Cavaliers' Kevin Love on Trade Rumors: 'I Do Want to Be Here. I Always Have.'
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love reiterated his desire to remain with the Cavs on Wednesday.
In an interview with Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor, Love insisted that he has no interest in getting traded:
"I do want to be here. I always have. I say that knowing it's the NBA and it's a business. I think especially after seeing last year, the summer leading up to last year and this summer, the changeover is like unprecedented so you don't know what is going to happen.
"If they decide to go completely young ... and that could be the case, but it's funny, my agent didn't call me one time this summer to say, 'Hey, you're getting traded, there's talks that this is happening.' Of course, somehow it's still out there and people are talking about, 'Oh, Kevin would be great here or great there.' I just keep it moving and try to do right by these guys because we have a good group."
The Cavaliers reached the NBA Finals in each of Love's first four seasons with the team, winning a championship in 2016, but after losing LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency last offseason, Cleveland went just 19-63 last season.
The 31-year-old Love signed a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension with the Cavs last year, but there have been constant trade rumors and speculation ever since Cleveland has opted to largely go young with its roster.
Aside from Love, the Cavaliers' key players are second-year guard Collin Sexton, rookie guard Darius Garland, 24-year-old wing Cedi Osman and 22-year-old center Ante Zizic.
While growing pains had plenty to do with the Cavs' struggles last season, the fact that Love missed 60 games with a foot injury played into it as well.
As usual, the 6'10" forward was productive when healthy, with averages of 17.0 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, although he did shoot a career-worst 38.5 percent from the field.
Love's numbers have dropped off since he was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Cavs in 2014. After twice averaging more than 26 points per game in a season and averaging more than 12 rebounds per game in a season four times with the T-Wolves, Love hasn't done better than 19 points or 11.1 rebounds per game in Cleveland.
Much of that had to do with James and Kyrie Irving being the go-to players for much of his tenure, and that may continue to be the case in 2019-20 and beyond if first-year Cavs head coach John Beilein opts to place the focus on his young backcourt of Sexton and Garland.
Love could be a great fit for a contending team since he is a skilled big who can step out and keep opposing defenders honest with his shooting ability. Given his impressive resume as a five-time All-Star and one-time NBA champion, he could be a huge asset in Cleveland as well in terms of helping develop the team's young stars.
