Getty LeBron James embracing Kevin Love.
The NBA season is coming to a close and it’s time for the Los Angeles Lakers to start thinking about how to improve their team for 2021. Unfortunately, there’s going to be a pretty weak free agent pool this offseason so the team will have to get creative if they’d like to add a third star. They don’t have the assets to trade for a player like Bradley Beal but they could figure out a way to land an aging star.
According to Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report, the Lakers could “shock” the NBA by pulling off a trade for Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love. Swartz believes that a package of Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee would be enough to land the five-time All-Star:
Reuniting Love and LeBron James would be a shock after James left the Cleveland Cavaliers two years ago, but the 32-year-old power forward proved to be a perfect stretch big man next to the four-time MVP.
Love put up 17.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and nailed 37.4 percent of his three-pointers this season, and putting him next to Anthony Davis would help hide his defensive deficiencies.
Green, Caldwell-Pope (player option) and McGee (player option) are all on expiring deals, and Cleveland would likely try to move all three to contending teams for draft picks or young talent.
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Is This a Realistic Trade Possibility?
Love has had his injury issues but he should have some really solid years left in the tank. He paired up nicely with LeBron James in the past so the Lakers know that wouldn’t be an issue. The trade would also help the Cavaliers get out of a bad contract and fully commit to their rebuild.
However, this might be hard for the Lakers to pull off. Anthony Davis is about to get a massive contract this offseason and that team is already paying LeBron a lot of money. Making Love’s money work while also trying to fill out the rest of the roster would be tough. Plus, Love doesn’t really fill a position of need for Los Angeles.
Who Plays Center if Trade Were to Happen?
Love is still a really good player but the Lakers already have one of the two best power forwards in the NBA. Davis isn’t shy about the fact that he doesn’t want to play center and he’s unlikely to change. Love has played center in the past but he’s really undersized to play there at only 6’8.
Having Love at center with Davis at power forward seems like a strange pairing. There’s no doubt that this trade would give the Lakers a legit big three but the team should focus their efforts on trying to land an elite shooter or a strong point guard to run the offense when LeBron isn’t on the floor. While Love is a good shooter, he’s not the sharpshooter the team needs. The Lakers would likely be better with Love on the team but he’s probably not a great fit.
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