Feel free to fire up the Kevin Love-to-the-Boston Celtics trade rumors again.
Celtics president Danny Ainge apparently met with Love’s agent, according to RealGM’s Andrew Perna:
Ainge met with Jeff Schwartz in NYC this week, according to a source. Schwartz represents Kevin Love and Harrison Barnes.
— Andrew Perna (@Andrew_Perna) June 16, 2016
Not at all uncommon for execs. to meet with agents, but Ainge may be looking to see if Love will be available.
— Andrew Perna (@Andrew_Perna) June 16, 2016
Are we sure Ainge just wasn’t seeing if Harrison Barnes was interested in coming to Beantown?
Okay, that was mean.
There could be a totally reasonable, non-Love-related explanation for this not-at-all-clandestine meeting. Maybe Ainge and Jeff Schwartz are secret best friends or something. Of course, it would make sense if they were talking turkey about Love’s future.
Even if the Cleveland Cavaliers pull off their improbable NBA Finals comeback, it seems like Kevin Love will hit the chopping block. While the Golden State Warriors are a particularly bad matchup for him, it’s become increasingly clear that LeBron James is best suited at the small forward position anyway. A change might be best for all parties involved.
And the Celtics, assuming they have interest, own the assets to get a deal done. Their combination of picks and prospects won’t seduce a team like Cleveland, but those same components can be sent to a third team that’s willing to ship impact players the Cavaliers’ way.
Perhaps everything changes if Cleveland wins Game 7 against the Warriors. After all, it’s difficult to justify trading your third best player, who is a major asset against 28 other teams, following an NBA title. No matter how you slice it though, even if this meeting between Ainge and Schwartz was totally innocuous, Love’s future with the Cavaliers is up in the air.
