![Kevin Love signed a 4 year, $120M contract with the Cavs after Lebron left. [image source: Keith Allison- Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2019/12/7/660x290/b_502x220x82/kevin-love-taking-a-free-throw-shot-image-source-keith-allison-wikimedia-commons_2366434.jpg "Kevin Love signed a 4 year, $120M contract with the Cavs after Lebron left. [image source: Keith Allison- Wikimedia Commons]")
Despite being in the first year of a four year, $120 million contract that Kevin Love signed with the Cavaliers right after LeBron left for the Lakers, the Cavs are willing to listen to offers on their biggest trade chip to further their rebuild. With the Cavs currently in thirteenth place in the Eastern Conference, with a 5-16 record, the Cavs are nowhere near being a competitive team - a fringe playoff team, at best.
In 17 games this season, Love is averaging 16.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists while shooting 44.6 percent from field goal range, 37.6 percent beyond the arc and 88.1 percent from the free-throw line.
He's owed $28 942 830 this season and his salary goes up for the next two seasons.
Now is the perfect time for the Cavs to trade him and maximize the return they get. Here are some offers for Love that the Cavs could consider.
Boston Celtics
Celtics get: Love and $10 million for the next four years
Cavs get: C Enes Kanter, SF Romeo Langford, PG Carsen Edwards, and 2020 first-round pick
The Celtics currently sit second in the Eastern Conference with a 16-5 record but a rough stretch could easily slide them down the standings. Getting Love would prevent those kinds of slides as he would make the Celtics a better team as a whole. To get Love, they would have to trade Enes Kanter, two young prospects in Romeo Langford and Carsen Edwards along with a first-round pick in the upcoming draft.
When Horford left the Celtics for the 76ers in free agency, it created a huge hole in the Celtics frontcourt. To date, the Celtics frontcourt remains an issue and it needs to be fixed if they want to have a shot of coming out of the Eastern Conference come playoff time. Also, they will need someone to guard Joel Embiid in the playoffs as if he's left open or a weak defender is up against him, havoc occurs.
If the Celtics were to get Love, he can guard Embiid which will limit the damage coming from him. Love's contract also lines up perfectly with Kemba Walker's contract which also expires after the 2022-23 season. The $10 million that the Celtics will get for the next four seasons will help cover a third of Love's contract.
The Celtics get a strong return that consists of a right now player, prospects and a draft pick.
Kanter signed with the Celtics in the offseason for two years and $10 million but the results have been horrendous for both sides. Kanter hasn't been doing well and Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has decreased his minutes in each game. Kanter is owed just over $5 million next season and with more playing time in Cleveland, perhaps he could do better and be an offseason trade chip or traded at next year's deadline. Langford has seen just 14 seconds of action this season but at the age of 19, he can be an essential bench piece for the Cavs once they become a competitive team again and the same can be said for Carsen Edwards who is 21 years old and could become the future sixth man for the Cavaliers.
After a strong summer league showing, Edwards was rewarded with a three year, $4.5 million contract and a club option for the 2022-23 season just below $2 million. Averaging 11:43 on the court, Edwards is averaging 4.8 points while shooting 84.6 percent from the free-throw line. The draft pick would be near the bottom but would be big as first-round picks in basketball are vital.
Miami Heat
Heat get: Love
Cavs get: PF/C Kelly Olynyk, SF Derrick Jones Jr, 2022 second-round pick, 2024 second-round pick, and 2025 first-round pick
Miami Heat president Pat Riley is known to get the best players and figure out the rest later. He did that with his previous big three of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James, he did that with Jimmy Butler in the offseason and he could do that again by acquiring Kevin Love.
For Love, he'll have to give up Kelly Olynyk, Derrick Jones Jr and three draft picks.
Pat Riley has been looking for a star to pair with Butler. He tried to acquire Chris Paul from the Thunder but his hefty contract couldn't make it work but Love could be that star the Heat is looking for. Love would create a daunting big frontcourt of him and Bam Adebayo that can out rebound almost anyone in the league. Love would be able to bring the same things that Olynyk provides to the Heat but on a higher level.
Olynyk comes with a player option for next season valued at $12 198 244. He's having a fine season averaging 9.3 points and five rebounds shooting 46.9 percent from field goal and 87.9 percent from free throw so it's anyone's guess regarding whether he'd opt into the option or not but regardless, if the Cavs were to take him on, he could probably be flipped to a contender and the Cavs can get an additional second-round pick or two for him.
Jones Jr would be used as a future building block as he's a young player at the age of 22. He's averaging 4.8 points while shooting exactly 50 percent from field goal range. The Cavs would also get three picks in return, two of those being in the second round in the future, but the prize would be the first-round pick in 2025 which might be when the Heat won't be as good of a team as they are now as they could potentially be without Butler, Love and Adebayo.
Orlando Magic
Magic get: Love
Cavs get: PF Aaron Gordon and 2020 first-round pick
The Magic currently sit in eighth with a .500 record (11-11). To solidify their spot in the top eight and strengthen their chances of remaining there, they could flip their current PF in Aaron Gordon along with a first-round pick for a more experienced power forward in Love.
