Cleveland Cavaliers Should Trade Kevin Love

(photo credit: washingtonpost.com)

In the 2014 offseason, The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love in exchange for Andrew Wiggins. This past offseason, the team signed him to a five-year $115 million extension. In Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Love sustained a concussion, after getting elbowed in the back of the head.

He was not available to play in Game 3 of the Finals, and the Cavs seemingly did better without Love. After losing by a combined 48 points in the first two games of the series, Cleveland defeated the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors by 30 last night, without the services of Kevin Love. This sparked the question of, are the Cavaliers better without Love?

Also, many people are asking if the Cavs should trade away the 27 year old power forward. This season, Love averaged 16.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Love averaged 26.0 points per game in his last season in Minnesota, meaning he’s averaging seven less points per game since being traded away from the T-Wolves. While Love is still one of the better power forwards in the game, it seems that he isn’t the right fit for the Cavaliers.

One of the bigger problems with Love, is when he isn’t the main star on the team, he is usually just a space eater on offense. Love can shoot the three, especially from the baseline, but other than that, Love usually is just taking up space on the Cavaliers offense. That is why when the Cavaliers go small, we see the team scoring more points, and moving the ball in a more efficient way. Love is also a defensive liability, as he can’t defend guys the way other players on the team can.

This means, that the Cavs are basically playing 4 on 5 on defense, because Love can’t guard anyone. When Love isn’t playing, it allows for stars like Kyrie Irving and LeBron James to have more touches. To top things off, Love has had some chemistry issues with the team, as he has struggled to find his role on the Cavaliers.

Cleveland does not have a first round pick in this year’s NBA Draft, but they can fix that problem if they trade Kevin Love. Despite his struggles during the playoffs, many teams will still be aggressive in order to acquire Love. The Cavs can easily get one first round pick in this year’s draft, and they can accumulate many more picks by trading Love. The draft this year is loaded with talent, and if Cleveland trades Love, they have a chance to nab a young player that fits the Cavs system more than Love.