Nets Rumors: Kevin Love, Isaiah Hartenstein Interest Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Nets have reportedly shown interest in recent Cleveland Cavaliers big men Kevin Love and Isaiah Hartenstein.

According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, the Nets are known to have interest in Hartenstein, who is an unrestricted free agent after declining his player option with the Cavs in July. Love remains under contract with the Cavs.

Lewis noted that the Nets recently attended one of Hartenstein's workouts and that there is "mutual interest" between the two sides.

While the 7'0" Hartenstein has bounced around the NBA during his career, he has yet to make a stop in Brooklyn.

Lewis reported that the Nets had interest in Hartenstein at the 2017 NBA draft, when he was selected in the second round by the Houston Rockets. That interest returned prior to the NBA bubble in 2020, but the Nets stayed away because Hartenstein would not have been eligible for the playoffs based on when he had been waived by Houston.

Hartenstein's stock is higher than ever before after a career year in 2020-21, split between the Denver Nuggets and Cavaliers.

In 46 games, Hartenstein played 12.2 minutes per contest and averaged 5.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists. He truly flourished during his 16-game stint in Cleveland, though, with averages of 8.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks.

While Hartenstein may be the best big-man option for Brooklyn given that he is a free agent, would require no player or draft pick compensation and likely wouldn't cost a ton, Love remains an option.

The 32-year-old is preparing to enter his 14th NBA season, and while he has enjoyed no shortage of success, with five All-Star nods and one NBA championship to his credit, he does seem to be on the downslope of his career.

Love is coming off an injury-plagued 2020-21 campaign that saw him appear in just 25 games. He averaged 12.2 points, which was his lowest scoring output since his rookie season, and 7.4 rebounds, which was the lowest rebounding mark of his career.

The two-time All-NBA selection did make 2.3 three-pointers per game, however, and his three-point shooting percentage of 36.5 percent was in line with his career average of 37.0 percent.

Even if Love isn't the same player he once was, he could be a weapon for the Nets in terms of giving them the type of stretch big they lack on their roster in support of DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and Nicolas Claxton.

The big issue with Love is that he is under contract for big money for the next two seasons. Per Spotrac, he will make more than $31 million next season and nearly $29 million in 2022-23.

Investing in a declining player with that type of contract is a move that could come back to bite the Nets even if he would conceivably be a good fit.

Ultimately, the Cavs would likely be willing to part with Love and may not be in the market for Hartenstein given the recent moves they have made. Cleveland acquired power forward Lauri Markkanen from the Chicago Bulls on Friday in a three-team deal that also included the Portland Trail Blazers.

Since Markkanen is a similar player to Love, only much younger, it stands to reason that the Cavs will be all ears if the Nets approach them with an offer for the veteran big man.