing his way out of Orlando and Kevin Love leaving Minnesota via trade have all changed the NBA landscape. In a world where no contract is immovable, nothing seems impossible.
Kevin Durant is two years from free agency and is already facing questions and fan hope that he will go home to Washington, D.C. to play for the Wizards. Where there is smoke, there is fire?
Well, now it is getting a little ridiculous.
Andrew Wiggins has not played a single NBA game and he is already being pined over by teams that are not the Cavaliers or the Timberwolves. Michael Grange of SportsNet in Canada already has penned a column stating Wiggins’ trade from Cleveland to Minnesota opens the door for Toronto to swoop in and take the Canadian-born star in free agency — which, mind you, is at least two years away and probably five or more years away.
He writes:
But these are your new Toronto Raptors, the ones that turn obstacles to opportunities. They are luckier than a colony of ants finding an open bottle of maple syrup.
Far from an opportunity missed, suddenly things couldn’t be lining up more perfectly for their dreams of landing Canadian basketball’s first prodigy.
All it will take is time.
Sure, the Raptors are competitive now. DeMar DeRozan is a solid player who is growing and Kyle Lowry is back on a reasonable contract. But dreaming about Wiggins right now is so far away.
Wiggins is still more hype than reality as the top overall pick. Nobody knows what he will become or what differences might grow into his game now that he is out of Cleveland (with Kyrie Irving and LeBron James) and playing for Minnesota with Ricky Rubio. He will be “the man” and the centerpiece of the Timberwolves franchise now.
It is hard to believe anyone is plotting how to get such a player in free agency.
For Wiggins’ career, he will always be tied to Toronto and those rumors will persist as they would for any player with the potential to return to his hometown. In all likelihood, Wiggins is going to lead Team Canada at the Olympics and international competitions for the next decade or so. The rumors will persist.
Just let the guy play a game first before you covet him in free agency.
