Fans of NBA trade-deadline chaos were treated to renewed hope on the Carmelo Anthony-for-Kevin Love front late Tuesday.
But it was short-lived, because the Cleveland Cavaliers are both sensible and hate fun.
First, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported that LeBron James wanted the Cavaliers to deal for Anthony, who owns a no-trade clause, even if it meant forking over Love:
According to a league source, LeBron is the one pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers front office to acquire Carmelo even if it potentially means having to include Kevin Love in a deal, which is something Cavs management is opposed to doing. Jackson is hoping to move Anthony prior to the Feb. 23 trading deadline and one player the Knicks have targeted is Love, who had 23 points with 16 rebounds in Cleveland’s win over the Knicks on Saturday and 39 points with 16 rebounds in Monday’s overtime win against Washington.
Next, Love dropped 29 points in the Cavaliers’ Tuesday night overtime victory against the Washington Wizards. After that, the team began denying the report in excess.
Head coach Tyronn Lue and Love both dismissed the rumor, but it was LeBron who offered the most salient response of all, per ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin:
“It’s trash,” James said of the report. “And the guy who wrote it is trash too, for writing that, especially during the game like that. So it’s always about outside noise, and that’s just outside noise for us. We got to focus on what needs to be done and that’s to continue to compete for a championship. And we got who we got. Our GM will do a great job of figuring out if we need something else, but right now we’re in a good place.”
Look, the Cavaliers aren’t trading Love straight up for Anthony, even if LeBron, contrary to what he says, wants them to get it done. It’s categorically irresponsible to offload a younger player of Love’s caliber who is under contract for longer in exchange for an aging forward who makes more money and can become a free agent sooner.
Any possible deal, assuming one is even possible, will have to include a third team, one that sends Cleveland someone else in addition to Anthony. And that scenario would likely entail Love heading to said third team, with the Knicks accepting a package built around cap dreck, picks and prospects.
Don’t bank on such a proposal materializing, though. Anthony’s salary, plus his trade kicker, complicates matters, and there’s no guarantee the Cavaliers make Love available should the Knicks assemble a more worthy offer.
