132-98. 70-40 at halftime. Just three short weeks ago, the Warriors went into Cleveland and eviscerated the Cavs behind a ruthlessly efficient offensive attack. The two headed monster of the Steph-Draymond pick and roll headlined the Warriors’ scheme, while at the same time exposed the Cavs’ crippling weakness. Despite not playing the entire fourth quarter, Steph and Draymond still dominated the Warriors’ touch and pass numbers, a strong indicator of whom the offense is being run through.

Draymond had 72 touches and 54 passes, while Steph had 68 and 44, respectively. Third place for each of those categories was Harrison Barnes, with a mere 40 touches and 32 passes. While it is facile to say the Warriors are a pick-and-roll team (they run the set on just 10.3% of their offensive possessions, 29th in the league), they went back to the well several times against the Cavs. In so doing, they revealed a willingness to continually attack one weakness on the opposition.

For a team with a seemingly limitless ceiling on offense due to their league leading pace, passing genius, and unprecedented shooting, Golden State can just as easily accrue points by repeatedly attacking the same defensive weakness.

Against the Spurs, it was the overmatched Tony Parker who could not keep up with Steph in transition, nor on the ball (and was lifted from Steph duties early in the second quarter). Just last night, they took advantage of Enes Kanter’s glacially slow rotations in the final minutes, until he was taken out at the 1:31 mark of the game. And when facing the Cavs this season, the Warriors have run a myriad of back-cuts and pick-and-rolls against Kevin Love.

In building their 30 point first half lead, Steph’s offensive mastery was on full display. He ran off screens to the tune of 9 uncontested FGA (making 6), and whipped the ball around at a dizzying pace. Though only accredited with 4 assists, he also tallied 4 hockey assists, helping the Warriors hit 10-17 threes in the first half. He had an awe-inspiring +56.6 net rating for the game. Perhaps most impressively, he did this while playing at a markedly slower pace than normal. While the Warriors typically get 102 possessions/48 minutes, Steph played at the equivalent of 95 poss/48. That ~7 pace value difference is the gap between fastest team in the league, and the 28th fastest (interestingly, the Cavs).

If a deeper dive into the Warriors’ box score unearths gems like ‘+56.6 net rating’ and ‘10-17 from 3,’ sifting through the Cavs’ box score is the complete opposite. Every starter had a net rating that might cause one to mistake them for a Sixers’ player, lowlighted by a ghastly -68.1 mark from Timofey Mozgov (albeit in just 14:42 of playing time). Worse, the Cavs no longer had their favorite scapegoat to blame – health. Cleveland had their entire 10 man rotation available against the Warriors, including a fully healed Kyrie Irving.

After their Finals loss, media openly wondered whether the Cavs could have won the series with a healthy Kyrie + Love. Following an ugly 89-83 Warriors triumph on Christmas Day, a Kyrie-sized asterisk was placed alongside the result, as the star point guard played just 26 injury-plagued minutes. But there was nowhere to hide after the 132-98 humiliation, and it was finally time to evaluate a team that is simply not good enough in its current state to defeat a Warriors squad at full health. And after Kevin Love’s grisly defensive performance, the onus was finally on him – or so we thought. For the week following the game, fake trades for Love were thrown out from several media outlets, with one of my favorites coming from Grantland’s Zach Lowe (we’ll get there).

It seemed like GM David Griffin was ready to cut bait with the high-priced Love, who had cost the Cavs a first overall pick in the summer of 2014, and had garnered a max contract in the summer of 2015. Yet on Friday (January 22nd), four days after the Warriors loss, it was David Blatt who was cut loose, not Kevin Love. And while I have no qualms letting go of a coach who had purportedly alienated his players and clashed with LeBron James, it was odd to see the dissipation of trade talks for Love.

While a re-invigorated Cavs team has gone 6-3 under interim coach Tyronn Lue (notably beating the Spurs 117-103), they are not ready to compete with the Warriors. Cleveland ought to have ambitions of winning now, rather than attempt to wait out a Golden State dynasty that could outlast Lebron’s prime. And if they truly endeavor to win in 2016, it is imperative that Love be traded. There is no doubt that Love is a premier defensive rebounder, an elite perimeter shooter, and one of the great outlet passers of all time. Yet Love’s diverse offensive game has often floundered on the Cavs, especially alongside both Lebron and Irving.

In the absence of Kyrie earlier this season, Love was spectacular at times leading the Cavs offense while he spelled Lebron. He posted a 20-12 line in November with 25.4% USG, and a 60.6% TS. Those numbers have plummeted with Irving in the lineup. Love scored just 14.8 ppg in January on 55.2% TS, and 21.5% USG. While his net ratings remain consistent from month to month (+10.6 in November compared to + 11.6 in January), he is not used as often nor as effectively in the offense alongside Irving. Most notably, his 3PA fell from 6.9 per game in November to just 5.1 per game in January.

Considering Love’s trade value to a middling team and Cleveland’s desperate need for wings and pick-and-roll defense, they should at least be heavily exploring Love trades (which I believe they are). He is under contract through 2020, and his max contract will appear far less onerous as he ages and the cap spikes. Bearing in mind all the preamble, here are my two favorite trades:

Love to Denver

Cleveland Receives: Will Barton, Danilo Gallinari, JJ Hickson (expiring), Randy Foye (expiring)

Denver Receives: Kevin Love, Anderson Varejão, Sasha Kaun, 2016 2nd-round pick from LA Clippers via Cleveland, less favorable 2019 2nd-round pick from Minnesota or LA Lakers via Cleveland

Acquiring two elite perimeter scorers including Barton who is on a truly great contract ($3.53 million/year through 2018), Cleveland would bolster its offensive ceiling while adding tremendous versatility to their lineup possibilities. Danilo is hardly the defensive stopper one may envision replacing Love, but he is an elite shooter and does not need the ball on offense to provide value. His gravity as a shooter will open up lanes for Lebron and Kyrie, and he is proficient as a catch-and-shoot player from 3, converting at a 41.3% clip while making 1.4 catch-and-shoot 3's per game. Barton would provide defensive value alongside starters, and offensive firepower in bench units, giving Cleveland the option to rest Kyrie + Lebron together, even if only sparingly so.

In December this season, Barton was given a chance to showcase his offensive talent with a spike in minutes (going from 26.8 MPG in Oct/Nov to 32.8 in December). He responded with a 21-7-3 line on 39% 3PT shooting, on 26.4% USG. He shouldered the load when Gallinari was injured for a 7 game stretch late in the month, hiking his totals to 24.1 ppg on 46.8% 3PT shooting. With these new acquisitions, the Cavs could go ultra small with Kyrie–JR–Shumpert–Barton–Lebron lineups, or play an elite offensive unit reminiscent of OKC’s ‘Killer Five’ which would include Kyrie–JR–Barton–Gallinari–Lebron. While any lineup that includes Lebron at the five will not (and should not) be played for more than 3-4 minute stretches in any game, this trade would provide Cleveland with much needed flexibility.