Trail Blazers Made Crafty Trade Offer for Kevin Love Prior to NBA Deadline

Getty Kevin Love, Cavaliers

The Portland Trail Blazers have long been speculated as a fit for Kevin Love. The big man is from the Pacific Northwest and the team lacks someone with his offensive firepower in the paint.

According to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, Portland had an offer for Love, though the Cavaliers turned it down. Hassan Whiteside and Kent Bazemore, both of whom are on expiring deals, were included in talks.

Whiteside is making $27.1MM this season. Bazemore is making $19.3MM while Love is taking home $28.9MM. The outlined of the deal suggests that Portland would have received other players as part of the trade in order to meet the league’s salary-matching rules.

GettyHassan Whiteside of the Portland Trail Blazers.

It’s not clear when exactly the proposal took place, though the Blazers ended up trading Bazemore to the Kings in earlier January, so presumably, it was before that deal. Portland netted Trevor Ariza as part of the five-player trade.

The Cavaliers had Brandon Knight and John Henson on substantial expiring pacts prior to the team trading them to Detroit for Andre Drummond. Perhaps one of those two were in the proposed deal. Tristan Thompson, who is making $18.5M in the final year of his contract, could also have been a possibility, though that is simply speculation.

Where Should the Cavaliers Trade Kevin Love to?

Trading Kevin Love isn’t the easiest task. Some teams believe the power forward’s contract makes him unworthy of acquiring and would want an asset to take on the 31-year-old. He has three-plus and roughly $91M on his deal after this one.

Having over a quarter of the salary cap tied up in Love isn’t the greatest outcome. The Knicks just spent significant cap space on rental players and the 2020 free-agent market isn’t expected to plush with top talent. Adding Love would help raise the team’s ceiling and his fit next to R.J. Barrett would be intriguing from an on-court perspective, but also from a financial one. Barrett is on an affordable rookie-scale contract through the 2022-23 season, which is the same length as Love’s deal.

The Cavaliers are still looking for a first-round pick in exchange for Love, though it wouldn’t be surprising if the team settles on a young prospect or two and a second-rounder. Kevin Knox has struggled to find a consistent role with New York and when he has seen court time, he’s been unimpressive. Perhaps a change of scenery for the No. 9 overall pick would help him to reach his potential.

New York can package Knox with Bobby Portis, who has a team option on his deal for next year, or they could simply decline that option and clear out the space to acquire Love without sending back significant salary.

Gaining Knox, who doesn’t turn 21 until next August, would be a nice low-risk move for Cleveland. Gaining salary relief would help the franchise add pieces that make more sense in the long-term (or keep Andre Drummond for another year).

Drummond’s Fit With Love?

Cleveland made an extremely low-risk move in acquiring Drummond, giving up just a second-rounder for the center. Yet, the team has an abundance of big men and new coach J.B Bickerstaff recently spoke about playing different kinds of lineups, including some with no centers. Love, whose best position right now is center, doesn’t mesh well with Drummond’s game it appears the new coach understands this.

It wouldn’t be wise to sign Drummond to a long-term deal at a price near his current rate. Yet, convincing him to opt into the $28.8M player option on his deal would give both sides a chance to determine whether the fit in Cleveland will work. It would also give the Cavaliers a solid option at the center, allowing them to trade Love and work on acquiring talent at other positions.