NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Updates on Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo and More

LeBron James is off the board. Carmelo Anthony is off the board. Chris Bosh is off the board. Pau Gasol is off the board. In fact, virtually every impact free agent outside of a select few is off the board at this point of the NBA offseason.

That means it’s time for teams to start looking into potential trades. 

With that in mind, here is a glance at the latest trade rumors surrounding Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo and Josh Smith.

Kevin Love 

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Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News provided yet another update on a potential Love trade between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves:

At this point, it’s no secret that the Cavaliers are going to be linked to the Timberwolves star for the rest of the offseason until a trade happens or one of the teams say there will be no swap.

This discussion has really opened up a fundamental debate among NBA circles and basketball fans. Should the Cavaliers go with the sure thing right now in Love or bank on the possibility of greatness in the future with Andrew Wiggins? At this point, your answer to that question probably depends as much on your opinion about Wiggins as anything else. 

Wiggins could very well turn into one of the top players in the league and an elite defender, but Love is already one of the NBA’s best. The Cavs have to decide if they want to pair him with James and Kyrie Irving and form a new Big Three that is younger and arguably more talented than the one James played with in Miami.

Rajon Rondo

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald provided an update on a potential Rondo swap between the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets. He wrote:

“In the wake of more reports that Houston again targeted Rajon Rondo, multiple sources confirmed that there has been no such communication between the Rockets and Celtics.”

Rondo is scheduled to be a free agent in 2015, and there is a very real possibility that he could sign elsewhere if the Celtics are not competitive by then. Still, there is plenty of time remaining for Boston to make a decision, and the Rockets don’t really have much on the current roster in terms of trade assets.

Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge had some interesting comments, via Bulpett:

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But what I do have issues with is people that call with really no intention to make a deal and just an intention of being able to say they called. Then the next thing you know, as soon as they hang up the phone, there’s rumors that they’re trying to get Rondo. So it becomes a story that’s talked about for seven days, when in fact they never really did want Rondo and we definitely had no interest in getting rid of Rondo.

We love Rondo, and we had no intention of doing that deal. But someone can call and feel good about themselves and make some bogus offer and then have a rumor out there that they’re trying to get him. 

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It seems like there isn’t much fire behind any of the Rondo to the Rockets smoke. That is unfortunate from Houston’s perspective because pairing an elite distributor with the likes of James Harden and Dwight Howard would be downright unfair for the rest of the league.

Josh Smith

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Marc Stein of ESPN.com provided an update surrounding a possible trade involving Smith:

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The Detroit Pistons and the Sacramento Kings have resumed trade discussions on a deal that could send Josh Smith to Sacramento, according to sources with knowledge of the talks.

Sources told ESPN.com the Kings have continued to express interest in Smith and the parties are on the hunt for a third team that could help facilitate the deal.

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Smith is probably more talented than he gets credit for as a forward who can stretch the floor on offense with his perimeter jumper, impact the game on defense with his athleticism and bang around down low for rebounds. However, there are three years and $40.5 million remaining on his contract. That seems a bit steep for the Kings, who already have DeMarcus Cousins in tow.

Barry Gossage/Getty Images

However, Stein mentions that the Kings’ trade discussions have not revolved around any players they see as part of their long-term plans. Hence, these Smith rumors are still in place. 

Detroit also has the Greg Monroe free-agency situation on its plate as well, so the Pistons could look very different in the frontcourt when the season tips off.

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