Despite being in the midst of a horrible season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have done well to trade off rather worthless veteran players for assets. This includes George Hill and Kyle Korver.
We’ll give general manger Koby Altman and Co. a ton of credit for that.
One player most figured wouldn’t be dealt until closer to February’s trade, All-Star forward Kevin Love, has now reportedly sparked the interest of multiple teams.
“The Cavaliers have listened to offers on forward Kevin Love, but league sources doubted that Love’s contract could be moved in-season, given that it would likely take multiple players to make a deal work,” Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported Wednesday.
As Kyler notes, the possibility of Love actually being traded in-season remains remote. The 30-year-old big man has missed all but four games this season after undergoing toe surgery back in early November. He’s targeting a January return to the court.
Love inked a four-year, $120.4 million extension with Cleveland back in July. The team would have to take on at least one bad long-term contract in order to move him.
It’s highly unlikely that the brass in Cleveland would want to do that given that the Cavaliers are in the early stages of a rebuild.
However, Love does provide value for contending teams. He averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting at a robust 41 percent from distance last season. That type of stretch-forward ability is highly valuable in today’s NBA.
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