Despite what some of us may think, the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t fools. If a top NBA superstar becomes available, they’re going to have interest.
Naturally, they have interest in Kevin Love, who basically requested a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. To be certain, he didn’t actually request a trade. He reportedly just made it clear that he has no intention of staying in Minnesota beyond next season. It was more of a heads up. Trade me or don’t me, I’m inevitably gone. So yeah, like I said, he basically requested a trade.
Tons of teams have predictably shown interest already, the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks (LOL) among them. One team we haven’t really heard about is the Cavaliers, who could use another superstar. And make no mistake, they’re interested.
From Sam Smith of Bulls.com:
Cleveland also wants to be in the mix. They have the ninth best odds, but they also have a roster of young players. And if they could put together something with all those picks and young players and keep Kyrie Irving, then with Love and Irving that would look like a nice destination for the return of LeBron James, especially given the vulnerabilities that are becoming apparent with the Heat.
Love would be a swell drive-and-kick option for Kyrie Irving, should Irving, you know, learn to drive without shooting all the time. Love would also make Cleveland a more attractive free-agent destination this summer and next, when some guy by the name of LeBron James may become available. Acquiring Love would be a no-brainer.
And potentially impossible.
Reports are running wild, but no one quite has a handle on what the Timberwolves are going to do. Their thought process should partially depend on the draft lottery. Teams like the Celtics, Lakers and Cavs will have a better idea of what first-rounders they can offer after that.
(Quick aside: Bear in mind the Lakers cannot trade their pick. Rights to their 2015 first-rounder belong to Phoenix, so they would have to pick a player for the Timberwolves and then trade him to Minnesota).
If the Cavs strike lottery gold again, they might be able to build a nice package around their draft pick, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson. Anderson Varejao’s non-guaranteed contract could come into play too. The Cavs also have the ability to take on extra salary and help the Timberwolves rid themselves of a few long-term deals if need be. Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer and Chase Budinger are three names that come to mind. Even if the Timberwolves decide to wait until next season to take action, the Cavs can still hope their first-round pick pans out as a trade centerpiece later on, allowing them to construct an identical deal to the one they can offer now.
At the same time, Cleveland doesn’t have time to wait. The Cavs have free-agency decisions to make. They can’t hold off on being aggressive for a player they’re a long shot to land anyway.
Which brings us to Cleveland’s next problem: keeping Love.
Trading for Love will be hard enough as it is. Unless the pingpong balls bounce in their favor again, other teams can offer way better packages than the Cavs. But let’s assume they have enough to get Love. What then?
Cleveland isn’t a big market. There’s no guarantee Love stays. Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Golden State and Boston are all places he’s likely to embrace. Cleveland doesn’t hold the same appeal unless LeBron is planning a comeback.
How do you sell Love on that, though? The Cavs would pretty much have to hope LeBron opts in to the next year of his deal with the Miami Heat (not impossible) while they figure out a way to acquire Love by then, before the King reaches free agency in 2015. Then they have to find a way to pay Irving, Love and LeBron, not to mention whatever contractual riff raff they would be forced to take on in any trade for Love.
Sheesh.
The Cavs definitely have the pieces necessary to supersede the Lakers and Knicks in negotiations, but there isn’t much else. Selling Love on a LeBron pursuit—if it’s even possible—is reaching, and they cannot afford to mortgage the farm for a player who could leave.
Then again, their farm may not have enough stock to land Love in the first place.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
