NBA Trade Rumors: Cavaliers Expected To Make ‘Unrealistic’ Demands For Kevin Love This Summer
Since the 2019 NBA offseason, rumors have been swirling around All-Star power forward Kevin Love and his future with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Though the Cavaliers replaced John Beilein with a new head coach who has a good relationship with him, J.B. Bickerstaff, most people still see Love finding his way out of Cleveland this summer. With the team heading into an inevitable rebuild, Love would undeniably be better off being traded to a legitimate title contender than mentoring young players on one of the worst teams in the league.
In his recent article, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer discussed Love’s current situation in Cleveland. When they handed Love a massive contract extension and named him the new face of the franchise, the Cavaliers were highly expected to immediately build a title-contending team around him. However, as of now, it’s crystal clear that the Cavaliers are more focused on the development of their young players than capturing their second Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Fedor revealed that Love has been frustrated with the Cavaliers’ decision to rebuild. However, despite being aware of his unhappiness in Cleveland, Fedor said that the Cavaliers are highly unlikely to trade him in the 2020 NBA offseason for “peanuts.”
“The rebuild has been another point of frustration for Love. It’s been harder on him than anticipated, especially after years of competing for NBA titles. How he handles that going forward is up to him. As for trading Love for ‘peanuts,’ that won’t happen. The Cavs continue to value him. They don’t regret the contract extension. Plus, they have no urgency to dump salary.”
Despite his health issues and lucrative contract, the Cavaliers are still planning to make “unrealistic” demands from potential suitors of Love this summer. As Fedor noted, the Cavaliers are expected to ask for a trade package including a young player and a future draft pick in exchange for Love.
“Who could the Cavs get for Love that makes them better both in the short and long term? In any Love deal, they will want some combination of draft picks and young players — as unrealistic as some around the NBA view that demand.”
Once he officially becomes available on the trading block this summer, Love would undeniably receive plenty of interest from teams who are in dire need of additional star power to contend for the NBA championship.
However, no matter how much they want to add him to their roster, it remains a big question mark if any team would be willing to give up a young player and a future draft pick for Love. If they won’t lower their asking price, there is a strong chance that Love would be starting the 2020-21 NBA season as a Cavalier.
