The Details Of The Kevin Love Trade Are In, And The Sixers Are Involved

Under NBA rules, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves had to wait out a 30-day moratorium on trading rookie contracts before completing the Kevin Love trade.

That moratorium expires on Saturday, and the trade that became the worst-kept secret in sports is widely expected to be made official.

According to both Timberwolves beat writer Jerry Zgoba of the Star Tribune and national NBA reporter Sam Amick of USA Today, the details of the trade are as follows:

• Cleveland gets: Kevin Love
• Minnesota gets: Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Thaddeus Young, a trade exception
• Philadelphia gets: Luc Mbah a Moute, Alexey Shved, Miami's 2015 1st-round pick

There was some talk that Bennett would go to Philly for Young, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

The Sixers are employing an unprecedented tanking strategy for the second-straight year. This trade gives them a 1st-round pick and clears cap space for 2015-16. Both Mbah a Moute and Shved are on expiring contracts, while Young is on the books for ~$10 million in 2015-16 if he doesn't opt out of his contract.

For Minnesota's part, the trade allows them to stay competitive in the short term while also hanging on to the last two No. 1 draft picks. Bennett had an awful rookie year, but he has lost a bunch of weight in the offseason and it's far too early to write him off as an out-and-out bust. That trade exception could also help them offload one of their bad contracts.

LeBron James got his man, in the end. He had to give up a ton of young talent and he killed his cap flexibility going forward in the process, but he got his man.