Kevin Love’s time with the Cleveland Cavaliers could be coming to an end sometime this season, as the Cavs are [finally] ready to listen to trade offers for the veteran forward, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“One player that a lot of teams have on their radar [is] Kevin Love in Cleveland,” Wojnarowski said on SportsCenter. “He’s signed for another three years and there are a lot of teams, especially in the West, who would like more size to get in that championship chase, and I’m told that Cleveland is ready now to listen to offers on Kevin Love… If somebody blows them away with an offer, this is a team clearly still in a rebuild. He’s going to be a player very much in demand, and I think there’s going to be a lot of conversations between Cleveland and teams all over the league about Love.”
Love’s name popping up in trade rumors isn’t especially surprising, as he has consistently heard his name mentioned in such speculation since LeBron James left the Cavs for the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent in the summer of 2018. Cleveland has been forced to restructure their team following James’ departure, and as an experienced veteran, Love projects as an excellent fit on some teams that are much closer to contention than the Cavs. By moving him, the Cavs could potentially receive some draft picks or young assets that could accelerate their rebuild.
“Nothing’s changed,” Love said Monday of the trade rumors, via ESPN. “What I mean by that is, since I got here they’ve been … since I f—ing got here, there’s been talk of me being traded, so it’s nothing different. If they decide to go that way, I’ve just got to know it’s part of the business, or if we decide to go that way, it’s part of the business… Truthfully, I don’t know how it’s going to play out, because I see both sides.”
If Love does get moved, he would prefer to go to a contender, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, though he hasn’t personally expressed a desire to be traded. Instead, he has insisted that he’s happy in Cleveland. He isn’t naive either though and has known that a trade could be on the horizon.
“I do want to be [in Cleveland]. I always have,” Love said in October. “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.”
Love may be happy in Cleveland, but it’s also not surprising that he would be open to an opportunity to return to postseason play and compete for titles again, as he did during his first four years with the Cavs. If another team does ultimately trade for Love, they will be making quite a commitment, as he still has three years and $90 million remaining on his current contract after this season.
