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Opinion: LeBron returning to Cleveland will benefit Wiggins

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Andrew Wiggins is scheduled to start in his first Summer League game at 7 pm central tonight. Until this afternoon, Cleveland Cavs fans were pretty excited about this.

With LeBron James’ return to Cleveland, it’s now on the back burner for Cavs fans to be excited.

The addition of James to the Cavs’ roster should get Andrew Wiggins excited.

It’s going to result in one of two things for Wiggins:

He’s guaranteed to go to the playoffs in 2015 and  he has a legit shot at multiple championships during his rookie contract

-OR-

He’ll get traded out of Cleveland.

Cleveland is a more pathetic sports city than Kansas City, championship wise. And that’s saying a lot. So leaving Cleveland before he has even started isn’t the worst thing to happen to Wiggins. Even if he ends up in Minnesota (which is close to Canada!), Wiggins will benefit from getting out of Ohio. Without LeBron James, Wiggins can have a chance into develop into the guy on whatever roster he lands on. Many of the knocks on Wiggins have been his “lack of killer instinct” but that’s mainly because a) people are dumb and didn’t really watch his KU games and b) Bill Self’s system has never allowed one guy to be the guy on the Jayhawk roster.

Wiggins shouldn’t be discouraged if he gets traded either… if it means the Cavs land Kevin Love.

A big three consisting of Kyrie Irving (who has a shot at becoming one of the best guards in the League), LeBron James (the best player in the world) and Kevin Love (one of the best rebounders in the league and arguably the best power forward in the league) is simply better than a big three of Irving-James-Wiggins because Love has more experience.

But that doesn’t mean a big three of Irving-James-Wiggins is anything to dismiss, either.

In fact, the Cavs don’t want to let go of Wiggins, who now have four No. 1 picks on the roster (and Dion Waiters was a No. 4 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft).

We’re going to hear a lot about Wiggins being traded because well… LeBron didn’t mention Wiggins in his letter that was published by Sports Illustrated. He also didn’t mention Anthony Bennett and a few other players.

People are interpreting it a few different ways: he doesn’t want to talk about players he doesn’t have a relationship with or hasn’t watched much of, he simply forgot to mention each player on the roster, he didn’t mention Wiggins because Andrew hasn’t even signed his contract yet… and the most popular theory: LeBron wants Kevin Love and to get him, Wiggins is getting sent to Minnesota.

For now, Wiggins is still a Cavalier. So what does that mean for Wiggins’ career?

For one, he’ll be able to learn from the best basketball player in the world. Mario Chalmers was able to do the same for four seasons and won two NBA Championship rings.

Earlier this week, Bill Simmons said LeBron should return to Cleveland and “train Wiggins to be his (Scottie) Pippen.”

Additionally, LeBron James also wants to bring along Ray Allen to Cleveland, which means Wiggins can learn from the best three-point shooter ever in the history of the League.

The East remains the weaker conference so the Cavs will consistently go deep in the playoffs. Once this young roster comes together, they’ll be talented enough to contend for titles.

My hope for the Cavs is that they’re able to land Kevin Love without giving up Wiggins (goodbye Dion Waiters?) and Cleveland can contend for a title in 2015.

That would be the best situation for Wiggins.

—–

What do you think of LeBron returning to Cleveland? Comment below on how you think the Cavs will do next season.

Also, do you think Andrew Wiggins will remain a Cav? Vote in our poll below:

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