Love would bring more experience and a veteran presence in Orlando. Compared to Gordon, Love is more versatile and is a better shooter. He would also be able to defend Giannis or Siakam in the playoffs much better than Gordon would. Love's playoff numbers would also help the Magic as in four trips to the playoffs which include one NBA championship, he has averaged 15.3 points, 9.7 rebounds while shooting 49.4 percent from field goal range, 40.4 percent from three and 85.4 percent from the free throw.
The Cavs would get their immediate building block in Gordon who is someone they can build around and perhaps fasten the rebuild. This season, Gordon is averaging 13.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.
Gordon is under control for two more seasons after this one which will cost the Cavs under $20 million each season. With Gordon in Cleveland, perhaps they can sign another starting-caliber player in the offseason to pair him with and offer Gordon the max when his contract is up to convince him to stay. They would also get a first-round pick in the upcoming draft as insurance in case Gordon decides to leave after the 2021-22 season.
Charlotte Hornets
Hornets get: Love
Cavs get: C Bismack Biyombo, SF Dwayne Bacon, 2020 first-round pick, 2021 second-round pick (Knicks)
Entering the season, many expected the Hornets to possibly have the worst record (yes, worse than the Knicks) but they currently sit in tenth with a 9-15 record and just three games out of a playoff spot with a whole lot more basketball to go.
Acquiring Love could push them into a playoff spot and be playing more basketball in April. For Love, they would give up Bismack Biyomobo, Dwayne Bacon and two draft picks.
Love can be the Hornets' newest star after the departure after Kemba Walker in free agency. Walker was replaced with Terry Rozier but he isn't a star and he won't get the Hornets to the playoffs on his own. In Charlotte, Love can learn from Hornet's owner and NBA all-time great Michael Jordan who could potentially help Love elevate his game to the next level.
Biyombo is in this deal to match salaries and he becomes a free agent after this season. The real prizes for the Cavs in this deal are Bacon and the two draft picks. Bacon needs to work on his shooting due to poor percentages but is averaging 6.8 points.
In Cleveland, he can have all the time to develop his shooting and could be a rotation piece for the Cavs in the future. The first-round pick will be in the middle of the order and the second-round pick in 2021 will be a high second-rounder due to the atrociousness and the laughingstock that the Knicks are.
Los Angeles Clippers
Clippers get: Love
Cavs get: C Ivica Zubac, PG Landry Shamet, C Mfiondu Kabengle, and 2020 first-round pick
Despite having two of the top ten players in the league, the Clippers sit fourth in the Western Conference and they don't look like they're the team that will come out of the West as of now. If they were to acquire one more superstar, they would cement themselves as a top tier team and would be able to move into the top three probably with better play.
The Clippers will have to pay a steep price though by giving up three prospects and a first-round pick for Love.
If Love lands with the Clippers, he would play the center position despite playing PF for a good chunk of his career. He might have a bit of a hard time defending the five with his height of 6'8 as the majority of centers are taller than that but the Clippers would excel in other aspects of the game with Love playing the five. By acquiring Love, the Clippers would have the best frontcourt in the NBA in Love, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George. Love would also be able to help the Clippers defend and play against his former teammate LeBron James if they were to meet in the playoffs in which a Clippers vs Lakers matchup could very well happen in the Western Conference Finals.
The Cavs would get an overpay and a very good package if this deal were to happen with the Clippers. Tristan Thompson would have to be traded for Zubac to get clear playing time at the five but it seems like that will be the case as Thompson is on an expiring contract. Zubac is averaging 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and a block per game and is under contract until the 2021-22 season. He has a club option at $7.5 million for the 2022-23 season which would no doubt be picked up. Shamet starts a restricted free agency, in 2022, and was averaging 9.1 points a game until he got injured. Kabengele can be stashed on the bench and could be a back end rotation piece if he develops which the Cavs will give him all the time to do. The first-round pick would be a low pick but it's still a first-round pick regardless where the Cavs can add another young player to aid their rebuild.
Houston Rockets
Rockets get: Love
Cavs get: SF P.J. Tucker and three first-round picks (2020, 2022 and 2023)
- Rockets would have another rebounding force in Love as Harden and Westbrook are prone to missing shots
- Love and Capela would form daunting frontcourt
- Cavs could flip Tucker to contending team for prospect and a pick
- Cavs would get three first-round picks from Rockets
- 2022 and 2023 first-round picks have the potential to be lottery picks due to uncertainty surrounding Rockets future
Minnesota Timberwolves
Timberwolves get: Love
Cavs get: C Gorgui Dieng, SG Josh Okogie, SF Keita Bates-Diop and two first-round picks (2020 and 2023)
- Love goes back to where it all started for him
- Would be able to fit into Timberwolves lineup and culture without too much adjustment
Timberwolves lineup with Love:
PG: Jeff Teague SG: Andrew Wiggins SF: Robert Covington PF: Kevin Love C: Karl Anthony Towns Sixth man: Jarrett Culver
- Dieng in deal to match salaries
- Okogie (21) and Bates-Diop (23) future pieces that can help Cavs when they become a competitive team
- Two first-round picks with 2023 first-round pick having potential to be a lottery pick
