NBA Trade Rumors: Phoenix Suns Could Pair Devin Booker With Kevin Love
After reports circulated that the Cleveland Cavaliers are finally willing to listen to trade offers, rumors surrounding All-Star power forward Kevin Love started to heat up. With the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference now wide-open, several NBA teams who are in dire need of additional star power to contend for the NBA championship title are expected to express interest in adding Love to their roster. According to Zach Frydenlund of Complex, one of the potential trade destinations for Love before the 2020 February NBA trade deadline is the Phoenix Suns.
“The Suns are one of the biggest surprise teams early in this NBA season as they hang around the 8th seed in the Western Conference. While they have a fun and young team, there’s no question that adding a player like Love would take their roster to the next level. He’d not only bring spacing to the offense, but would be a wonderful piece next to Devin Booker. This move would surely put the Suns right in the heart of the playoff race the rest of the season.”
Despite not having massive upgrades on their roster last summer, the Suns were surprisingly off to a strong start in the 2019-20 NBA season, making most people believe that they are finally ready to make a huge noise in the deep Western Conference. However, as the season goes deeper, the major issues on the Suns’ roster were exposed. If they want to be considered as a legitimate threat in the deep Western Conference, pairing the face of the franchise, Devin Booker, with a veteran superstar like Love makes a lot of sense for the Suns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_egQZ6XdhvE
The potential arrival of Love in Phoenix won’t make the Suns an instant title contender, but he could at least help them end their nine-year playoff drought. Love would give the Suns a very reliable scoring option and an All-Star caliber big man who can shoot the ball from beyond the arc. This season, the 31-year-old power forward is averaging 16.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Love would be a perfect fit alongside Booker as he is one of the few NBA superstars in the league who can excel in an off-ball capacity. Though he has defensive issues, Suns Head Coach Monty Williams could hide his weakness by pairing him with a defensive-minded big man like Aron Baynes in their frontcourt.
As of now, it remains unknown what the Cavaliers asking price for Love is. However, with the team headed into an inevitable rebuild, the Cavaliers will likely demand a trade package including a young player and a future draft pick in any deal involving Love.
