Do not expect this NBA trade deadline season to be wild by any means as there is not a ton of veteran talent that will be made available by some of the league’s cellar-dwellers. One of the outliers, however, could be Cavaliers forward Kevin Love as Cleveland’s initial plan of staying competent post-LeBron has gone awry. Here is more on Kevin Love NBA Trade Rumors Trail Blazers Kings and Hornets.
The Cavaliers’ situation and Love, in particular, were discussed by The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor and Chris Vernon this week.
O’Connor on Kevin Love NBA Trade Rumors Trail Blazers Kings and Hornets: This market has a lot of buyers and the sellers just don’t have much for sale. I mean, what is there from Cleveland, JR Smith? Come on now. I mean New Orleans may have interest in him and maybe JR comes back and he’s rejuvenated, but he’s JR Smith.
Vernon on Kevin Love NBA Trade Rumors Trail Blazers Kings and Hornets: Obviously there’s some veterans there on that Cleveland roster. They moved Kyle Korver already so maybe you could get somebody off of that. You talked about Kevin Love. It doesn’t seem like Cleveland is interested in moving him, though he would move the needle more than anybody else.
O’Connor on Kevin Love NBA Trade Rumors Trail Blazers Kings and Hornets: Yeah. I’m thinking Love gets moved for what it’s worth.
There are a number of contenders out west that could use Love, the Portland Trail Blazers in particular. The Blazers have been backcourt heavy for a number of years and Love would give the team the ability to space the floor significantly better. It remains to be seen if Portland has the assets required in order to land Love. It does have its own first round pick in 2019 to dangle but it’s looking like that pick will be in the 20s.
The Sacramento Kings also do not have much draft capital as they do not even own their own 2019 first rounder. What the Kings could do in a play for a player the caliber of Love is to try and dangle their future first round picks, which they do own. But again, the problem there is that the Kings are a franchise that is ascending and those picks likely won’t have lottery value.
The Lakers would make some sense in that Love would have a reunion with LeBron. But Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are going to want nothing to do with Love’s five-year deal that he signed this past summer.
One final team to keep an eye on when it comes to Love, and the one that might be the most realistic, is the Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte could put together a package centered around Malik Monk – who is just 20-years-old and was the 11th overall pick just 18 months ago. The Hornets are hell-bent on making the playoffs this season and giving Kemba Walker a reason to stay. Making a play for a veteran like Love would show him that Mitch Kupchak is serious about building a winner now.
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