In the initial days after LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cleveland Cavaliers made it a point to make sure everyone knew Kevin Love was staying. They may already be started to budge on that point given recent comments by Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, making NBA Trade Rumors Kevin Love Celtics Lakers buzz hot.
“We gotta see if [Kevin Love] wants to be here for us to rebuild and to help the young guys out and mature the young guys,” Lue told Sirius XM Radio. “We’ve just got to see how he feels and what he wants to do. I think he’s earned that respect from us, from myself, from our organization, and that if he wants to be in a better position then we gotta get him there.
“But he’s carried a franchise before in Minnesota and now he’s gonna have the same opportunity here in Cleveland,” Lue continued. “So I’m excited for Kevin, I think he’s excited, and we’ll go from there.”
Executives around the NBA expect Love to at least open the 2018-19 NBA season as a member of the Cavaliers, but he will be among the hottest names expected to be traded by next February’s deadline. Two teams with past ties to Love that could be open to trading for him are the Celtics and Lakers.
“I think he’ll be more in demand during the season by the trading deadline,” an NBA executive told The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The Celtics have routinely checked in on Love throughout the years, and there is a train of thought in Boston that Love could absolutely thrive in a Brad Stevens offense. The Celtics have plenty of valuable future first round draft picks that would interest the Cavaliers, including the Kings’ top-1 protected pick in 2019, the Grizzlies 2019 pick (if the pick falls outside of the top 8), and the Clippers pick (if the pick falls outside of the top 14). The Grizzlies and Clippers picks can rollover to following years.
NBA Trade Rumors Kevin Love Celtics Lakers buzz begins
The Lakers, meanwhile, don’t have nearly the amount of draft capital as the Celtics, but they do have young players they may be willing to deal. LeBron has routinely shown over the course of his career to favor veterans over young players. If – say – by mid-January he is not happy with the play of Lonzo Ball or Kyle Kuzma, LeBron could push for a Love trade. This is why NBA Trade Rumors Kevin Love Celtics Lakers buzz is starting up.
The narrative that LeBron and Love had a rocky relationship was a tad overstated as the two grew particularly close this past season. Love even went so far as to say he “loved” LeBron last week. In addition, Love has often been linked to the Lakers over the years as he was born in Santa Monica, California.
One may ask why the Cavaliers would help the Lakers now, after LeBron left them for the second time this decade? But the relationship between LeBron and the Cavaliers already seems cordial as he spoke with Lue at the NBA Summer League this past weekend and there are already rumblings that LeBron could close out his career in Ohio.
