Kevin Love Trade Rumors: Cavs Have Included PF in Talks, 'Hard to Find' Deal
June 18, 2019
The Cleveland Cavaliers have made Kevin Love available in trade discussions but haven't found much success so far, according to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst.
During an appearance Tuesday on ESPN 850 WKNR in Cleveland, Windhorst put the odds of a Love trade at 50/50 and said, "It's hard to find the right deal for him."
The Cavaliers could presumably find a taker for Love if they simply wanted to get him off the payroll. He's a five-time All-Star who averaged 17.0 points and 10.9 points and shot 36.1 percent from three-point range in 22 games this past season.
Love is one of Cleveland's few real trade assets, though. General manager Koby Altman will want to get something in return that would help further the franchise's rebuild.
Plus, the front office will likely want to do right by Love. After Kyrie Irving requested and received a trade and LeBron James left in free agency, Love signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the team last summer. Alienating a star who stuck around by trading him somewhere he doesn't want to play would be a bad look for a team that already struggles to land marquee free agents.
The Cavs aren't going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
They tied for the second-worst record (19-63) and didn't win the draft lottery, thus missing out on the chance to select Zion Williamson. Beyond Collin Sexton, Cleveland has little in the way of long-term building blocks.
Trading Love would make sense because he's making a lot of money and unlikely to dramatically improve the team's playoff odds. However, keeping him around is defensible too. The 30-year-old is one of the last remaining players from the 2016 championship team, and he carries a level of star power nobody else on the roster possesses.
Considering Love's extension begins with the start of the 2019-20 season, the Cavaliers don't have to rush into any trade this offseason.