NBA Trade Rumors: Kevin Love To Heat, Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow, And Josh McRoberts To Cavs
NBA trade rumors and Kevin Love seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. The Cleveland Cavaliers have denied that they are shopping Love, but his name has been mentioned in the rumor mill now for months. The latest trade scenario making the rounds has a new potential suitor coming forward to express interest in Kevin Love.
The website NBA Trade Rumors has reported that the Miami Heat may now be eyeing Kevin Love. The rumored deal has Love joining the Heat, while Cleveland would receive a package of three players: combo guard Goran Dragic, small forward Justise Winslow, and power forward Josh McRoberts.
This trade proposal does indeed satisfy all NBA trade and salary cap rules, so it is legitimate from that standpoint. The question now is whether this deal helps both teams enough that they would want to close on this three-for-one swap? Let’s take a look at the particulars of how this trade would impact the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers.
That's sweet that @kevinlove is pointing at the best PF in the east :') pic.twitter.com/MC5GMvPs93
— gone (@Xomunoz23) September 5, 2016
Kevin Love would be a huge plus for the Heat, assuming for a moment that Chris Bosh cannot return to playing starter’s minutes at an NBA All-Star level. Nobody knows what the future holds for Bosh, but Kevin Love would be an outstanding replacement. If Chris Bosh does return to the court and excels, having both him and Kevin Love would become a problem.
The Heat are clearly committed to Hassan Whiteside at center (per NESN), so Love and Bosh would have to share the power forward duties, and that would only be a workable solution if Bosh cannot play or can only play limited minutes. In either case, making this deal for Love would be a risky maneuver for Miami — it may turn out to be a good move (at least in terms of strengthening the power forward position), but it could backfire if Bosh makes a triumphant return this season.
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If the Cavs and Heat agreed to this trade, it would weaken the Miami Heat at two positions due to losing Dragic and Winslow. The Heat would be looking at starting Beno Udrih at point guard and James Johnson at small forward, so even with the addition of Kevin Love, the team would not improve overall. This assertion, as well as the uncertainty of Chris Bosh’s availability, point to the conclusion that this is not a good trade for Miami.
When examining this NBA trade rumor from the perspective of the Cleveland Cavaliers, it doesn’t look any better. The team would lose talent at the power forward position by trading Kevin Love, and it doesn’t appear that the three players rumored to be coming to Cleveland would do nearly enough to offset that loss.
Goran Dragic can play both guard spots, and he could be an asset if the Cavs are unable to re-sign J.R. Smith. If Smith returns, Dragic would be a backup at both point guard and shooting guard. Justise Winslow would see limited backup minutes behind LeBron James, and Josh McRoberts would battle Channing Frye for the starting power forward spot — and regardless of who wins the position, power forward would now be a weak spot for the defending NBA champions.
If the Cavs are going to trade Kevin Love, it will most likely be to acquire a top-flight player to go along with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. This deal has Cleveland taking in three marginal starters or backups for Love, and even though there is some good talent in that group, they would not make the Cavaliers a better team.
Current NBA trade rumors are circulating that the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers may be discussing a deal focused on power forward Kevin Love. The structure of the proposal works under NBA guidelines, but interestingly, it doesn’t appear to be a trade that either team would want to do. In the NBA, there are many trade discussions that go on behind the scenes, but very few actual trades — this is a classic case of a potential deal that might have been offered, but has no chance of actually happening.
[Featured Image by Lynne Sladky/AP Images]
