Kevin Love Trade Rumors: 'There Is Not a Serious Market' for Cavaliers Star

If the Cleveland Cavaliers have any hope of trading five-time All-Star Kevin Love, they'll likely have to wait until the offseason at the earliest. 

Love has appeared in just four games this season, and ESPN.com's Bobby Marks reported Thursday that "there is not a serious market" for his services ahead of the NBA trade deadline.

Love's four-year, $120.4 million extension will start next season.

"Kevin's talent and character are both at a very high level and he has earned his role at the center of what we want to do moving forward," Cavs general manager Koby Altman said last July when Love signed the deal. "As a five-time All-Star and NBA champion, Kevin has a special understanding of exactly what success and winning require."

Marks noted that sentiment may not preclude Cleveland from moving Love, citing Blake Griffin's trade from the Los Angeles Clippers six months after he signed his five-year, $171.2 million supermax extension.

Strictly from a pragmatic standpoint, the Cavs have no reason to jettison Love now. His durability was already a question mark before he underwent surgery to address a toe injury in November. As a result, his trade value is about as low as it's ever been.

Unlike the Clippers when they dumped Griffin's contract, the Cavaliers aren't going to be major players for top free agents anytime soon, either. Love's salary won't be much of a drain on the team's payroll in that respect, which removes another incentive to making a trade now.

There may come a time when going in a different direction is the most equitable move for Love and the Cavs. He'd get to play for a contending team again, and Cleveland would get assets to further its long-term rebuild.

That scenario likely isn't going to happen, though, until Love returns to the court and stays healthy and productive.